/ J- 



HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS 



STATE OF PENNSYLVANIA; 



CONTAINING 



A COPIOUS SELECTION OF THE MOST INTERESTING FACTS, TRADITIONS, BIOGRAPHICAL 

SKETCHES, ANECDOTES, ETC. 



RELATING TO ITS 



HISTORY AND ANTICtUITIES, 

BOTH GENERAL AND LOCAL, 



TOPOGRAPHICAL DESCRIPTIONS OF EVERY COUNTY AND ALL THE LARGER TOWNS 

IN THE STATE. 

Illustrated by 165 Engravings. 



BY SHERMAN DAY. 




PHILADELPHIA : 

PUBLISHED BY GEORGE W. GORTON, 

56 NORTH THIRD-STREET. 

NEW HAVEN:-DURRIE AND PECK. 



Entered according to the Act of Congress, in the year 1843, 

By George W. Gorton, 
in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of Pennsylvania. 



PREFACE. 



The design of this work is not to present a historj of the state in the usual form, and with 
the ordinary chronological arrangement, but to embody and preserve in one volume its local his- 
tory ; and while it comprises all the great events in the general history of the state, these events 
are so located in the order of arrangement as to associate them more intimately with the places 
where they occurred. There are many important, but isolated facts, and a hundred Uttle episodes 
and anecdotes, of thrilling interest to the inhabitants of the region where they occurred, which 
Historv, in her stately msirch, cannot step £iside to notice. The short biographical sketches, in- 
terspersed throughout this work, of men distinguished in their own community, but not much 
known beyond, seldom find an appropriate place in a history of the ordinarv form ; and yet it is 
important that they should be preserved. 

The proverb says — " Charity begins at home." The study of history ought to begin at home 
also : yet how many men are there in this state, as in others, who are far more familiar with the 
history of England, or with the career of Alexander, Ceesar, or Napoleon, than with the events 
that have occurred upon the very fields which they themselves are tilling I And this arises not 
so much from the want of intelligence on the part of the people, as from the lack of proper books 
and documents within their reach. It is beheved, therefore, that a work of the kiad here pre- 
sented is needed by the iateUigent yeomanry of the state, for whose use- it is especially intended ; 
and the compiler hopes that, while it may serve to enhven their long winter evenings, it will 
awaken in their minds a spirit of inquiry into the history of their own immediate neighborhoods, 
c.'-i -. 'he same tii le furnish them with a fund of instructive incidents relating to the more dis- 
ti-: S'l-otions of the state. 

i" ' utline History has been brought down to a period many years later than in any of the 
.i._:i';< of Permsylvania hitherto published. The topographical and statistical information em- 
Whed 1 the work, is designed to connect the history of the past with the present state of man- 
ners and improvements, and to present the features of the two periods in striking contrast : and 
although to some minds these details may seem out of place in an historical work, yet it should 
be remembered that the statistics of to-day may become the history of ten years hence. Many 
of the facts here recorded, both statistical and historical, may seem trivial, or tediously mmute 
to the general reader ; and yet such facts have a local interest, and for that reason have been 
inserted. 

In accordance with the prevailing taste of the age — and a laudable taste it is — the work is 
embeUished with wood engravings. These, with very fev^ exceptions, eire from drawings made 
on the spot expressly for this work. Some of them will preserve the appearance of ancient edi- 
fices and monuments now rapidly yielding to the hand of time : and those representing towns, 
villages, jmd modem edifices, will not only convey to the readers of the present day some idea of 
those objects, but enable posterity, if the book should ever reach them, to contrast our age with 
theirs. 

Care has been taken in selecting the extracts which compose the main bodv of the work, 
to exclude mere dry details and tedious official documents, and to give selections of such a cha- 
racter as will interest the sympathies of the heart, while they refresh the memory and instruct 
the mind. In making extracts from newspapers, and from other writings originally intended for 
a special class of readers, the compiler has frequently taken the hberty of abridging their lan- 
guage, in order to include the material facts within the restricted Uniits which must be here 
assigned to them. 



4 PREFACE. 

The materials for the work have not been gathered without great personal labor, and heavy 
expense. Recourse has not only been had to the valuable libraries in Philadelphia, but the com- 
piler has been coinpoUod to undertake personally the tour of the entire state ; spending much 
time in each county, examining ancient newspapers and musty manuscripts ; conversing with 
the aged pioneers, and collecting from them, orally, many interesting facts never before pubhshed, 
which otlierwiso would probably not liave been preserved. He has often had occasion to regret, 
in the course of his pilgrimage, that this research had not been commenced some fifteen years 
earlier. Many aged men during that time have gone down to the grave, whose memories trea- 
sured up a thousand interesting facts, which their descendants have neglected to preserve. 

It is scarcely to be expected that a work embodying such a multitude of facts, gathered too from 
such a variety of sources, should be entirely fn^e from errors : yet as much attention as possible, 
imder tlio circumstances, has been given to insure authenticity. The compiler feels the more 
diffident on this subject, knowing, as he does, that the work will probably pass into the hands of 
many readers whose opportunities of testing tlie accuracy of local facts are far greater than his 
own could possibly be. He will feel obliged, shoidd any important errors be detected, if gentle- 
men conversant with the facts will furnish a correction to the publisher. 

To tlie many gentlemen who have khidly lent their assistance in prociuring and imparting in- 
formation, eitiier orally or by correspondence ; and for numerous instances of personal hospi- 
tality and civility during his tour, tlie compiler takes tliis occasion to return his very sincere 
tlianks. 

To the authors, both ancient and contemporary, from whom extracts have been made, credit 
has generally been given in the body of the work ; but tlie compiler desires here to record his 
special acknowledgments for tlie aid derived from Hazard's Register of Pennsylvania, a peri- 
odical work in 16 voluniee, published between the years 1828 and 1835 inclusive. This work 
ought to be in the library of ever}' public man who has frequent occasion to refer to important 
statistical, historical, and political documents. It is indeed a rich mine of Pennsylvania history. 
In it have been collected and published a vast number of facts and documents relating to the 
important period — tJic era of the construction of the public works — when the work was pubUshed. 

To tlie city and county of Philadelphia, as much space has been allotted in this volume as was 
consistent with the attention due to otlier counties in tlie interior. Those of our readers who 
desire to study more at large the historj- of Philadelphia, are referred to Mr. John F. Watson's 
able and fascinating Annals of Philadelphia, from which we have taken the Uberty of making a 
few brief extracts. 



Errors and Omissions. — The brief anecdote of Lord Percy, on page 213, extracted from the 
History of Chester Co., was derived from loc;d tradition. It now appears that this tradition is 
erroneous. Lord Percy lived many years afterward, and became Duke of Northumberland. 

The Compiler regrets that, amid the crowd of subjects that presented themselves to his atten- 
tion, under the head cvf Philadelphia Co., he omitted to insert a short biographical notice of John 
Fitch, the original, but unlortmiate inventor of steamboats. In 1788 he started a boat on the 
Delaware, which went to Burlington at tlie rate of eight miles an hour. The name of Oliver Evans, 
who in%vnted a steam wagon as early as 1804. and who predicted the future success of rail, 
roads and locomotives, deserves honorable mention in this connection. These distino-uished in- 
ventors, though not natives of Peijnsylvania, yet lirst put tlieir inventions into practical operation 
at Philadelphia. Full biographical sketches of both may be found in Howe's Lives of Eminent 
Mechanics. 

Highspiretown, a pleasant village, 5 miles below Harrisburg, was omitted imder the head of 
Dauphin Co. 

The Wyoming monmnent referred to in a note on page 431, has been finished — in Oct. 1843. 

Rev. Pr. Krunimacher, of Germany, referred to on page 357, has declined the invitation to 
become a professor at Merccrsburg. 



OUTLINE HISTORY. 



THE ABORIGINES. 

The Indian tribes who dwelt among the primitive forests of Pennsyl- 
vania, — -as well as those of Delaware, New Jersey, and a part of Mary- 
land, — called themselves the Lenni Lenap<;, or ike original people. This 
general name comprehended numerous distinct tribes, all speaking dia- 
lects of a comrhon language, (the Algonquin,) and uniting around the 
same great council-fire. Their grand council-house, to use their own 
expressive figure, extended from the eastern bank of the Hudson on the 
northeast, to the Potomac on the southwest. Many of the tribes were di- 
rectly descended from the common stock ; others, having sought their 
sympathy and protection, had been allotted a section of their territory. 
The surrounding tribes, not of this confederacy, nor acknowledging alle- 
giance to it, agreed in awarding to them the honor of being the grand- 
fathers — that is, the oldest residents in this region. There w^as an obscure 
tradition among the Lenni Lenape, that in ages past their ancestors had 
emigrated eastward from the Mississi])pi, conquering or expelling, on their 
route, that great and apparently more civilized nation, whose monuments, 
in the shape of mounds, are so profusely scattered over the great western 
Yalley, and of which several also remain in Pennsylvania, along the west- 
ern slope of the Allegheny Mountains. 

The Lenni Lenape nation was divided into three principal divisions — • 
the Unamis, or Turtle tribes, the Unalachtgos, or Turkeys, and the Mon- 
seys or Wolf tribes. The two former occupied the country along the 
coast, between the sea and the Kittatinny or Blue mountain, their settle- 
ments extending as far east as the Hudson and as far west as the Poto- 
mac. These were generally known among the whites as the Delaware In- 
dians. The Monseys or Wolf tribes, the most active and warlike of the 
whole, occupied the mountainous country between the Kittatinny Moun- 
tain and the sources of the Susquehanna and Delaware rivers, kindling 
their council-fire at the Minisink flats on the Delaware above the water- 
gap. A part of the tribe also dwelt on the Susquehanna, and they had 
also a village, and a peach orchard, in the Forks of the Delaware,* where 
Nazareth is now situated. These three principal divisions were divided 
mto various subordinate clans, who assumed names suited to their char- 
acter or situation. 



* This tenn, the Forks, in the early colonial annals, refers not only to the point at the imme- 
diate confluence of two rivers, but to the territory included between the two streams for some 
miles above. Thus " the Forks of the Delaware " comprises nearly the whole of the present 
county of Northampton ; the Forks of the Susquehanna comprises the tract for some distance 
above Northumberland ; and in like manner the Forks of Yough', or of the Youghiogheny, and 
the Forks of the Oliio, refer to similar tongues of land, extending ten or fifteen miles above the 
confluence. 



6 OUTLINE HISTORY. 

The Shawanos, or Shawanees, a restless and ferocious tribe, hating 
been threatened with extermination by a more powerful tribe at the 
South, sought protection among the friendly nations of the North, whose 
language was observed to bear a remarkable affinity with their own. A 
majority of them settled along the Ohio, from the Wabash to near Pitts- 
burg. A portion was received under the protection of the Lenni Lenapes, 
and permitted to settle near the Forks of the Delaware, and on the flats 
below Philatlelphia. But they soon became troublesome neighbors, and 
were removed by the Delawares (or possibly by the Six Nations) to the 
Susquehanna valley, where they had a village at the Shawnee flats, be- 
low Wilkesbarre, on the west side of the river. During the revolution, 
and the war of 1812, their name became conspicuous in the history of 
the northern frontier. 

The Lenni Lenape tribes consisted, at the first settlement of Pennsyl- 
vania, of the Assunpink, or Stony Creek Indians ; the Rankokas, (Lami- 
kas or Chichequaas ;) Andastakas, at Christina Creek, near Wilmington ; 
Neshaminies, in Bucks co. ; Shackamaxons, about Kensington ; Mantas, 
or Frogs, near Burlington ; the Tuteloes, and the Nanticokes, in Mary- 
land and Virginia ; (the latter afterwards removed up the Susquehanna ;) 
the Monseys, or Minisinks, near the Forks of the Delaware ; the Mandes, 
and the Narriticongs, near the Raritan ; the Capitanasses, the Gacheos, 
the Monseys, and the Pomptons, in New- Jersey. A few scattered clans, 
or warlike hordes, of the Mingoes, were living here and there among the 
Lenapes. 

Another great Indian confederacy claims attention, whose acts have an 
important bearing upon the history of Pennsylvania. This confederacy 
was originally known in the annals of New York as the P'ive Nations ; 
and subsequently, after they had been joined by the Tuscaroras, as the 
Six Nations. As confederates, they called themselves Aquanuschioni, or 
United People ; by the Lenapes they were called Mengue, or Mingoes, 
and by the French, the Iroquois. The original Five Nations were the 
Onondagas, the Cayugas, the Oneidas, the Senecas, and the Mohawks, 
In 1712 the Tuscaroras, being expelled from the interior of North Caro- 
lina and Virginia, were adopted as a sixth tribe. The language of all the 
tribes of the confederacy, except the Tuscaroras, was radically the same, 
and different from that of the Lenni Lenape. Their domain stretched 
from the borders of Vermont to Lake Erie, and from Lake Ontario to the 
head waters of the Allegheny, Susquehanna, and Delaware rivers. This 
territory they styled their long house. The grand council-fire was held in 
the Onondaga valley. The Senecas guarded the western door of the 
house, the jMohawks the eastern, and the Cayugas the southern, or that 
which opened upon the Susquehanna. The Mohawk nation was the first 
in rank, and to it appertained the office of principal war chief ; to the 
Onondagas, who guarded the grand council-fire, appertained in like man- 
ner the office of principal civil chief, or chief sachem. The Senecas, in 
numbers and military energy, were the most powerful. 

The peculiar location of the Iroquois gave them an immense advan- 
tage. On the great channels of water conveyance to M'hich their terri- 
tories were contiguous, they were enabled in all directions to carry war 
and devastation to the neighboring or to the more distant nations. 

Nature had endowed them with a height, strength, and symmetry of 



THE ABORIGINES. 7 

person which distinguished them, at a glance, among the individuals of 
other tribes. They were as brave as they were strong ; but ferocious and 
cruel when excited in savage warfare ; crafty, treacherous, and over- 
reaching, when these qualities best suited their purposes. The proceed- 
ings of their grand council were marked with great decorum and solem- 
nity. In eloquence, in dignity, and profound policy, their speakers might 
well bear comparison with the statesmen of civilized assemblies. By an 
early alliance with the Dutch on the Hudson, they secured the use of fire- 
arms, and were thus enabled, not only to repel the encroachments of the 
French, but also to exterminate, or reduce to a state of vassalage, many 
Indian nations. From these they exacted an annual tribute, or acknow- 
ledgment of fealty ; permitting them, however, on that condition, to occupy 
their former hunting-grounds. " The humiliation of tributary nations 
was, however, tempered with a paternal regard for their interests in all 
negotiations with the whites, and care was taken that no trespasses should 
be committed on their rights, and that they should be justly dealt with." 
To this condition of vassalage the Lenni Lenape, or Delaware nation, 
had been reduced by the Iroquois, as the latter asserted, by conquest. 
The Lenapes, however, smarting vmder the humiliation, invented for the 
whites a cunning tale in explanation, which they succeeded in imposing 
upon the worthy and venerable Mr. Heckewelder, the Moravian missionary. 
Their story was, that by treaty, and by voluntary consent, they had agreed 
to act as mediators and peacemakers among the other great nations, and 
to this end they had consented to lay aside entirely the implements of war, 
and to hold and to keep bright the chain of peace. This, among indi- 
vidual tribes, was the usual province of women. The Delawares, there- 
fore, alleged that they were figuratively termed women on this account ; 
but the Iroquois evidently called them women in quite another sense. 
*' They always alleged that the Delawares were conquered by their arms, 
and were compelled to this humiliating concession as the only means of 
averting impending destruction."* In tlie course of time, however, the 
Delawares were enabled to throw off" the galling yoke, and at Tioga, in 
the year 1756, Teedyuscung extorted from the Iroquois chiefs an acknow- 
ledgment of their independence. f 

This peculiar relation between tlie Indian nation that occupied, and 
that which claimed a paramount jurisdiction over, the soil of Pennsylvania, 
tended greatly to embarrass and complicate the negotiations of the pro- 
prietary government for the purchase of lands ; and its influence was 
seen and felt both in the civil and military history of Pennsylvania until 

* " But even if Mr. Heckewelder had succeeded in making his readers believe that the Dela- 
wares when they submitted to the degradation proposed to them by their enemies, were influ- 
enced, not by fear, but by the benevolent desire to put a stop to the calamities of war, he has 
established for them the reputation of being the most egregious dupes and fools that thp world 
has ever seen. This is not often the case with Indian sachems. They are rarely cowards, but 
still more rarely are they deficient in sagacity or discernment to detect any attempt to impose 
upon them. I sincerely wish I could imite with tlie worthy German in removing this stigma 
upon the Delawares. A long and intimate knowledge of them in peace and war, as enemies 
and friends, has left upon my mind the most favorable impressions of their character for bravery, 
generosity, and fidelity to their engagements." — Discourse of Gen. Wm. Henry Harrison on the 
Aborigines of the Valley of the Ohio. 

t See " Inquiry into the causes of the alienation of the Delaware and Shawaneese Indians 
from the British interest," &c., page 91 : written in Pennsylvania, and published in London m 
1759 



6 OUTLINE HISTORY. 

after the close of the revolution. As the details are fully given in the 
subsequent pages, it is not necessary to enlarge upon the subject here. 

The term savage, applied to the aborigines, is naturally associated with 
the ideas of barbarism and cruelty — to some extent perhaps justly ; yet 
a closer acquaintance often discloses in them traits that exalt the human 
character and claim the admiration or sympathy of civilized man. The 
Indian considers himself created by an almighty, wise, and benevolent 
Spirit, to whom he looks for guidance and protection ; whom he believes 
it to be his duty to adore and worship, and whose overruling providence 
he acknowledges in all his actions. Many Indians were in the habit of 
seeking out some high mountain from whose lonely summit they might 
commune with the " Great Spirit," and pray to him. But while they 
worshipped the Creator, they were not unmindful of their duties to their 
fellow-creatures. They looked upon the good things of the earth as a 
common stock, bestowed by the Great Spirit for the benefit of all. They 
held that the game of the forest, the fish of the rivers, and the grass or 
other articles of spontaneous growth, were free to all who chose to take 
them. They ridiculed the idea of fencing in a meadow or a pasture. 
This principle repressed selfishness and fostered generosity. Their hospi- 
talit}' was proverbial. The Indian considers it a duty to share his last 
morsel with a stranger. 

When the early settlers of Pennsylvania first landed, the Indians re- 
ceived them with open-hearted kindness, cheerfully supplied their wants, 
and shared with them the comforts of their rude and humble dwellings. 
They considered the persons of their new guests as sacred, and readily 
opened with them a traffic for useful or ornamental articles in exchange 
for land and furs. Wm. Penn says of them, in his letter to the Society 
of Free Traders, " In liberality they excel ; nothing is too good for their 
friend : give them a fine gun, coat, or other thing, it may pass twenty 
hands before it sticks : light of heart, strong affections, but soon spent. 
The most merry creatures thai live, feast and dance perpetually ; they 
never have much, nor want much ; wealth circulateth like the blood ; all 
parts partake ; and though none shall want what another hath, yet exact 
observers of property. Some kings have sold, others presented me with 
several parcels of land ; the pay, or presents I made them, were not 
hoarded by the particular owners ; but the neighboring kings and their 
clans being present when the goods were brought out, the parties chiefly 
concerned consulted what, and to whom, they should give them. To 
every king then, by the hands of a person for that work appointed, is a 
proportion sent, so sorted and folded, and with that gravity, that is ad- 
mirable. Then that king subdivideth it, in like manner, among his de- 
pendants, they hardly leaving themselves an equal share with one of their 
subjects : and be it on such occasions as festivals, or at their common 
meals, the kings distribute, and to themselves last. They care for little, 
because they want but little ; and the reason is, a little contents them. 
In this they are sufficiently revenged on us ; if they are ignorant of our 
pleasui 55, they are also free from our pains. They are not disquieted 
with bi! J of lading and exchange, nor perplexed with chancery suits and 
excheqi jr reckonings. We sweat and toil to live ; their pleasure feeds 
them ; mean their hunting, fishing, and fowling ; and this table is spread 
cveiyvf ere. They eat twicp a day, morning and evening j their sea,ts 



DUTCH AND SWEDES. 9 

and table are the ground. Since the Europeans came into these parts, 
they are grown great lovers of strong liquors, rum especially, and for it 
exchange the richest of their skins and furs. If they are heated with 
liquors, they are restless till they have enough to sleep ; that is their cry, 
some more, and I will go to sleep ; but, when drunk, one of the most 
wretched spectacles in the world." 



THE DUTCH AND SWEDES. 

Several colonies had already been planted by Europeans on the North 
American coast, before any permanent settlement was made on the shores 
of the Delaware.* In the year 1609, Capt. Henry Hudson, then under 
the patronage of the Dutch East India Company, touched at the mouth 
of what is now known as Delaw^are bay ; but finding shoal water, and 
suspecting danger, he retired and a few days after entered the bay of 
New York, and gave name to its noble river. Availing themselves of his 
discoveries, the Dutch renewed their voyages, and kept up a small trading- 
post on Manhattan island for several years, until the year 1621, when a 
larger company was formed, with great privileges and comprehensive 
powers, called the West India Company of the United Netherlands. 
This company, in 1623, took possession of the country discovered by Hud- 
son, including the South or Delaware river, and named it New Nether- 
lands ; built the city of New Amsterdam, and despatched Capt. Cornelius 
Jacobus May, with a number of adventurers, to the South River, to colo- 
nize and make further discoveries. This commander gave to Cape May 
the name it still bears, and to the southern cape that of Cornelius, by 
which it was known during the dynasty of the Dutch. He erected Fort 
Nassau, near where Gloucester, N. J., now stands, a few^ miles below 
Philadelphia. This was the first European settlement on the shores of 
the bay, but was not permanent, being only used as an occasional trading- 
post by the Dutch. In 1 63 1 , Capt. David Pietersen De Vries arrived in the Del- 
aware, w^ith two ships and about thirty colonists. He was associated with 
Godyn, Bloemart, and Van Rensselaer, wealthy Dutch patroons, in the 
enterprise of establishing a colony on South River, for the purpose of cul- 
tivating tobacco and grain, and prosecuting the whale and seal fishery, in 
or near the bay. He built Fort Oplandt, near where Lewistown, Del., now 
stands, about three miles within Cape Cornelius ; and extended around it 
his little settlement of Swanendael, or Valley of Swans. The fisheries 
were unsuccessful. De Vries returned to Holland, leaving his colony in 
charge of Gillis Osset. He returned again in 1632, and found the fields 
of his new colony strewed with the bones of his countrymen. The arms 
of Holland, emblazoned upon a piece of glittering tin, had been elevated 
upon a pillar. An Indian stole it, to make a tobacco-box. The com- 

• The name of this bay was given in honor of Lord Delaware, who was governor of the Vir- 
ginia colony about the years 1610 to 1G18. The Indian name of the river was Mack-er-isk- 
iskan; and it was also called Lenap€.Wihittuck, or river of the Lenapes. The Dutch and 
Swedes knew it only as South River, in contradistinction to the North River of New York. 

2 



10 OUTLINE HISTORY. 

mander took offence ; they quarrelled ; and the colonists were all butch 
ered, while at work in the field. De Vries made peace with the Indians — ■ 
learned the melancholy tale — passed up the river above Fort Nassau, 
Avhich he found also desolate — and left the bay in discouragement. 

" The voyage of De Vries," says Bancroft, " was the cradling of a state. 
That Delaware exists as a separate commonwealth is due to the colony 
of De A ries. According to English rule, occupancy was necessary to 
complete a title to the wilderness. The Dutch now occupied Delaware, 
and Harvey, the governor of A'irginia, in a grant of commercial privi- 
leges to Claiborne, recognised the adjoining plantations of the Dutch." 

The results of the successful enterprise of the Dutch at I\ew Amster- 
dam, had not escaped the observation of Gustavus Adolphus, the illus- 
trious monarch of Sweden, who had long cherished the design of found- 
ing a colony in the new world. A great trading and colonizing company 
had been formed under his auspices, at the suggestion of William Usselinx, 
a Hollander, who had become a distinguished merchant of Stockholm, as 
early as 1624. Subscriptions to the stock were made by all ranks, from 
the monarch to the plain farmer; and great anticipations were formed 
of the gain and glory to result from the enterprise. But a German war 
suspended further operations, and the death of Gustavus Adolphus, in 
1632, proved fatal to the main project. It was revived, however, on a 
smaller scale, under the minority of Queen Christina, by her excellent 
minister, Oxenstiern. 

Peter JNIinuit, a former governor of New Amsterdam, who had become 
dissatisfied with that company, ofiered his services to the Swedes, and 
was appointed to command the expedition. Two vessels, with the Swedish 
colonists, and with provisions, ammunition, and merchandise for traffic, 
arrived in the Delaware, from Gottenburg, in the year 1638. Charmed 
with the beauty and fertility of the spot near Cape Henlopen, where 
they first landed, they called it Paradise. They conciliated the natives, and 
piu-chased from them the land on the west side of the bay. from Cape Hen- 
lopen to Sanhickan, or the falls at Trenton. This they called Ncav Swe- 
den. A clergyman. Rev. Reorius Torkillus, accompanied the expedition. 
The Swedes never left their religion behind them. The Swedes proceeded 
up the river and built a town and fort, which they named Christina, on 
the north side of iNIinquaas, or Mingoes creek, now Christina creek, about 
three miles above its mouth. Minuit sedulously cultivated peace with 
the natives, as well as with the Dutch. The latter, however, did not re- 
gard the Swedes without great jealousy, as appears by a strong protest 
pt' Gov. Kieft, still on record ; but he confined himselt^ in the absence of 
orders, to a protest. Other intruders were not regarded by Kieft with 
the same leniency. A small band from JMaryland, who had* settled near 
Schuylkill, and a colony of New Haven traders, Avho obtained a foothold 
on the Jersey side, were promptly expelled, both by Dutch and Swedes. 
Minuit died after three years' administration, and his successor, Peter 
Hollendare, alter ruling eighteen months, returned home. In 1643, 
Gov. John Printz, with the Rev. John Campauius Holm, chaplain, ar- 
rived from Stockholm, with the ships Swan, Fame, and Charitas. Gov. 
Printz selected Tinicum island tor his residence, where he erected a fort 
called New Gottenburg, and a splendid mansion for himself. In 1646, a 
church, of wood, was erected there, and consecrated by the chaplain. 



DUTCH AND SWEDES. H 

*' Emigrants continued to arrive from Sweden, and the dwellings of the 
enterprising colonists sprung up in all the little favorite spots from Chris- 
tina creek to the mouth of Schuylkill, and even as far up as Coaquennack, 
where is now the city of Philadelphia. These little hamlets were occa- 
sionally protected by a log fort, or blockhouse. Such a one was built 
at Manaiung, at the mouth of Schuylkill. At Mocoponaca arose the 
Swedish village of Upland, which afterwards became the respectable 
town of Chester." " Kingsessing," says Campanius, " was called the new 
fort It was not properly a fort, but substantial log houses, of good, strong, 
hard hickory, sufficient to secure people from the Indians ; but what sig- 
nifies a fort without God's assistance ? In that settlement there dwelt 
five freemen, who cultivated the land and lived very well." 

Many other settlements were made, and the old maps of Campanius 
and Lindstrohm are crowded with Dutch and Swedish names of places, on 
both sides of the Delaware. "Towards the close of Gov. Printz's admin- 
istration, about the year 1651, the Dutch, still determined to maintain 
their footing on the Delaware, erected Fort Kasimir, on the south side of 
Minquaas creek, near the mouth, now the site of Newcastle. Against 
this act of defiance Printz contented himself with timidly protesting. 
To check further encroachments of the Dutch, Printz erected Fort Elsin- 
berg, further down the river, on the Jersey side, at or near Salem creek. 
This, it was thought, would compel the Dutch, in passing up, to succumb 
to the flag of Sweden ; but no opportunity offered to test its efficacy. 
The garrison, at the first occupation, encountered a foe more active than 
the Dutch, and more bloodthirsty than the Indians. The fort was 
stormed on all sides ; the Swedes were put to flight ; and the name of 
Muschetosburg, which the fort thereafter took, sufficiently indicates the 
character and success of the conquerors." 

Printz returned to Sweden in 1652, and was succeeded by John Clau- 
dius Rising. Mr. Lindstrohm, the engineer, and several military and civil 
officers, accompanied Gov. Rising. The dissatisfaction of the Swedes 
with the building of Fort Kasimir had not abated, and Gov. Rising, find- 
ing remonstrance with the Dutch ineffectual, took the fort, in 1654, either 
by storm or stratagem, repaired and strengthened it, and hoisted upon it 
the Swedish flag, calling it Trefaldigheet, or Trinity fort. Sven Schute, 
a valiant Swede, was appointed to the command of the garrison. It was 
easy to take the fort ; not so easy to appease the wrath of the redoubt- 
able governor of New Amsterdam. Gov, Peter Stuyvesant, in the next 
year, 1655, came up the Delaware, with seven ships, and six or seven 
hundred men, and took, oiie after another, all the Swedish forts, laid waste 
New Gottenburg, and assumed the jurisdiction of the colony. The Swedes, 
however, obtained honorable terms of capitulation. The principal offi- 
cers were compelled to return to Europe ; but private citizens were en- 
couraged to remain on their lands, and were protected in their rights, on 
yielding allegiance to the powers of New Amsterdam. Thus, although 
the governing power was held by the Dutch, the colony itself continued 
to be Swedish. They looked to Sweden for their ministers of religion 
and their public teachers : Swedish manners and language prevailed, and 
were preserved and transmitted for many generations. 

Another Swedish ship, the Mercurius, arrived in 1 656, with colonists, 
which the Dutch would gladly have prevented from ascending the river; 



12 OUTLINE HISTORY. 

but the Indians, firm friends of the Swedes, interfered with theif authori- 
ty, and the ship passed up. Andrew Bengsten, the ancestor of the Bank- 
sons of Philadelphia, M'as a passenger in this ship. The Dutch and 
Swedes continued, for nine years, to occupy the Delaware in common — 
the Dutch being the rulers ; the Swedes giving character and prosperity 
to the colony. In 1664, the English, under Charles II., conquered the 
whole country of New Netherlands. Sir Robert Carr sailed up the Dela- 
Avare, and took possession of the fort at Newcastle. 

Thus it appears that the Delaware was first settled by the Dutch ; 
Pennsylvania by the Swedes. It is not certain, however, that there were 
not Dutch settlements on the soil of Pennsylvania, as early as, or earlier 
than those of the Swedes. The settlements at Esopus, on the Hudson, were 
commenced as early as 1616; and from this place, probably not many 
years after its first occupation, there ^vas a great road extended over to 
the Delaware river, communicating with mines near the Blue Mountain, 
and with niunerous Dutch settlements along the flats of the Delaware. — 
(See Monroe co.) 

Lord Berkeley and Sir George Carteret had obtained a grant from the 
Duke of York, of the province of New Jersey. In 1665, Philip Carteret 
■was appointed governor, and the eastern part of that province began to 
be peopled. In 1676, it was divided into East and West Jersey. Lord 
Berkeley, in 1675, transferred his half, the western, to John Fenwick, in 
trust for Edward Byllinge, both " of the people called Quakers ;" and in 
that same year, the Griffith arrived at Salem with emigrants. Byllinge, 
being embarrassed, transferred his interest to trustees, for the benefit of 
his creditors. William Penn was one of the trustees, and was thus in- 
duced to take an interest in the settlement of New Jersey, and thereby 
to acquire some knowledge of the country that afterwards bore his name. 

In the year 1672, the Dutch, being at war with the English, recovered 
New Netherlands, and held possession for two years, when a return of 
peace restored the countn,- to the English. 

Between 1677 and 1680, the eastern shore of the Delaware, from Bur- 
lington to Salem, was extensively settled by Quakers, principally from 
Yorkshire. 



THE COLONY OF WILLIAM PENN. 

Sir William Pe\x, the father of the founder of Pennsylvania, had been 
a distinguished admiral under Charles II. ; and at his death left claims, 
of considerable arrtount, against the cro\\'n, for his services. His son 
William, by way of liquidating these claims, and with the still nobler 
motive of securing an asylum where his Quaker brethren might enjoy 
unmolested the full development of their peculiar tenets, sought from King 
Charles II. a grant of a tract of land in the new world. His request was 
granted, and by the king's order, much against Penn's inclination, the new 
province was to be called Pennsylvania, in honor of the services of his 
illustrious father. The charter wzis dated 4th March, 1681, and confirmed 



COLONY OF WILLIAM PENN. 13 

in April, by the royal proclamation. The assent of the Duke of York, 
then the proprietor of all New Netherlands, and that of Lord Baltimore, 
whose possessions joined on the south, had been obtained to the provi- 
sions of the charter ; and Lord North, then Lord Chief-justice, was care- 
ful to add several clauses in favor of the king's prerogative, and the par- 
liament's right of taxation. The extent of the province was three degrees 
of latitude in breadth, by five degrees of longitude in length ; the eastern 
boundary being the Delaware River, the northern "the beginning of the 
three-and-fortieth degree of northern latitude, and on the south a circle 
drawn at twelve miles distance from Newcastle, northward and west- 
ward unto the beginning of the fortieth degree of northern latitude, and 
then by a straight line westward to the limits of longitude above men- 
tioned." This impossible southern line was afterwards the source of much 
dispute with Lord Baltimore. The proprietor immediately published 
" certain conditions or concessions" to adventurers ; drew up a form of 
government, and a code of laws, all bearing the stamp of his benevolent 
mind ; and sent forward his kinsman, William Markham, with three ships 
and a number of planters, to take possession of the country, and prepare 
for the reception of a larger number of colonists. Many persons, princi- 
pally Quakers, were induced to emigrate. An association was formed at 
London and Bristol, the " Free Society of Traders," who piu-chased lands, 
with a view both to agricultural settlement and for the establishment of 
manufactories, and for carrying on the lumber trade and whale fisheries. 
The title and jurisdiction of the three lower counties (Delaware) was still in 
the Duke of York. Penn saw the importance of his having the control 
of this vestibule to his province, and obtained a grant of the counties 
from the duke, " together with all the royalties and jurisdictions thereunto 
belonging." 

Having thus carefully adjusted his preliminary plans, Penn took an 
affectionate leave of his family and friends, and sailed for Pennsylvania, 
in the ship Welcome, on the 30th August, 1682. Near a hundred colo- 
nists accompanied him, many of whom died of small-pox, on the passage. 
At length, after a long passage, the gallant ship anchored at Newcastle ; 
and the eager colonists, of every nation, tongue, and people — English, 
Dutch, Swedes — hastened to welcome the beloved proprietor. He ad- 
dressed the magistrates and people, setting forth his designs, and assured 
them of his intentions to maintain their spiritual and temporal rights, 
liberty of conscience, and civil freedom. At Upland, (now Chester,) he 
convened the assembly, and made known his plans and benevolent designs. 
The assembly tendered their grateful acknowledgments. The Swedes 
deputed Lacy Cock to acquaint him that " they would love, serve, and obey 
him, with all they had," declaring " it was the best day they ever saw." 
At this assembly, which continued only three days, an Act of Union w^as 
passed, annexing the three lov^^er counties to the province. The frame 
of government, with some alterations, was accepted and confirmed ; the 
laws agreed upon in England, with some alterations, were passed in form ; 
and the Dutch, Swedes, and other foreigners, w^ere received to the privi- 
leges of citizenship. Penn had been careful, on sending out his deputy, 
Markham, to enjoin upon him and his colonists to deal amicably with the 
Indians ; and soon after his own arrival he held the memorable interview 
with the native chiefs, under the great elm at Shackamaxon, now Ken- 



14 OUTLINE HISTORY. 

sington. No authentic record has been preserved of this treaty ; yet there 
is every reason to believe that its object was not the purchase of lands, 
but the establishment of a lasting covenant of love and friendship between 
the aborigines and Penn. " Under the shelter of the forest," says Ban- 
croft, " now leafless by the frosts of autumn, Penn proclaimed to the men 
of the Algonquin race, from both banks of the Delaware, from the bor- 
ders of the Schuylkill, and, it may have been, even from the Susquehan- 
na, the same simple message of peace and love which George Fox had 
professed before Cromwell, and Mary Fisher had borne to the Grand 
Turk. The English and the Indian should respect the same moral law 
should be alike secure in their pursuits and their possessions, and adjiist 
every difference by a peaceful tribunal, composed of an equal number of 
men from each race." For the purchase of land, treaties were held in 
the subsequent year, one of v^^hich Penn describes as follows: — 

" Every king hath his council ; and that consists of all the old and wise men of his nation ; 
which, perhaps, is two hundred people. Nothing of moment is undertaken, be it war, peace, 
selling of land, or traffic, without advising with them ; and, which is more, with the young men 
too. It is admirable to consider how powerful the kings are, and yet how they move by the 
breath of their people. I have had occasion to be in council with them, upon treaties for land, 
and to adjust the terms of trade* Their order is thus : The king sits in the middle of an half 
moon, and hath his council, the old and wise, on each hand ; behind them, or at a little distance, 
sit the younger fry, in the same figure. Having consulted and resolved their business, the king 
ordered one of them to speak to me : he stood up, came to me, and, in the name of his king, sa- 
luted me ; then took me by the hand, and told me, ' he was ordered by his king to speak to me ; 
and that now it was not he, but the king, that spoke ; because what he should say was the king's 
mind.' He first prayed me ' to excuse them, that they had not complied with me, the last time, 
he feared there might be some fault in the interpreter, being neither Indian nor English ; besides, 
it was the Indian custom, to deliberate, and take up much time, in council, before they resolve ; 
and that, if the young people, and owners of the land, had been as ready as he, I had not met 
with so much delay.' Having thus introduced his matter, he fell to the bounds of the land they 
had agreed to dispose of, and the price ; which now is little and dear, that which would have 
bought twenty miles, not buying now two; During the time that this person spoke, not a man 
of them was observed to whisper or smile ; the old, grave, the young, reverent, in their deport, 
ment. They speak little, but fervently, and with elegance. I have never seen more natural sa- 
gacity, considering them without the help (I was going to say, the spoil) of tradition ; and he 
will deserve the name of wise, that outwits them in any treaty about a thing they understand. 
When the purchase was agreed, great promises passed between us, ' of kindness and good neigh- 
borhood, and that the Indians and English must live in love as long as the sun gave light :' 
which done, another made a speech to the Indians, in the name of all the Sachaniakers, or kings ; 
first, to tell them what was done ; next, to charge and command them, ' to love the Christians, 
and particularly live in peace with me, and the people under my government ; that many go\ern. 
ors had been in the river, but that no governor had come himself to live and stay here befure ; 
and having now such an one, that had treated them well, they should never do him, or his, uny 
wrong.' At every sentence of which they shouted, and said Amen, in their way." 

Late in the year 1682, assisted by Thomas Holme, the surveyor, Penn 
laid out Philadelphia, on land purchased from three Swedes. Soon after- 
wards many small houses were erected ; and in the spring of 1683 Phila- 
delphia was honored for the first time by the session of the council and 
assembly. An important question came before them, " \vhether to have 
the old charter or a new one ?" A new one was adopted, which con- 
tinued in force until after the revolution in England. By this charter the 
provincial council was to consist of eighteen persons — three from each 
county — and the assembly of thirty-six, men of most note for virtue, wis- 
dom, and ability ; the laws were to be prepared and proposed by the 
governor and council, and the number of assemblymen to be increased at 
their pleasure. The proprietor had previously divided the province into 



COLONY OF WILLIAM PENN. 15 

three counties, Bucks, Chester, and Philadelphia ; and the " territories" 
into three. New Castle, Kent, and Sussex. 

At the time of Wm. Penn's arrival, the Dutch had already a settlement 
and " meeting place" at Newcastle, the Swedes at Christeen, at Tinicum 
and at Wicaco, (now near the navy-yard in Philadelphia.) The Quakerj 
had three, one at Upland, one at Shackamaxon, and one near the falls of 
Delaware, opposite Trenton. Within a year after Penn's arrival great 
numbers of Welsh had arrived, who settled in Philadelphia and Chester 
counties, giving Welsh names to townships, which they still retain. Many 
English settled about Chester and the waters of the Brandywine ; and 
Germans from Chresheim settled at Germantown. 

Before Penn left the province he made short journeys to New York and 
New Jersey, and to Maryland, where he visited Lord Baltimore, with the 
hope of adjusting the diflerences between them, but without success. To 
bring this dispute to a close, by an appeal to higher authority, was one 
great reason for his visiting England. 

He had great reason to congratulate himself upon his success and the 
prosperity of his little colony, the population of which he already esti- 
mated at about four thousand. 

Having thus established his colony upon the broad principles of Chris- 
tian charity and constitutional freedom, he left the executive power in the 
hands of the council, under the presidency of Thomas Lloyd, an eminent 
Quaker ; and having appointed the provincial judges for two years, he 
embarked, in July, 1684, on his return to England. On board ship he wrote 
a farewell letter to his colony, replete with his characteristic benevolence. 

" My love and life is to you and with you, and no water can quench it, nor distance wear it 
out, or bring it to an end. I have been with you, cared over you, and served you with unfeigned 
lov«, and you are beloved of me, and near to me, beyond utterance." * * * * " And thou, Phila. 
delphia, the virgin settlement of this province, named before thou wert born, what love, what 
care, what service, and what travail has there been to bring thee forth ! Oh, that thou mayst 
be kept from the evil that would overwhelm thee ; that, faithful to the God of thy mercies, in the 
life of righteousness, thou mayst be preserved to the end. My soul prays to God for thee, that 
thou mayst stand in the day of trial, that thy children may be blessed of the Lord, and thy 
people saved by his power." 

Penn was absent from his colony fifteen years. It would have been 
highly desirable if he had never left it. Often during his absence did the 
state of affairs need the guidance of his powerful mind. The constitu- 
tion was not yet sufficiently established, and in the infancy of the settle- 
ment a powerful hand was necessary to prevent disorders, and to main- 
tain the empire of the law^s, particularly of those which enforce the 
practice of virtue and morality. The different authorities did not sup- 
port each other as they should have done ; there was a constant bickering 
between the legislature and the executive, and betv.^een the members 
from the " territories" and those of the province ; and this infant legisla- 
ture, representing a population scarcely larger than the smallest of our 
present counties, often exhibited the same scenes of personal bitterness, 
of petty intrigue, of legislative stubbornness, and executive caprice, 
which now disgrace the larger assemblies of Harrisburg and Washington. 
It appears, too, that the best understanding did not subsist between the 
predominant Quakers and those of other persuasions, nor even among the 
Quakers themselves, among whom George Keith fomented a most un- 
happy quarrel. Nicolas Moore, chief-justice of the colony, had incurred 



16 OUTLINE HISTORY. 

the enmity of the assembly, and they in revenge impeached him. Penn 
promoted him to another office. 

Thomas Lloyd presided over the councils until 1686, when Penn, by 
letter, changed the form of executive government to a board of five com- 
missioners, — Thomas Lloyd, Nicolas Moore, James Claypole, Robert 
Turner, and John Eckley, — any three of whom were to be a quorum com- 
petent for the transaction of business. 

In 1688, Thomas Lloyd wishing to be excused from further service in 
public affairs, Capt. John Blackwell was appointed deputy governor by 
the proprietary. This gentleman was at that time in New England, and 
had been employed under Cromwell, not only in military service, but in 
missions to Ireland, and was consequently accustomed to deal with vio- 
lent parties. Penn thought him an able and honest man. He soon dis- 
agreed with the council, and returned to England. 

In 1691 an irreconcilable quarrel arose between the province and the 
territories, resulting in the establishment of two assemblies, and two 
deputy governors, — Thomas Lloyd for the province, and Wm. Markham 
for the territories. These continued dissensions gave great pain to Wm. 
Penn, and added to the embarrassments which changes of dynasty, and 
the persecutions of his enemies, had brought upon him in England. Such 
influence had these enemies at the court of William and Mary, that in 
1693 the jurisdiction of his province was wrested from him by the crown, 
and Col. Benjamin Fletcher, then governor of New York, received a 
commission also to administer the government of Pennsylvania and the 
lower counties. Fletcher is represented as a man of violent temper, shal- 
low capacity, and avaricious disposition. He made a solemn entry into 
Philadelphia, and summoned the council and assembly. At the very first 
there arose a misunderstanding between the assembly and the new gov- 
ernor, who attempted innovations in the laws, and the mode of summon- 
ing and electing representatives, which conflicted with their fundamental 
law, as well as with their natural rights. He also came charged by the 
crown to demand a subsidy for repelling an invasion of the French on 
the northern frontier of New York. The subsidy was granted, after much 
wrangling, and an ineffectual attempt to withhold it until their griev- 
ances should be redressed. This was the first attempt to tax Quakers 
for military defence, and they were only driven into it by a threat that he 
would annex the province to New York. 

Fletcher's reign was short: in 1694, through the influence of friends 
at court, Penn's innocence was made manifest to the king, and he was 
reinstated in the administration of his provinces. William Markham 
was appointed his lieutenant-governor ; Thomas Lloyd, who would un- 
doubtedly have been his first choice, having died a short time previously. 

Dissensions still continued between the assembly and the executive. 
The great bone of contention was the subsidy to be granted to the king 
for defence of the frontiers. In one of Penn's letters he chides them for 
refusing to send money to New York for the common defence, and tells 
them that the repose of the province was disturbed by party men. Per- 
haps one of the conditions on which he was reinstated, might have been 
the granting of these supplies ; and perhaps also he might have agreed 
to simplify and strengthen the form of government. Certain it is that 
Markham presented to the assembly the project of a new Act of Settle- 



COLONY OF WILLIAM PENN. 17 

ment. This, after some wrangling and remonstrance, was adopted, and 
£300 was granted for the support of government, and relieving the dis- 
tressed Indians inhabiting above Albany." Thus, in November, 1696, was 
adopted the third frame of government, which remained in force five 
years, until 1701. 

William Penn embarked, with his second wife and family, for his prov- 
ince, in August, 1699. He was nearly three months at sea ; but this de- 
lay was providential,— for he did not arrive until the yellow fever, which 
had been raging in the colony, had ceased. Thomas Storey, an eminent 
Quaker preacher, thus speaks of the ravages of the fever at that time : 

" Great was the majesty and hand of the Lord, great was the fear, 
that fell upon all flesh. I saw no lofty, or airy countenance, nor heard 
any vain jesting, to move men to laughter ; nor witty repartee, to raise 
mirth ; nor extravagant feasting, to excite the lusts and desires of 
the flesh above measure ; but every face gathered paleness, and many 
hearts were humbled, and countenances fallen and sunk, as such that 
waited, every moment, to be summoned to the bar, and numbered to the 
grave." 

The proprietor and his family were received with a cordial welcome 
by the citizens — the greater on account of his known intention to fix his 
residence among them for life. Nevertheless, the numerous civil dissen- 
sions during his absence, the alienation of the two provinces from each 
other, the influx of strangers, and the conduct of his own deputy govern- 
ors, had taught them to regard him, rather as the governor than as the 
patriarch. Many things were wanting in the laws of the province, and 
the property of the land-owners was not yet fully secured. Immoralities 
had increased ; and the offence of fostering contraband tre^de, and even 
piracy, was charged upon the colony by its enemies. 

The proprietor applied himself diligently to the establishment of a new 
form of government, which should be free from the defects of those pre- 
ceding it, and impart strength and unity to the administration. He there- 
fore called an extraordinary meeting of the assembly in May, 1700. Al- 
though they were agreed as to the main object, yet this important matter 
was not carried through at this session, nor even at a subsequent one held 
at Newcastle in October of the same year. It was questioned whether 
the Act of Union of the two colonies was still in force. The lower colo- 
nies were willing to acknowledge it, provided an equal freedom was se- 
cured to them, — by which they understood that they were to have an 
equal number of representatives with Pennsylvania. An increasing 
population in the latter forbade the admission of such a pretension. In 
voting for taxes for the support of government, the bitterness of feeling 
between the two colonies was also manifested, as they voted on every 
question in opposition. A tax of a penny in the pound was laid, and a 
poll tax of six shillings per head. A new code of laws, chiefly penal, 
was adopted by this assembly. A second session was convened to raise 
£350 for the defence of the New York frontier ; but the assembly de- 
clined the grant, thinking the burdens already sufficient. Penn did not 
press the subject further at that time, aware of the strong antipathy of 
his Quaker brethren to all grants that might in any event be applied to 
military purposes. 

In April, 1701, Penn met in council the chiefs of the Five Nations with 



18 OUTLINE HISTORY. 

those from the Susquehanna and the Potomac, and the Shawnese chiefs, 
and after going through the solemn forms of Indian diplomacy, covenanted 
that there should be " forever a firm and lasting peace continued between 
William Penn, his heirs and successors, and all the English and other 
Christian inhabitants of the province, and the said kings and chiefs, &c., 
and that they shall forever hereafter be as one head and one heart, and 
live in true friendship and amity as one people." At this treaty, regula- 
tions were adopted to govern their trade ; and mutual enforcement of penal 
laws, and former purchases of land were confirmed. 

Penn's situation now became uncomfortable in consequence of news* 
from England. The king and his ministers, instigated by the suggestions 
of malignant persons, did not see w^ithout apprehension the rapid increase 
of the proprietary governments in America, and feared lest their growing 
power should become too great for the crown. It was therefore thought 
advisable to convert them into royal governments, and purchase off the 
proprietary interests. A bill was introduced in parliament for this pur- 
pose. The necessity of Penn's speedy return to arrest, if possible, so 
alarming a measure, was at once perceived, although this necessity urged 
him to leave his province at a most inconvenient time. He immediately 
convened the assembly at Newcastle, and before his departure much 
business of an important nature was transacted. 

The misunderstanding between the two colonies was again revived, 
and proved a serious obstacle to the enactment of the new charter and 
the new code of laws, which Penn was desirous of seeing established be- 
fore his departure. Nothing but his earnest interference and weight of 
character prevented an open rupture. They were at length prevailed 
upon to adopt the charter, and both houses declared, in signing it, that 
they " thankfully received the same from the proprietary and governor, this 
28th October, 1701." This charter continued in force until the separation 
of the province from Great Britain by the revolution. 

Unfortunately it contained the seeds of that division between the prov- 
ince and territories, which broke out after Penn's departure, never to be 
healed again. A charter was also at this time granted for Philadelphia, 
which then first assumed the dignity of a city. Edward Shippen was the 
first mayor. Andrew Hamilton, of New^ Jersey, was appointed by Penn 
lieutenant-governor, and James Logan, secretary. 

The venerable Mr. Du Ponceau remarks : 

It will ever be a source of regret that William Penn did not, as he had contemplated, fi:t his 
permanent residence in his province, and that, after the lapse of a short year, he again embaiked 
for England, w^hence it had been decreed by Providence that he never should return. There is 
too much reason to believe that in this he yielded to the influence of his wife and of his daughter 
LsBtitia, who do not appear to have been pleased with a residence in tlie country. Yet Hannah 
Penn was a woman of great merit, and her name will shine conspicuously, and with honor, in 
our history. But when we consider her rank, education, and fortune, and the situation of Penn- 
sylvania at that time, we need not wonder that she preferred the society of her friends in her na- 
tive land to a life of hardship and self-denial in a newly settled colony. And it is easy to con- 
ceive how William Penn's return may have been postponed amidst efforts to conquer her reluc. 
tance, until other circumstances intervened which prevented it altogether. 

A single trait will be sufficient to show what evils would have been averted from Pennsylvania 
if William Penn had remained here to the end of his days. Nine years after his departure, when 
his coxmtry was again rent by intestine divisions, and a factious legislature, taking an unmanly 
advantage of the misfortunes which had of late fallen heavy upon him, were striving by every 
means to wrest power from his hands, a letter from him to that assembly, in which he tenderly 
expostulated with them for their ungrateful conduct, produced an entire and a sudden change in 



COLONY OF WILLIAM FfiNN. 19 

the minds of tne delilded people, and at the next election his enemies were hurled from the seats 
which they had disgraced. A truly national answer, says his biographer Clarkson ; and we may 
add, the strongest proof that can be given of the powerful ascendancy of this great man over 
minds of an inferior stamp. 

On Penn's arrival in England, in December, 1701, he found the odious 
bill in parliament had been dropped entirely. Soon after, King William 
died, and Anne of Denmark ascended the throne, commencing her reign 
with moderation and clemency. Penn was often at court, and held in 
great favor ; a privilege which he used to promote his great plans for 
" peace on earth and good will toward men." Any thing, however, but 
brotherly kindness and charity prevailed in the province during his ab- 
sence. The lower counties had always opposed the charter, and now 
taking advantage of provisions inserted therein to that effect, separated 
entirely from the province in 1703. Governor Hamilton died in that year 
and was succeeded by John Evans, who arrived in 1704. He was a rash, 
intemperate young man, ignorant of the people he was called upon to 
govern, and entirely unfit for his trust. He convened an assembly, con- 
sisting of the members of both provinces, whom he was disposed to con- 
sider as still united. In his speech he insisted much upon their union ; but 
the members from Pennsylvania refused to unite. Evans early attached 
himself to the interest of the lower counties, and induced their assembly 
to pass laws obnoxious to the other colony. He had been ordered by the 
queen to raise a militia in the colony, but he met with little success. He 
affected to treat with contempt the pacific principles of the Quakers ; and 
as he could not persuade them to renounce their principles, he resorted to 
the petty trick of a false alarm to beguile them into conduct inconsistent 
with their professions. An enemy's fleet was reported to be coming up 
the Delaware. The governor, with his confidential friends, flew to arms 
and paraded the streets with a drawn sword, summoning to his assistance 
all persons capable of bearing arms. The inhabitants, in confusion, 
rather sought their safety in flight than in preparation for defence. Most 
of the Quakers did not forsake their usual composure, and only four of 
them were found who had recourse to arms. The stratagem was seen 
through and recoiled upon its inventors. Even James Logan, himself a 
Quaker, did not escape a part of the odium. Evans also gave great 
offence to the merchants, and annoyed the infant commerce of the prov- 
ince by erecting a useless fort at Newcastle, and requiring vexatious 
delays and onerous charges from vessels passing up. A cunning Quaker 
shipmaster enticed the commander of the fort on board his vessel, and 
carried him off to Vice-admiral Cornbury, of New Jersey, who sent him 
home with a severe reprimand. 

It would be neither profitable nor pleasant to follow in detail the un- 
happy feuds that agitated the province during the remaining years of 
Governor Evans, and those of his successor Gookin ; feuds that embittered 
the life of the illustrious proprietor, and resulted in evil to the province. 
Sometimes the subject of controversy was the erection of courts of jus- 
tice ; sometimes the granting of subsidies involving the pacific principles 
of the Quakers ; at other times, prerogatives of the assembly; and at others, 
the personal character and conduct of James Logan or of the governor. 
By these trifling matters the minds of men were so exasperated that the 
most important affairs of the colony were entirely neglected. Governor 



26 OUTLINE HISTORY. 

Evans' administration was so unpopular, that a formal address of thanks 
was voted to the proprietor for having rid the colony of his government. 

Charles Gookin, who arrived in 1709, was a native of Ireland, an honest, 
open-hearted old soldier, more at home in the field than among the in 
trigues of the cabinet. During the eight years of his reign the usuai 
want of harmony prevailed between the executive and legislative depart- 
ments. In 1715 Governor Gookin held a council with the Indians at 
Philadelphia, in which the chain of friendship was brightened, and griev- 
ances amicably allayed. 

The expense attending the establishment of his province, together with 
many acts of private beneficence, had so impaired the fortunes of Penn, 
that in 1708, "to clear a debt contracted for settling and improving said 
colonies," he was compelled to borrow about $30,000, (£6,600.) and secure 
the loan by a mortgage of the province. Thus early commenced the pecu- 
niary embarrassments of Pennsylvania. [The state is now pledged, if not 
mortgaged, for more than $40,000,000.] 

In 1712 he negotiated with Queen Anne for the transfer of the govern- 
ment of the province and territory to the crown, for which he was to re- 
ceive £12,000. A bill for the purpose was introduced in parliament, and 
a small portion of the money advanced ; but an apoplectic fit, which 
seized Penn this same year, so impaired his faculties, more especially his 
memory, that he was incapable of formally executing a transfer of the 
government according to agreement. This state of mind, although it 
continued for six years until his death, did not prevent " the happy enjoj^- 
ment of that divine mental felicity which resulted from the nature of his 
religion and manner of life." He died at Rushcomb, near Twyford, in 
Buckinghamshire, England, on the 30th July, 1718, aged about 74 years. 

By his will, his estates in Great Britain were devised to his eldest son, 
William, by the first wife. The government or jurisdiction of Pennsylva- 
nia and territories, was given in trust to the Earls of Oxford, Mortimer, 
and Powlet, to be disposed of to the queen, or any other person, to the 
best advantage. He appointed other trustees, in England and America, 
among whom Were Hill and Logan, for the purpose of paying his debts 
out of the proceeds of his lands in America, and distributing the surplus 
among his children. He expressed a wish in the will that his children 
should settle in Pennsylvania. The right of government was claimed by 
his eldest son, William, and the case was carried before the court of 
chancery, who, some years afterwards, decided that it should go with the 
personal estate, to the widow and children ; and the government was ac- 
cordingly afterwards administered by the children of the younger branch 
of the family. 

The affectionate patriarchal relation M'hich had subsisted between Penn 
and his colony ceased with his death , the interest which his family took 
in the affairs of the province was more mercenary in its character, and 
looked less to the establishment of great and pure principles of life and 
government. The widow, Hannah Penn, as executrix, had the manage- 
ment of the proprietary interest, during the minority of the heirs ; and 
for many years afterwards, her shrewd and powerful intellect was exerted 
in the appointment of governors, and the direction of the affairs of the 
colony. 

New principles of action had also sprung up in the colony. After the 



PROPRIETARY GOVERNMENT. 21 

predominance in England of the protestant succession, by the revolution 
of 1688, the Quakers were no longer compelled to go to America to avoid 
persecution ; while a new set of men, bent more upon maldng their for- 
tunes than upon the defence or promotion of high religious principle, were 
induced to emigrate. These were either of the Church of England, or 
Presbyterians from Scotland and Ireland, and were not averse to bearing 
arms. The adventurous traders of New England, too, trained in the 
school of puritan republicanism, were also coming to seek their gains in 
the genial climate of the south. Among these was the boy, Benjamin 
Franklin, the new master-spirit of Pennsylvania, who arrived in October, 
1723. The Mennonists, or German Baptists, a sect which adhered to the 
principle of non-resistance, persecuted in Europe, and driven from one 
country to another, sought the toleration of Penn's colony, and emigrated 
between the years 1698 and 1717 — many in the latter year — settling in 
Lancaster, Berks, and the upper parts of Chester county. The Dunkards, 
also a non-resistant sect, began to emigrate about the year 1718, and sub- 
sequently established a sort of monastery and convent, at Ephrata, in 
Lancaster county. The Lutheran Germans, who, on the other hand, were 
not averse to fighting when occasion required it, began now to emigrate 
in greater numbers, settling principally in Berks and Lancaster counties. 

Amid this great diversity of races, languages, sectarian and political 
prejudices, were early planted the seeds of strife that agitated the prov- 
ince for more than fifty years, and terminated only in the American 
revolution. 

On one side was the proprietary family, with their feudal prerogatives, 
their manors of 10,000 acres, their quit-rents, and baronial pomp, — alien- 
ated, in their sympathies, from the colony — preferring the luxuries of 
aristocratic life in England, to the unostentatious manners of the new 
world — ruling the colony by capricious deputies — and ever refusing to be 
taxed for the common defence of the country. On the other side was a 
hardy and enthusiastic band of colonists, free in this new world to de- 
velop the great principles of civil liberty, then just dawning upon the 
human mind — willing to bear their share of the pecuniary burdens of the 
frontier wars against the encroachments of the French, provided the pro- 
prietaries would consent to be equally taxed — a part of them burning to 
take up arms in defence of the colony, while the Quakers, and other non- 
resistant sects, w^ere equally zealous to promote peace. The village am- 
bition of Newcastle, the rival of Philadelphia, fostered the quarrel be- 
tween " the province" and " the territories ;" the tendency of colonial 
trade was always in opposition to the monopolizing spirit of the mother 
country ; and the tenants of the soil found a fruitful subject of contro- 
versy in the rents exacted by the proprietary government. 

About a year previous to Wm. Penn's death, Sir William Keith suc- 
ceeded Gookin as lieutenant-governor, (1717.) Keith was condescending, 
courteous, and crafty : he courted successfully the good will of the as- 
sembly and the people, and was equally successful in infusing harmony 
and useful activity into the public councils. The province certainly 
prospered under his administration ; but whenever the popular interest 
was opposed to that of the proprietaries, he openly espoused the popular 
side, at the expense of the other, and in opposition to the advice of the 
council, at the head of which were James Logan and Isaac Norris. In 



83 OUTLINE HISTORY. 

consequence of this propensity, Hannah Penn had him removed, and he 
then became the representative of the people in assembly, — but eventual^ 
ly lost their confidence, and returned in poverty to London. During his 
administr.ation, and with his approbation, the province first entered, in 
1723, upon the unfortunate experiment of issuing paper money, based 
upon real estate. The debates on this subject resembled much those of 
modern days. Logan and Norris, on the part of certain merchants, made 
ci most clear and able report in opposition to it, or rather in favor of 
greatly restricting the issue and the terms. The principles of their report 
have striking application to the paper money crisis of Pennsylvania in 
1841-43. During Keith's administration also, the Quakers, to their great 
Joy, procured a renewal and confirmation of the privilege of affirmation 
in place of an oath, and of the cherished privilege of wearing the hat 
whenever and wherever it suited them. 

Emigration from Germany and other parts greatly increased, so much 
at one time as to alarm Gov. Keith, lest the peace with the Indians might 
thereby be disturbed. A court of chancery was instituted by Gov. Keith, 
of which he was the chancellor. Keith was the complaisant but injudi- 
cious patron that induced the young printer, Ben Franklin, to try his for- 
tune — it had like to have been his misfortune — in London. 

Patrick Gordon succeeded Keith in 1726. His administration in gener- 
al was marked by tranquillity in the province, and harmony in the pub- 
lic councils : great improvements were carried on, and trade to the 
West Indies, Spain, and Portugal, as well as Great Britain, greatly in- 
creased. 

The enterprising public spirit of Benjamin Franklin now began to dis- 
play itself, by founding one of those monuments which will perpetuate 
his memory long after the plain marble slab that covers his grave shall 
have decayed. " The promotion of literature had been little attended to 
in Pennsylvania. Most of the inhabitants were too much immersed in 
business to think of scientific pursuits ; and those few whose inclinations 
led them to study, found it difficult to gratify them, for the want of libra- 
ries sufficiently large. The establishment of a public library was an im- 
portant event. This was first set on foot by Franklin, about the year 
1731. Fifty persons subscribed forty shillings each, and agreed to pay 
ten shillings annually. The number increased, and in 1742 the company 
was incorporated by the name of the Library Company of Philadelphia." 
The Penn family distinguished themselves by donations to it. 

In 1732 Thomas Penn, and in 1734 John Penn, his elder brother, both 
proprietors, arrived in the province, and received from the colonists and 
the assembly those marks of respect due to their station, and to the sons 
of the illustrious founder. Thomas Penn, soon after his arrival, aided by 
seven special commissioners, entered upon the adjustment of the southern 
boundary, and running the line, according to articles of agreement of 
10th May, 1732, between the proprietaries and Lord Baltimore. New 
points of dispute, however, arose : the question was again adjourned, and 
was not finally settled until 1761. John Penn returned to England in 
1735, to oppose the pretensions of Lord Baltimore ; but Thomas Penn 
remained for some years in the colony, spending his time much after the 
manner of an English country gentleman. He was cold and distant in 
his intercourse with society, and consequently unpopular. His moral 



PROPRIETARY GOVERNMENT. 23 

character, too, in a certain particular, was not above reproach.* In 
1733, public notice having been preyiously given in the papers, the fa- 
mous Indian walk was performed by Ed. Marshall. This walk was 
the cause of jealousies and heart-burnings among the Indians, that event- 
ually broke out in loud complaints of injustice, and atrocioas acts of 
savage vengeance. 

Gov. Gordon died in 1736, and for two years James Logan, as president 
of the council, administered the affairs of the province. He had frequent 
occasion to attempt to conciliate the Indians, then becoming more and 
more jealous of the crafty encroachments of the pale-faces. Benjamin 
Franklin was elected clerk of the assembly, in 173G. Many of the 
Schwenckfelders, a German sect, who had been driven out by persecution 
from Nether Silesia, arrived in the years 1733-.34, and settled about the 
sources of Perkiomen creek. The Moravians, from the same country, 
first began to emigrate about the year 1737 to 1740, settling at first in 
Georgia, and subsequently in the Forks of the Delaware. 

George Thomas, a West Indian planter, governed from 1738 until 1747, 
when he resigned. He was a man of talent and energy, but mistook at 
first the true character of the people over whom he presided. He incur- 
red the displeasure of the Quakers by pressing them too strongly and 
openly for military- subsidies ; an object which he afterwards learned to 
obtain more easily by stratagem and conciliation. He also gave offence 
by requiring the enlistment of indented servants — redemptioners, who had 
sold themselves to pay their passage across the ocean. In 1739, George 
Whitfield arrived in the province, and attracted thousands by his elo- 
quence. A lazaretto was erected in 1740, to accommodate sick emigrants. 

Thomas Penn, one of the proprietaries, returned to England in 1741. 
Respectful and conciliator}^ addresses were exchanged at his departure, 
between him and the assembly. On the death of his brother John, in 1746, 
he became the principal proprietor, possessing three fourths of the pro\T.nce. 
He died in 1775, 

In March, 1744, hostilities were openly declared between France and 
Great Britain. The peaceful era of Pennsylvania was now at an end, and 
the dark cloud of savage warfare began to gather on the western frontier. 
The lands acquired by the Indian walk, and by purchasing the Shawanees' 
lands without their consent, were now to be paid for by the blood of the colo- 
nists. The Delawares refused to leave the Forks of Delaware. The Six 
Nations were called on to order them off", which they did, in the overbear- 
ing tone of conquerors and masters. They retired to Wyoming, with the 
repeated wTongs rankling in their hearts. 

Dr. Franklin now became prominent as a public man, and published 
his "Plain Truth," to endeavor to conciliate the executive and assembly, 
and awake them both to the importance of military preparations. He 
was appointed a colonel, but declined : he preferred to wield the pen. 
Logan too, who justified defensive Avar, assisted the cause with his means. 

* See Watson's Annals, first edition, page 112. It should be recorded, however, to his credit, 
that when Lieut. Gov. Hamilton, havincr declared war against the Indians in 1756, had offered a 
reward for scalps, Thomas Penn promptly discountenanced the barbarous policy, proposing in- 
stead the " making prisoners of their wives and children as a means to oblige them to sue for 
peace, rather than that rewards should be offered for scalps, especially of the women, as it en- 
courages private murders." See Gordon, p. 322. He was also a very mumficent patron of the 
College of Philadelphia, of a library at Lancaster, and other literary institutions. 



24 OUTLINE HISTORY. 

On the resignation of Gov. Thomas, in 1747, the executive administration 
devolved on Anthony Palmer, president of council, until the arrival of 
James Hamilton — a son of Andrew Hamilton, former speaker — as lieu- 
tenant-governor, in November, 1749. 

An alarming crisis was at hand. The French, now hovering around 
the great lakes, sedulously applied themselves to seduce the Indians from 
their allegiance to the English. The Shawanees had already joined them ; 
the Delawares waited only for an opportunity to revenge their wrongs ; 
and of the Six Nations, the Onondagas, Cayugas, and Senecas were wa- 
vering. The French were fortifying the strong points on the Ohio. To 
keep the Indians in favor of the colony required much cunning diplomacy 
and expensive presents. In this alarming juncture, the old flame of civil 
dissension burst out with increased force. The presents to the Indians, 
with the erection of a line of forts along the frontier, and the maintenance 
of a military force, drew heavily upon the provincial purse. The assem- 
bly, the popular branch, urged that the proprietary estates should be taxed, 
as well as those of humble individuals. The proprietaries, through their 
deputies, refused, and pleaded prerogative, charter, and law : the assem- 
bly in turn pleaded equity, common danger, and common benefit, requir- 
ing a common expense. The proprietaries offered bounties in lands yet to 
be conquered from the Indians, and the privilege of issuing more paper 
money: the assembly wanted something more tangible. The assembly 
passed laws laying taxes, and granting supplies, but annexing conditions : 
the governors opposed the conditions, but were willing to aid the assem- 
bly in taxing the people, but not the proprietaries. Here were the germs of 
revolution, not fully matured until twenty years later. Dr. Franklin was 
now a member and leader in the assembly. In the mean time, the fron- 
tiers were left exposed, while these frivolous disputes continued. The 
pacific principles, too, of the Quakers, and Dunkards, and Mennonists, 
and Schwenckfelders, came in to complicate the strife ; but as the danger 
increased, they prudently kept aloof from public office, leaving the manage- 
ment of the war to sects less scrupulous. 

This state of feeling in the public councils continued not only during 
the administration of Gov. Hamilton, but also of his successors, Morris 
and Denny, until at last Benjamin Franklin, in London, secured the royal 
assent to a law taxing the proprietary estates, with certain modifications. 

The Scotch Irish, a pertinacious and pugnacious race, tired of waiting 
for the forms of land-offices, and treaties, and surveys, were pushing their 
settlements upon unpurchased lands about the Juniata, producing fresh 
exasperation among the Indians. Massacres ensued; the settlers were 
driven in below the mountains ; and the whole province was alive with 
the alarms and excitements of war. The governors during this crisis, 
until the year 1759, were James Hamilton, mentioned above ; Robert 
Hunter Morris, a lawyer from New Jersey, who succeeded him in 1754 ; 
and William Denny, who came from England in 1756, and continued until 
1759. They were generally able men, and might have been popular, 
had they not been shackled by the instructions of the proprietors, which 
they felt bound to defend, often probably in opposition to their better judg- 
ment. Denny at last yielded to the popular voice, and of course lost the 
confidence of the proprietors. It will be more convenient to follow the 



FRENCH WAR. 25 

events of the French war, without regard to the individuals holding the 
executive power. 

It is pleasant to record, in the midst of wars and rumors of wars, the 
founding of such an institution as the Pennsylvania Hospital, in 1751-54 ; 
and by the bequest of James Logan, who died in 1751, the establishment 
of the valuable Loganian Library. 

In 1749, sprang up the germ of the University of Pennsylvania, in the 
humble form of an academy and charitable school, supported by subscrip- 
tion; it was opened in 1750 as a Latin school, incorporated and endowed by 
""^the proprietaries in 1753 ; and in 1755 it received the additional honor of 
conferring degrees, under the title of " The College, Academy, and Charita- 
ble School of Philadelphia." 

The American Philosophical Society had been organized in 1743, under 
the auspices of Franklin and other kindred spirits. He commenced his 
remarkable experiments in electricity about the year 1745, and in 1747 
published a memoir upon the subject of positive and negative electricity. 
In 1749 he had suggested the probable agency of electricity in thunder- 
storms, and in the aurora borealis; and in 1752 he first succeeded in his 
brilliant experiment of drawing the electric spark from the clouds. 

The treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle, in October, 1748, as far as regarded Ame- 
rican affairs, was little better than an armistice. The French, in 1753, 
were busily extending their posts from the lake to the Ohio, and George 
Washington was sent on a mission to Fort Le Boeuf to inquire by what 
right these encroachments were made. He received an evasive answer ; 
but their intention was plain, to connect by a line of fortifications along 
the Ohio, their possessions on the lakes with those on the Mississippi, In 
1754 they pushed forward a thousand men and built Fort Duquesne, (Pitts- 
burg,) and forced Col. Washington, with a small detachment at the Great 
Meadows, to capitulate. 

In July, 1754, at Albany, the proprietors purchased of the Six Nations 
all the land within the state, not previously purchased, lying southwest 
of a line beginning one mile above the mouth of Penn's Creek, and run- 
ning northwest by west " to the western boundary of the state." So far, 
however, from striking the western, it struck the northern boundary a little 
west of Conewango creek. The Shawanees, Delawares, and Monseys, 
on the Susquehanna, Juniata, Allegheny, and Ohio rivers, thus found their 
lands " sold from under their feet," which the Six Nations had guarantied 
to them on their removal from the eastern waters. The Indians on the 
Allegheny at once went over to the French, and the blood of Braddock's 
soldiers was added to the price of the land. To allay the dissatisfaction 
resulting from this purchase, all the lands north and west of the Allegheny 
mountains were restored to the Indians by the treaty at Easton in 1758. 

The unfortunate expedition of Gen. Braddock against Fort Duquesne, 
took place in the summer of 1753. Doctor Franklin, then postmaster, 
eagerly seized the occasion to raise 150 w^agons and 250 pack-horses in 
aid of the expedition, by circulating advertisements through the German 
and Irish counties. Col. Washington accompanied Braddock's expedition 
as aid-de-camp. When the army had just crossed the Monongahela, 
within ten miles of Fort Duquesne, they were surprised by a party of 
French and Indians in ambush, and completely routed. Gen. Braddock 
was mortally wounded. This defeat was justly ascribed to the obstinacy 

4 



26 OUTLINE HISTORY. 

of Braddock in not permitting the provincial soldiers, as they desired, to 
fight the Indians in Indian fashion. 

Braddock's defeat spread consternation throughout the province ; the 
frontier was left exposed, and the defenceless settlers could only seek 
safety by flight. The assembly and the governor disputed, and supplies 
were onlv obtained by patriotic subscriptions. 

The whole frontier, from the Delaware to the Potomac, was now lighted 
with the blaze of burning cottages. The Indians, now joined by the 
Delawares, roamed unmolested among the passes of the mountain, lay- 
ing waste all the settlements beyond the Kittatinny Mountain, making 
inroads upon those below, and butchering the settlers. Gnadenhutten, 
Mahanoy, Tulpehocken, and the hamlets in the lovely limestone coves 
west of the Susquehanna, were all reduced to ashes. The peaceful Mo- 
ravians of Bethlehem cheerfully fortified their town, and took yp arms in 
self-defence. Franklin, too, now consented to take up the sword, and with 
his son William, and a regiment of five hundred men, proceeded to the 
Lehigh and superintended the erection of the line of forts. The Six Na- 
tions still remained neutral, and their mediation was solicited to recover, 
if possible, the lost allegiance of the Shawanees and Delawares, In this 
they were successful. 

The proprietors, alarmed by Braddock's defeat, now came forward and 
offered a donation for defence of £5,000, to be collected from arrears of 
quit-rents ; but they refused to grant it on any other ground than as a free 
gift. The assembly, in 1756, waived their rights for a time, in considera- 
tion of the distressed state of the province, and passed a bill to strike 
£30,000 in bills of credit, based upon the excise. This was approved by 
the governor. 

In 1756 the forts along the frontier were garrisoned by twenty-five com- 
panies, in all amounting to 1,400 men. Col. Armstrong, in the autumn of 
the same year, at the head of three hundred men, crossed the Allegheny 
Mountains and cut off" the Indian town of Kittanning. This drove the 
hostile Indians beyond the Allegheny river. In the following year the 
assembly again yielded to the pressure of the general danger and distress, 
and consented to pass another bill for raising b}'' tax £100,000, with the 
exemption of the proprietary estates. They, however, sent Benjamin 
Franklin, as provincial agent, to London, to lay their grievances*before the 
king.* 

In November, 1756, a grand council was held at Easton, between 
Teedyuscund and other Indian chiefs and warriors on the one part, and 
Governor Denny on the other. Teedyuscund, who was the chief speaker 
on this occasion, supported the rights of the Indians with great dignity 
and spirit. The conference continued nine days. All matters of differ- 
ence were inquired into, particularly in relation to the Indian walk, and 

* The famous Review of the History of Pennsylvania, written by Franklin, was published in 
London, anon)miously, in 1759. It is an able argument in favor of the popular side of the ques- 
tions at issue between the proprietors and the assembly, bearing many marks of Franklin's cunning 
and sarcasm, as well as his power of argument ; but it cannot be otherwise esteemed than as 
a partial and one-sided statement. Franklin, on account of his official station, could not be 
known as the author, and it long passed as the production of James Ralph, who had been a 
writer of some note in the province, and was then in London, 



FRENCH WAR CLOSED. ^7 

the lands on the W. Branch and Penn's cr. purchased in 1754. A treaty 
of peace was concluded with the Delawares. 

Another conference was held at Lancaster, in 1757, with some of the 
chiefs of the Six Nations, but the Senecas and Delawares of the Ohio re- 
fused to attend, on Col. Croghan's invitation. 

As a result of Dr. Franklin's exertions in London, the influence of Wm. 
Pitt's comprehensive mind was now extended over America, and affairs in 
the colonies assumed a different aspect. Abercrombie was appointed 
commander-in-chief, and Amherst second in command, aided by Brigadiers 
Wolfe and Forbes. The French were vigorously attacked on the northern 
frontiers of New York. General Forbes was charged with an expedition 
against Fort Duquesne, to be aided by the provincial troops of Pennsylva- 
nia and Virginia, under Cols. Washington and Bouquet. Washington 
strongly urged the road cut by Braddock (now the great Cumberland 
road) as the most favorable route ; but the Pennsylvanians were bent 
upon the policy of securing a new road exclusively through their prov- 
ince, and they prevailed. The road is now the Chambersburg and Pitts- 
burg turnpike. Many weeks were consumed in cutting the road ; but 
at length the army, consisting of 7,859 men, penetrated the thick forest, 
and on reaching the Ohio, found the fort abandoned by the French, who 
had fled down the river, relinquishing forever their dominion in Pennsyl- 
vania. The fort was rebuilt, and received the immortal name of Pitt. 
The main body of the army returned, and were quartered in different 
parts of the province. 

Another council was held at Easton in the autumn of 1758, at which 
the chiefs, both of the Six Nations and the Delawares, were present, and 
met the agents of Pennsylvania and New Jersey, and Mr; Croghan, the 
agent of Sir William Johnson. The causes of the late war were fully 
discussed ; complaints of the Indians concerning land were listened to, 
and all differences amicably adjusted ; and a message Was sent by the Six 
Nations ordering the Shawanees and Twigtwees, on the Ohio, to desist 
from their hostilities, on penalty of being attacked by them. Teedyus- 
cund, at this treaty, received one of those insulting taunts from the Six 
Nations by which they too often exhibited their national superiority ; 
taunts, however, which were deeply revenged upon the whites in after 
years, when the Delawares had thrown off the galling yoke. Teedyus- 
cund, however, supported his station with dignity and firmness, and re- 
fused to succumb ; and the different Indian tribes at length became recon- 
ciled to each other. General Forbes died in Philadelphia, worn out by 
the fatigues of the campaign. 

Franklin struggled and negotiated for two or three years in London 
against the proprietary influence, without success ; but at length, bring- 
ing to bear upon the subject his favorite engine, the press, he succeeded 
in 1759 in obtaining the royal assent, with some modification, to a bill 
which the assembly had passed, and Gov. Denny, wearied with opposi- 
tion, had assented to ; — although the proprietaries had opposed it before 
the privy council. Gov. Denny's acquiescence in this bill cost him his 
place. James Hamilton, the former lieutenant-governor, succeeded him in 
1759. 

Pennsylvania M^as again blessed with peace, which continued until 
1763 : her pioneers resumed the implements of agriculture, — temples of 



29 OUTLINE HISTORY. 

religion were erected. The French were entirely driven from the north- 
western frontier, and a treaty of peace between Great Britain, France, 
and Spain, was concluded in 1762, by which Canada became a British 
province. Parliament had promptly agreed to reimburse the colonies for 
the expenses of the war, and Dr. Franklin received and invested the first 
instalment of £26,000 in London. The doctor having secured the remo- 
val of the great cause of dissension in the province, returned home loaded 
with honors, to receive the gratitude of his constituents. He resumed 
his seat in the assembly, and was presented by them with £500 per year 
for his services in London. 

After a long series of delays and altercations between the parties, the 
boundary line between Pennsylvania and Maryland was finally Jeter- 
mined, according to the original agreement in 1732, between the proprie- 
taries. In ] 767, Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon, two distinguished 
mathematicians and astronomers, were employed to run the line, and 
erect stone pillars at conspicuous points. Mason and Dixon's line has 
since been famous, as marking the division between the free and slave 
states. 

-^ The short calm was succeeded by a terrific storm. The Indians around 
the great lakes, and on the Ohio, had cheerfully connived at the estab- 
lishment of the French chain of forts from Presqu'isle to the Monongahela, 
so long as they proved an obstacle to the encroachments of the English ; 
but they now saw the English in possession of Canada, and this same 
chain of forts occupied as outposts, from which further encroachments 
might be made towards the west. The forts themselves were an intru- 
sion ; for the lands upon which they stood had never yet been purchased 
from the Indians, or if purchased, had been restored. The boundary of 
Indian purchases was still more than a hundred miles nearer the Atlan- 
tic. Other settlements, too, were built on the Susquehanna, on Indian 
lands. The great Pontiac had conceived the gigantic plan of uniting all 
the northwestern tribes in a simultaneous and vigorous attack upon the 
whole frontier. Utter extermination was their object. The forts were 
to be taken by stratagem, by separate parties, on the same day. The 
border settlements were to be invadied during harvest, — and men, crops, 
cattle, and cabins, were to be destroyed. The English traders among the 
Indians were the first victims : out of one hundred and twenty, only two 
or three escaped. The frontier settlements, among and near the moun- 
tains, were overrun with scalping parties, marking their track with blood 
and fire. The forts of Presqu'isle, Le Boeuf, Venango, St. Joseph, and 
MichiliiTiackinac, were taken, with a general slaughter of their garrisons. 
Those of Bedford, Ligonier, Detroit, and Pitt, were preserved with great 
difficulty. It was intended to assault Fort Ligonier, and thus, by cutting 
ofi" supplies, to reduce Fort Pitt by famine. Col. Bouquet was promptly 
despatched by Gen. Amherst to the relief of Fort Pitt, with a large quan- 
tity of provisions under a strong escort. He was fiercely attacked by the 
enemy at Bushy Run, but defeated them with great slaughter, and suc- 
ceeded in reaching Fort Pitt in time to save it. Consternation spread 
throughout all the settlements on the Juniata and the Susquehanna, and 
the dismayed inhabitants, with their children and flocks, sought shelter 
at Shippensburg, Carlisle, Lancaster, and Reading. 

The garrison at Fort Augusta (Sunbury) was reinforced; and Col 



INDIAN WARS. 3© 

Armstrong, with about three hundred volunteers from Cumberland and 
Bedford counties, went up and routed several parties of hostile Indians 
on the west branch. 

These expeditions warded off the attack from the settlements of the 
Connecticut men, who had already gathered in considerable numbers 
into the Wyoming valley. In October, however, of the same year, they 
suffered in their turn. A party of the Six Nations having stealthily 
murdered Teedyuscund the Delaware chief, and burnt his cabin, per- 
suaded the Delawares that it was done by the whites. The Delawares, 
hitherto peaceable neighbors, butchered about thirty of the Wyoming 
settlers while at work in the fields, and after the remainder had escaped 
in dismay to the mountains, set fire to their dwellings, and drove away 
their flocks. 

It is painful to record the details of savage barbarity ; but it is more 
painful to be obliged to confess, that the atrocities of the Indians in this 
war were fully equalled, if not exceeded, by those committed by some of 
the whites. Some of the Scotch Irish settlers in Paxton and Donnegal town 
ships in Lancaster county, generally known since that event as the Pax 
ton boys, had suffered exceedingly by marauding parties of Indians ; and 
they suspected some secret collusion between the hostile tribes of the 
west, and the Christian Indian settlements among the Moravians, and a 
little isolated tribe of friendly Indians, living on Conestoga manor in 
Lancaster county. They therefore determined to exterminate every In- 
dian within their reach. Commencing with the Conestoga Indians, they 
butchered a number of women and children and old men in cold blood : 
the other Indians were not at home at the time ; and when they learned 
the fate of their relatives, they sought protection in the old jail at Lan- 
caster. Here again their relentless persecutors found them, and, in defi- 
ance of the magistrates, put them all to death, sparing neither age nor 
sex. The Moravian Indians escaped to Philadelphia, where they were 
effectually protected, although the men of Paxton threatened a descent 
upon the city to take them. Other equally barbarous murders were com- 
mitted by whites on the Susquehanna. Such was the state of feeling 
along the frontier towards the Indians, that the perpetrators of these bar- 
barities were never brought to justice. 

On the 30th October, 1763, John Penn, grandson of William Penn, and 
son of Richard, arrived from England as lieutenant-governor. His father 
and his uncle Thomas, the proprietors, were still living in England. An 
earthquake at Philadelphia marked the day of John Penn's arrival, and 
many regarded it as an ill omen. General Gage had determined to repel 
the invasion of the Indians by carrying the war into their own country, 
and Col. Bouquet was to proceed with a small army against the Dela- 
wares and Shawanees beyond the Ohio. Governor Penn applied himself 
Avith vigor to second the movements of General Gage, and urged the as- 
sembly for the usual supplies. It should here be recollected that all the 
Penn family had long since left the Society of Friends, and entertained 
no scruples whatever against war, offensive or defensive. It creates a 
feeling of sadness to know that this grandson of William Penn, in the 
very city of brotherly love itself, in July, 1764, offered, by proclamation, 
the following bounties for the capture, or scalps and death of Indians :* 

* Gordon, p. 438. 



30 OUTLINE HISTORY. 

"For every male above the age of ten years, captured, $150; scalped, 
being killed, $134 ; for every female Indian enemy, and every male under 
the age of ten years, captured. $130 ; for every female above the age of 
ten years, scalped, being killed, $50 !'' " O / quam mutatus ah illo /" 

Bouquet's expedition to the Muskingum, in the autumn of 1764, over- 
awed the Indians, Mho sued for peace. The Delawares, Shawanees, and 
Senecas agreed to cease hostilities, and surrendered a great number of 
prisoners taken during the recent wars. The return of these prisoners^ 
many of whom were children, carried joy to many an anxious heart in 
Pennsylvania, Some of the prisoners had formed attachments among 
the Indians which they were loth to break. 

The first application to the assembly for supplies revived the old con- 
troversy M'ith the proprietaries. Indeed, harmony was scarcely to be 
expected between one of the proprietary family as governor, on one side, 
and Dr. Franklin, the champion of equal rights and equal burdens, in the 
assembly, on the other. That the proprietary estates were to be taxed, 
was a question settled ; but how, and upon what basis they were to be 
assessed, was a subject of controversy, and the proprietaries, as usual, 
leaned strongly to their own interests. The assembly were compelled to 
yield to the necessities of the province, and the supplies were granted ; 
but the conduct of the governor so incensed the assembly, that they de- 
termined, by a large ma,iority. to petition the king to purchase the juris- 
diction of the province from the proprietors, and vest the government 
directly in the crown. This petition, drawn up by Franklin, set forth in 
a strong light the increasing property, and its consequence, the increasing 
power of the proprietaries, and the danger to be apprehended from the 
existence of such a third power intervening between the crown and the 
people, and frustrating the designs of both, by refusing to contribute their 
just proportion of the public burdens. Here M'as a most important step 
towards the revolution. To break down the feudal power, and bring the 
people and the crown in direct communication, is in all countries the first 
great step towards popular freedom, and prepares the way for the next 
step, the direct conflict between the crown and the people. It so hap- 
pened, however, that in this case the avarice of the British ministry out- 
ran the anti-feudal propensities of the people, and brought the colonies 
at once to the last great struggle between the people and the cro\\Ti. 
There was much opposition from leading men in the province against 
throwing otf the proprietary dominion. Isaac Norris, the venerable 
speaker, John Dickinson, afterwards distinguished in the revolution, and 
Rev. Gilbert Tennant. and Rev. Francis Allison, representing the Presby- 
terian interest, with William Allen, chief-justice, and afterwards father- 
in-law of Governor Penn, were strong in opposition to the measure. The, 
Quakers, on the other hand, supported it, and it was sustained by several 
successive assemblies. Dr. Franklin was appointed provincial agent to 
urge the measure before the ministry in London. He sailed for England 
November 1. 1764. and found on his arrival that he had to contend with 
a power far stronger and more obstinate than the proprietors themselves ; 
even with the very power whose protection he had come to seek. 

The British ministry, awakened by the events of the late war to the 
growing wealth of the colonies, were tempted to look to that wealth as 
an object of taxation, for the double purpose of replenishing the exhausted 



REVOLUTION. 31 

coffers of the mother country, and of adding to her pampered monopolies 
the dxclusive trade and manufacture for colonial consumption. This in- 
volved the great question of the propriety of taxing a people without 
their consent, and without allowing them a representation in the parlia- 
ment laying the tax — the great question of the American revolution. 
The methods of assessing the tax and securing the monopoly in trade 
and manufacture, involved petty vexations and grievances, felt by every 
individual, and enlisting his cooperation in resistance. The proprietary 
controversies were lost sight of in the great struggle, which created new 
lines of party division. Dr. Franklin, as agent for all the American colo- 
nies, labored earnestly, but in vain, to avert these fatal measures. The 
odious stamp act was passed on the 22d March, 1765. Franklin wrote 
to Charles Thompson on this occasion, " The sun of liberty is set, you must 
light up the candles of industry and economy." Mr. Thompson " was 
apprehensive that other lights would be the consequence." Dr. Franklin, 
with a view to place the execution of the act in proper hands, got his 
friend, John Hughes, nominated as stamp officer at Philadelphia. On 
the arrival at Philadelphia, in October, 1765, of the stamps from Eng- 
land, the vessels hoisted their colors at half-mast ; bells were muffled, 
and thousands of citizens assembled in a state of great excitement. Mr. 
Hughes was called on to resign his commission ; but he only agreed for 
the present not tp perform the duties of the office. The inhabitants, de- 
termining not to encourage monopoly, determined to manufacture for 
themselves. This touched a vital chord in Great Britain, and the clamors 
of her own manufacturers were raised in opposition to the oppressive 
acts. The stamp act was repealed on 18th March, 1765; but the right 
of taxation by parliament was reaffirmed, 

The lawless white men on the frontiers continued to encroach upon 
the Indian lands, and to provoke hostilities by atrocious murders of inof- 
fensive Indians. Another savage war menaced the province in 1767-68, 
but was prevented by the timely intervention of Sir William Johnson. 
At his suggestion a great council was held at Fort Stanwix, in New 
York, at which all grievances were adjusted ; and a treaty was made, 
November 5, 1768, with the Six Nations, which conveyed to the proprie- 
tors all the land within a boundary extending from the New York line 
pn the Susquehanna, past Towanda and Pine creek, up the West Branch, 
over to Kittanning and thence down the Ohio. This was then called the 
new purchase, and opened a wide field of adventure to the hardy pioneers 
of Pennsylvania. It was a vast school too, in which some of the bravest 
.soldiers of the subsequent wars were reared. 

The revolution moved onward. Parliament still asserted its suprema- 
cy, and resolved to try a different mode of taxation. Duties were im- 
posed on goods imported from Great Britain ; but the colonies would ac- 
cede to no measure that proposed to tax them without their consent. John 
Dickinson published a series of able letters signed " A Farmer," showing 
the extreme danger to the liberties of the colonists of acquiescing in any 
precedent that should establish the right of parliamentary taxation. 
Massachusetts addressed a circular to the colonies, setting forth their 
grievances, and recapitulating the arguments against the proposed tax. 
Gov. Penn had orders from the secretary of colonial affairs to enjoin the 
assembly tp disregard this circular as factious, and of dangerous tendencv. 



gg OUTLINE HISTORY. 

and to prorogue the assembly, should they countenance it. The assembly 
resolved that they had a right to sit on their own adjournments, and to 
correspond with the other colonies concerning the general welfare ; and 
they seconded cordially a recommendation from Virginia for a union of 
the colonies, to obtain, by respectful representations to his majesty, a re- 
dress of grievances. In 1769 the taxes were greatly reduced, and in 
1770 were abolished, except three-pence per pound upon tea. It was the 
principle, however, and not the amount of the tax, against which the 
colonists contended ; and they now brought their non-importation agree- 
ments to bear upon the tea tax. In Pennsylvania the duty was paid on 
only a single chest of tea. 

The assembly continued to urge their agents in London to protest 
against the tea tax, or any other involving the same principle ; and also 
to oppose any plan that might be proposed for an American representa- 
tion in parliament : the principle of Pennsylvania being, that taxation of 
the colonies should not in any shape be allowed, except by the provincial 
assembly. 

The rights of Pennsylvania were now attacked from a different quarter. 
A civil war, on a small scale, had been carried on, for some years, in the 
Wyoming valley, between the claimants under the proprietary titles, and 
a company of adventurous colonists from Connecticut, who claimed under 
the ancient charter granted in 1620 to the Plymouth Company by King 
James I. This grant comprehended all the territory lying in the same 
latitude with Connecticut and Massachusetts, as far west as the Pacific 
Ocean, not previously settled by other Christian powers. The Connecticut 
people had settled on the lands at Wyoming as early as 1762. In 1768, 
the proprietary government, having obtained the land by the treaty of 
Fort Stanwix, laid out the valley in manors, and encouraged settlers to 
build and cultivate there. A brisk little war immediately ensued ; forts 
were built and attacked ; settlements were burned, and goods and cattle 
carried away, as one or the other party prevailed. And even a small ar- 
my of seven hundred men, in December, 1775, under the sheriff' of North- 
umberland county, were vigorously attacked and repulsed by the Con- 
necticut men at the Nanticoke falls, in a narrow defile where the river 
breaks through the mountains. 

In view of an opposition so formidable, and of the bloodshed and dis- 
tress that must necessarily follow the expnlsion by force of a body of set- 
tlers so numerous, and so firmly planted, Pennsylvania wisely forbore to 
assert her claims, and determined to wait a favorable opportunity for sub- 
mitting the question to an umpire. The details will be found under the 
head of Luzerne county. 

The strife between the Connecticut men and the Pennsylvanian clain»- 
ants annoyed the Moravian Indian settlement at Wyalusing, on the Sus- 
quehanna, and caused them to remove in a body to the Ohio, near 
Beaver. 

In 1771, John Penn having returned to England, Mr. James Hamilton 
administered for a short time as president of the council, until the arrival 
of Richard Penn (younger brother of John) as lieutenant-governor, in 
the autumn of the same year. Richard Penn's administration only con- 
tinued until the return of his brother John, in September, 1773 ; but he 
appears during that short term to have won the sincere affections of his 



REVOLUTION. 3;^ 

fellow-citizens, and to have been on courteous and harmonious terms 
with the assembly. The citizens of Philadelphia gave him a splendid 
banquet on his retirement. 

It is remarkable that Pennsylvania, bounded on one end by a broad 
river, and on the other end and the two sides by long straight lines of 
longitude and latitude, should be so often engaged in disputes concerning 
her boundaries. In 1774 Lord Dunmore, of Virginia, set up the unfound- 
ed pretension that the western boundary of Pennsylvania did not include 
Pittsburg and the Monongahela river, and many settlers were encouraged 
to take up lands on Virginia warrants. He even took possession of Fort 
Pitt, by his agent Conolly, on the withdrawal of the royal troops by or- 
der of General Gage. Even General Washington, who knew that country 
so well, and had taken up much land in it, entertained the idea probably 
at that date, that what are now the counties of Fayette, Greene, and 
Washington, were in Virginia. Some of these new settlers were of the 
worst class of frontier men, and two of them, Cresap and Greathouse, 
were concerned in the barbarous murder of the family of Logan, " the 
friend of the white man." A bloody war upon the frontier was the con- 
sequence of these murders ; but Pennsylvania, by timely conciliatory 
measures through Sir Wm. Johnson, escaped the ravages of that war. 
Gov. Penn promptly repelled the intruders under the Virginia titles, ar- 
rested and imprisoned Conolly, and kept in pay for some months the ran- 
gers of Westmoreland county, who had rallied for the defence of the 
frontier. Lord Dunmore's war against the western Indians followed the 
attack on the frontiers of Virginia. 

In 1773 a new era commenced in the American revolution. The per- 
verse determination of parliament to tax the colonies was again mani- 
fested. So long as the Americans refrained from all importations of tea, 
Great Britain might solace herself with the ideal right of taxation, with- 
out danger of provoking collision in the colonies. But to test the right 
by actual exercise, parliament encouraged the East India Company to 
make a forced exportation of tea to each of the principal ports in the 
colonies. This insidious attempt upon their liberties aroused the indig- 
nation of the colonists from New Hampshire to Georgia. At Boston, the 
tea was throwm overboard by the people. At Charleston, it was allow^ed 
to rot in a damp warehouse. The consignees in Philadelphia, New 
York, and several other places, were compelled to relinquish their ap- 
pointments ; and the commanders of the ships, finding no one to receive 
their cargoes, returned to England. The course of Pennsylvania was 
l^ld and firm, but temperate. A meeting at Philadelphia passed resolu- 
tions denouncing the duty on tea as a tax laid without their consent — 
l^d for the express purpose of establishing the right to tax — and asserting 
ttmt this method of providing a revenue for the support of government, 
the administration of justice, and defence of the colonies, had a direct 
tendency to render assemblies useless, and to introduce arbitrary govern- 
ment and slavery — arid that steady opposition to this plan was necessary, 
to preserve even the shadow of liberty. They denounced all who should 
aid in landing or selling the tea as enemies to their country, and enjoined 
the consignees to resign their appointment. 

The indignation of Great Britain poured itself out exclusively upon Bos- 
ton, where the opposition had been most violent. That port was closed, 



34 OUTLINE HISTORY. 

and its privileges transferred to Salem. The people of all the colonies 
sympathized with the people of Boston, and made common cause with 
them in denouncing this new act of oppression. The people of Philadel- 
phia recommended to those of Boston that all lenient measures for their 
relief should at first be tried — -assuring them, at the same time, that 
" the people of Pennsylvania would continue firmly to adhere to the cause 
of American liberty." 

The governor was requested to convene the assembly. This of course 
was refused ; but the people in those days were never at a loss for meth- 
ods of popular action. A mass meeting of the people, consisting of nearly 
eight thousand, assembled on the 18th June, 1774, of which John Dickin- 
son and Thomas Willing were chairmen. This meeting recommended 
a continental congress, and appointed a committee to correspond with the 
counties, and with the other colonies, in relation to the appointment of 
deputies to a general congress, and also to raise a subscription for the 
sutferers at Boston, A convention of deputies from all the counties of 
the province assembled at Philadelphia on the 15th July, and passed a 
great number of patriotic resolutions ; — and among others, " that they 
owed allegiance to George the Third ; and that they ardently desired 
the restoration of their ancient harmony with the mother country, on 
the principles of the constitution — that the inhabitants of the colonies 
were entitled to the same rights and liberties within the colonies, as sub- 
jects born in England were entitled to within that realm." They also in- 
structed the assembly, soon about to convene, pointing out the course to 
be taken by them in the present crisis, and enjoining upon them to ap- 
point deputies to a general colonial congress. These instructions were 
drawn by John Dickinson, and were presented to the assembly by the 
convention in a body. The following extract shows the spirit that ani- 
mated the patriots of that day : 

" Honor, justice, and hximanity, call upon us to hold, and to transmit to our posterity, that 
liberty which we received from our ancestors. It is not our duty to leave wealth to our children, 
but it is our duty to leave liberty to them. No infamy, iniquity, or cruelty can exceed our own, 
if we, bom and educated in a country of freedom, entitled to its blessings, and knowing their 
value, pusillanimously deserting the post assigned us by Divine Providence, surrender succeeding 
generations to a condition of wretchedness from which no human efforts, in all probability, will 
be sufficient to extricate them, — the experience of all states mournfully demonstrating to us, that 
when arbitrary .power has been established over them, even the wisest and bravest nations that 
ever flourished have, in a few years, degenerated into abject and wretched vassals. 

" To us, therefore, it appears at this alarming period our duty to God, to our country, to our- 
selves, and to our posterity, to exert our utmost abihty in promoting and establishing harmony 
between Great Britain and these colonies, o\ a cqnstitutionai, fqundation." 

Thus, with loyalty on their lips, but with the spirit of resistance ^ 
their hearts, did these patriots push forward the revolution. The assem- 
bly promptly responded to the instructions, by appointing Joseph Ga^- 
way, (the speaker.) Samuel Rhoads, Thomas Mitflin, Charles Humphrres, 
George Ross, Edward Biddle, and subsequently John Dickinson, as dele- 
gates from Pennsylvania to the congress to be held in Philadelphia in 
September, 1774. 

Peyton Randolph was chosen president of congress, and Charles Thomp- 
son secretary. This congress recommended sympathy and aid to the 
peof)le of Boston ; approved of their resistance to the oppressive port-bill ; 
adopted resolutions prohibiting the importation of goods from Great 
Britain and dependencies after the ensuing December, and all exports to 



REVOLUTION. 35 

Great Britain after September 10, 1775, unless the grievances should 
sooner be redressed ; recommended the appointment of committees of 
superintendence and correspondence, in the several counties and towns ; 
adopted a declaration of rights, an address to the people of Great Britain, 
a memorial to the inhabitants of British America, and a loyal address to 
his majesty ; and then adjourned, to meet in Philadelphia in May fol- 
lowing. 

The next assembly of Pennsylvania, composed of a large proportion 
of Quakers, promptly seconded the resolves of congress ; and appointed 
a new delegation, consisting of Messrs. Biddle, Dickinson, Mifflin, Hum- 
phries, Morton, and Ross, of the former delegation, to whom were subse- 
quently added Dr, Franklin, James Wilson, and Thomas Willing. Dr. 
Franklin returned from London 14th May, 1775. 

During the gathering of the storm. Gov. Penn looked calmly on, rather 
disposed to favor the pretensions of the colony, but preserving a semblance 
of respect for the instructions of the crown, by disapproving of the mode 
of obtaining a redress of grievances by conventions and congress, and 
preferring the channel of the regular assemblies. Overtures from par- 
liament for a compromise were transmitted by Gov. Penn to the assembly. 
These overtures, while they conceded to the colonial assemblies the right 
to assess and collect their own taxes, left it with parliament to dictate 
the amount to be raised ; and it was hoped, by inducing some one or two 
colonies to accept them, to dissolve the confederacy. The overtures 
were rejected promptly by all the colonies, and the assembly of Pennsyl- 
vania disavovv^ed, as disgraceful, any intention to accept of benefits for 
this province, which might injure the common cause ; " and which, by a 
generous rejection for the present, might be finally secured to all." 

A second provincial convention at Philadelphia, in January, 1775, of 
w^hich Joseph Reed was president, was called to enforce the pledge of 
non-importation ; to encourage the establishment of domestic manufac- 
tures, and the raising of wool and other raw materials of manufacture ; — 
the making of salt, saltpetre, and especially gunpowder, " inasmuch as 
there existed a great necessity for it, particularly in the Indian trade!" 
The committee of safety and correspondence for Philadelphia was made 
a standing committee for the whole province, and authorized to convene 
a provincial convention whenever they might deem it expedient. 

The year 1774 had closed with loud expressions of constitutional loy- 
alty to Great Britain : the spring of 1775 opened with the roar of revolu- 
tionary cannon. The battle of Lexington was fought April 19th, 1775; 
a British army, with Generals Howe, Burgoyne, and Clinton, arrived at 
Boston on the 25th May; and on the 17th of June the battle of Bunker 
Hill was fought. 

Congress reassembled in Philadelphia, on the 10th of May. Peyton 
Randolph, after a few days, being obliged to return home, John Hancock 
took his place as president. Congress soon proceeded to the organiza- 
tion of an army, but still desiring reconciliation with Great Britain, de- 
termined that " an humble and dutiful petition be presented to his majes- 
ty." " To resist and to petition were coeval resolutions." The petition 
to his majesty was drawn and urged upon congress, by John Dickinson* 
Many members opposed it on the ground that it w^ould be of no avail, 
but it was carried out of respect to Mr. Dickinson. This respectful pe* 



36 OUTLINE HISTORY. 

tition was presented to the king, through the secretary for colonial affairs, 
on the 1st of September, 1775, by Mr. Richard Penn and Henry Lee; 
and on the 4th Lord Dartmouth informed them that "to it no answer 
would be given." 

Gen, Washington was placed at the head of the army. A post-office 
department was organized, at the head of which Benjamin Franklin was 
placed. The assembly of Pennsylvania immediately took measures to 
raise the four thousand three hundred men apportioned to the province ; 
made appropriations for their support, for the defence of the city, and for 
the purchase of saltpetre. Bills of credit were issued amounting to 
£35,000, redeemable by a tax on real and personal estate. A general 
committee of safety was appointed for the province, with power to call 
out the troops, to pay and support them, and to organize subordinate com- 
mittees in every county. This committee at once assumed the executive 
powers of the province. A military association for mutual defence, with 
branches in each county, had been previously formed. The subordinate 
committees in the interior promptly attended to raising and organizing 
their respective quotas of men and officers. The members of the central 
committee were Benjamin Franklin, president, John Dickinson, George 
Gray, Henry Wynkoop, Anthony Wayne, Benjamin Bartholomew, George 
Ross, Michael Svvope, John Montgomery, Edward Biddle, William Ed- 
monds, Bernard Dougherty, Samuel Hunter, William Thompson, Thomas 
"Willing, Daniel Roberdeau, John Cadwallader, Andrew Allen, Owen 
Biddle, Francis Johnston, Richard Reilly, Samuel Morris, junior, Robert 
Morris, Thomas Wharton, junior, and Robert White. After the election 
in October, these gentlemen were reappointed, and Joseph Reed, Nicho- 
las Fairlamb, George Clymer, Samuel Howell, Alexander Wilson, John 
Nixon, James Mease, and James Biddle, were added to the committee. 

The Quakers were severely exercised by the peculiar duties required 
of them by the committee of safety and the military associations. They 
were required either to take up arms, which they would not do, or con- 
tribute to the support of those who did. The latter they would probably 
have cheerfully done, in some indirect manner, if left to do it voluntarily ; 
but an attempt to coerce them had the effect of alienating many of the 
sect, and attaching them to the royal side. There were distinguished 
men, however, of that sect among the patriots of" the revolution; and 
many rriore favored the cause. Gen. Washington was always careful to 
conciliate the Quakers, for he saw that they were conscientiously loyal 
" to the powers that be," and that if once they were convinced that the 
American government was firmly established, they would adhere to it 
with equal loyalty. 

The assembly authorized the enlistment of a battalion of eight compa- 
nies for the continental service, under Col. John Bull, and 1,500 men for 
the defence of the province, until January, 1778; forming two battalions 
of riflemen under Col. Miles, and Lieut. Cols. Ennion Williams, and 
Daniel Broadhead; and one battalion of infantry under Col. Samuel 
Atlee. 

Congress had resolved in May, 1775, "That it be recommended to the 
respective assemblies and conventions of the united colonies, where no 
government sufficient to the exigencies of their affairs has been hitherto 
Established, to adopt such government as shall, in the opinions of the re- 



STATE CONSTITUTION OF 1776. 37 

presentatives of the people, best conduce to the happiness and safety of 
their constituents in particular, and America in general," 

The whigs were determined upon a change of government in Pennsyl- 
vania in pursuance of this resolve. More moderate men, and the tories, 
determined that the ancient charter wsls " sufficient for the exigencies 
of their affairs." Revolution, however, was the order of the day, 
and the whigs prevailed, and determined further, that the assembly, 
shackled as its members were by oaths of allegiance to the crown and 
the ancient charter, should have no hand in the formation of the new 
provincial government. Through the Philadelphia committee of obser- 
vation and correspondence, a conference was called of delegates from all 
the county committees. This conference assembled at Philadelphia on 
the 18th June, 1776. Thomas McKean was president ; Col. Joseph Hart 
vice-president ; Jonathan B. Smith and Samuel Morris secretaries. Each 
county was allowed but a single vote. The conference prescribed the 
mode of electing delegates to a great provincial convention for forming 
a new constitution, and the qualifications of electors who might vote for 
delegates ; and in a solemn and temperate address to the people, (re- 
ported by Messrs. Benjamin Rush, McKean, Hill, and Smith,) set forth 
the objects and importance of the measure. All persons suspected, or 
publicly denounced as enemies to the liberties of America, and all who 
would not abjure allegiance to the king of Great Britain, were excluded 
from voting. The delegates to the convention were further required to 
believe in the Holy Trinity, and the divine inspiration of the Scriptures. 
The meeting of convention was fixed for the 8th July. 

Previous to the assembling of the provincial conference, the proposition 
to declare the colonies independent had already been introduced to con- 
gress, on the 7th June, by Richard Henry Lee, and seconded by John 
Adams. These gentlemen advocated the measure with great boldness 
and eloquence. Mr. Dickinson of Pennsylvania, whose patriotism no 
one could doubt, opposed it, and strongly urged the propriety of seeking 
a reconciliation with Great Britain. On a vote in committee of the 
whole, all the colonies, except Pennsylvania and Delaware, approved the 
measure. On the 2d July, the measure was adopted by congress. The 
Declaration of Independence was reported to congress on the 28th June, 
and passed, by the vote of every colony, on the 4th of July, 1776. Messrs. 
Morris and Dickinson were absent. Messrs. Franklin, Wilson, and Mor- 
ton voted for it, and Willing and Humphrey against it. Mr. Rodney was 
sent for from Delaware to unite with Mr. McKean in voting for it. 

The convention for forming the constitution of the state of Pennsyl- 
vania, met at Philadelphia on the 15th July, 1776, and elected Benjamin 
Franklin president, George Ross vice-president, John Morris and Jacob 
Garrigues secretaries. Rev. William White, since the venerable bishop 
of Pennsylvania, opened the convention by imploring the Divine blessing 
upon their labors. The convention not only entered upon the task of 
forming the constitution, but assumed the legislative power of the state. 
They appointed as delegates to congress, Messrs. Franklin, Morton, Mor- 
ris, Wilson, George Ross, James Smith, Benjamin Rush, George Clymer, 
and George Taylor. All these gentlemen, Avho had not already done it, 
signed the Declaration of Independence. Those gentlemen who had op- 
posed it, were left out of the new delegation. The new constitution was 



38 OUTLINE HISTORY. 

completed on the 28th September, 1776, signed by the president and all 
the members, and committed to the council of safety, to be delivered to 
the general assembly of the state at their first meeting. 

The assembly of the province, whose power had gradually melted away 
before the heat of revolution, convened on the 23d September, and after 
approving a few accounts, and denouncing the legislative action of the 
convention, as a dangerous assumption of power, expired on the 26th 
September, 1776. 

The population of Pennsylvania at the time of assuming the powers 
of a sovereign state, was estimated at over 300,000. 

Independence had only been declared ; it was now^ to be maintained 
by a long and bloody war. The limits of this sketch will not admit of a 
notice of those scenes of the revolution occurring beyond the bounds of 
Pennsylvania. The close of the year 1776 was a gloomy period of the 
war. Gen. Washington, with the remains of an army constantly dimin- 
ishing by desertion and the expiration of the terms of enlistment, had 
retreated through New Jersey before the British army under Howe and 
Cornwallis, and crossed into Pennsylvania. The enemy posted them- 
selves along the Jersey side of the Delaware, waiting for the ice to form 
a bridge by M'hich they might reach Philadelphia. The Americans 
guarded the ferries from New Hope to Bristol. The militia from the 
eastern part of Pennsylvania flocked to Washington's standard with spirit 
and in considerable numbers. On the night of the 25th December, Gen. 
Washington, with a force of only 2,400 men, boldly pushed across the 
Delaware and attacked the Hessian regiments at Trenton, capturing 
nearly a thousand men and six cannon. Washington recrossed with his 
prisoners into Pennsylvania, refreshed his troops, and then returned to 
Trenton, where he was joined by Gen. Cadwallader and Gen. Mifflin, who 
crossed the Delaware each with about 1 ,800 Pennsylvania militia. 

The battle of Princeton took place within a week afterwards, after 
W'hich the army went into winter quarters at Morristown, New Jersey. 

In July. 1777, the British army embarked at New York for the Dela- 
ware or Chesapeake bay, evidently intending an attack on Philadelphia. 
Gen. Washington immediately marched the army into Pennsylvania and 
encamped near Germantown, waiting to know more definitely the inten- 
tions of the enemy. It was at this time that Washington first met La- 
fayette, who had recently arrived in Philadelphia. Lafayette, invited by 
Washington, at once took up his quarters with the commander-in-chief, 
and shared all the privations of the camp. The British army, com- 
manded by Sir William Howe, landed at the head of Elk, on the 25th 
August, 1^77, and moved in two divisions, under Lord Cornwallis and 
Gen. Knyphausen, towards Chad's Ford, on the Brandywine. Washing- 
ton marched his army, in fine spirits, through the streets of Philadelphia, 
and took up a position along the left bank of the Brandywine, at Chad's 
Ford, and at the Birmingham meeting-house, four miles above. Here a 
general action took place on the 11th September, in which great gallantry 
and military skill were displayed on both sides, but the Americans were 
finally routed, and retreated that night to Chester. The day after the 
battle, Washington retreated to Philadelphia, and encamped near Ger- 
mantown. After a day's rest he again crossed the Schuylkill, and pro- 
ceeded on the Lancaster road, intending again to meet the enemy. On 



REVOLUTION. 39 

the 16th September, both armies prepared with great alacrity for battle ; 
but a heavy rain coming on, which wet the arms and ammunition of the 
Americans, they were compelled to abandon the design of an engage- 
ment, and retreat to French creek. Gen. Washington crossed the Schuyl- 
kill, and encamped on Perkiomen creek, and Gen. Wayne was sent to 
annoy the flanks of the enemy. It was while he was on this service that 
the memorable affair at the Paoli occurred. Having thus driven Wayne 
from his rear, and destroyed a quantity of stores at Valley Forge, Gen. 
Howe came across the Schuylkill without opposition, and entered Phila- 
delphia on the 26th September, at the head of a detachment of British 
and Hessian grenadiers. The remainder of his army encamped at Ger- 
mantown. The royalists in Philadelphia welcomed Gen. Howe with 
transports of joy ; and during the winter the British officers were regaled 
with luxury and festivity. 

Congress, immediately after the battle of BrandjnArine, had retired to 
Lancaster. They ordered large reinforcements of regulars and militia, 
from New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Virginia, to repair with- 
out delay to the camp of Gen. Washington. Thus strengthened, Wash- 
ington seized upon a moment, while a part of the British army were en- 
gaged below the city in eff'ecting a passage for their vessels through the 
obstructions thrown across the river, to attack the enemy's camp at Ger- 
mantown. This attack was planned by Washington with his usual abil- 
ity. At first the Americans appeared to have the advantage ; but Col. 
^lusgrave contrived to throw a detachment of British troops into a large 
and strong stone house, at the entrance of the town, where he made a 
formidable resistance, and detained the Americans for some time in vain 
attempts to dislodge him. The morning being foggy. Gen. Smallwood's 
brigade came tardily upon the ground, and was inefficient when it arrived. 
These circumstances turned the fortunes of the day to the British side ; 
the Americans were repulsed, leaving a great number of killed and 
wounded. 

Washington, reinforced again by regiments from Virginia, encamped 
on Skippack creek, where he maintained a menacing attitude, and em- 
ployed his cavalry and light troops in scouring the country to cut off sup- 
plies going to the enemy. 

The British made a vigorous attack, with a combined land and naval 
force, upon Fort Mifflin and Fort Mercer, by which the passage of the 
Delaware, opposite the mouth of the Schuylkill, was guarded. CoL 
Donop, with a Hessian corps, was severely repulsed by Col. Greene, at 
Red Bank, (Fort Mercer.) Col. Donop was mortally wounded and taken 
prisoner, and his best officers killed or disabled. 

On the other side, two of the British ships went on shore, and the oth- 
ers, with the troops, met with a long and obstinate resistance from the 
garrison in Fort Mifflin ; but the latter at length set fire to the fort, and 
retreated to Red Bank. Cornwallis, with a strong detachment, took pos- 
session of the fort at Red Bank, which had been evacuated on his ap- 
proach, dismantled it, and destroyed the works. This was late in No- 
vember. 1777. 

Gen. Washington, being now reinforced by General Gates' troops from 
the north, encamped in a strong position at Whitemarsh. The American 
army at this time consisted of about eleven thousand one hundred men, 



40 OUTLINE HISTORY. 

of whom nearly three thousand were unfit for duty, "being barefooted 
and otherwise naked." Howe had with him but little more than twelve 
thousand tighting men. The British general made several attempts to 
provoke or entice Washington into the field, but the latter chose to re- 
ceive the enemy in camp — each general choosing not to risk a battle 
without the advantage of ground. On one occasion General Howe at- 
tempted to surprise the American camp, but his design was frustrated by 
the cunning and coolness of a Quaker lady, Lydia Darrach. (See Mont- 
gomery county.) Washington finally concluded to go into winter quar- 
ters at Valley Forge. Here this faithful band of patriots, worn out with 
the fatigues of the summer's campaign, and destitute of all the necessa- 
ries of life, passed a most dreary winter. They erected log huts on the 
plan of a village, and so far were comfortably sheltered ; but blankets, 
sufficient clothing, shoes, and oftentimes provisions, were but scantily 
provided. It was with great difficulty and anxiety that Washington kept 
his army together until spring. Congress, during the winter, held its 
sessions at York. 

Attempts were made during the winter of 1777-78, by a set of restless 
and ambitious intriguers, to prejudice the minds of congress and the peo- 
ple against General Washington, and place the chief command in the 
hands of a more daring, but less prudent officer. They succeeded for a 
time in casting a cloud over his reputation, but it soon shone out more 
brilliant than ever. 

In the spring of 1 778, Great Britain sent over commissioners to attempt 
a reconciliation ; but their efforts were abortive. These commissioners, 
among other intrigues, secretly offered to Joseph Reed, then delegate to 
congress and afterwards president of the executive council of Pennsyl- 
vania, £10,000 sterling, with the best office in the colonies, to promote 
their plans. He promptly replied, " I am not worth purchasing ; but such 
as I am, the king of Great Britain is not rich enough to do it." 

On the 6th February, 1778, France openly espoused the American 
cause, by a treaty with the commissioners, Franklin, Deane, and Lee, in 
Paris ; and news of the event reached congress at York, on the 2d May. 
The British kept possession of Philadelphia during the winter and spring. 
Sir William Howe returned to England, and was succeeded by Sir Henry 
Clinton, who, fearing a blockade of the Delaware by the French, evacu- 
ated Philadelphia on the 18th June, and took up his march across New 
Jersey towards New York. Washington moved his troops from winter 
quarters, and pursued the enemy. The brilliant action at Monmouth 
was the consequence. It took place on the 28th June. 

Gen. Arnold, who had been wounded at Saratoga, took command in 
Philadelphia with a small detachment. It was about this time, doubtless, 
that he contracted those relations, by marriage in a distinguished tory 
family of Philadelphia, which afterwards led him into his base intimacy 
with the British officers. 

During the occupation of Philadelphia by the British, a gang of law- 
less, desperate villains, roamed through the interior counties, stealing 
cattle and horses, for which they obtained a high price from the British — 
in gold, too, a rare article in those paper-money days. Deprived of their 
means of sustenance by the withdrawal of the British, they commenced 
the business on their own account, forming a line of communication 



REVOLUTION. 41 

through the Cumberland valley, and into the southern states. vSouthern 
horses were stolen and brought to the north, where they were not recog- 
nised — and vice versa — thus realizing the much vaunted project of 
" equalizing the exchanges." The robbers were eventually hunted down, 
tried, and hanged. 

The Indians of the Six Nations, as well as the tribes in the western 
territory, had been induced by the British to take up the hatchet against 
the colonies. During the year 1777 they were principally engaged on 
the northern frontiers of New York, and Pennsylvania escaped their 
ravages, with the exception of a few marauding parties. In 1778 the 
garrison at Pittsburg was strengthened, and Fort M'Intosh was built at 
the mouth of Beaver. Notwithstanding the expected attacks from In- 
dians on the north and west branches of the Susquehanna, the inhabitants 
of Northumberland county and of the Wyoming valley had promptly re- 
sponded to the urgent calls of congress, and left exposed their own homes, 
by sending nearly all their fighting men to the campaigns in the lower 
country. While in this defenceless situation, the dark cloud of savage 
warfare burst upon them. Early in July, 1778, Col. John Butler, with a 
party of tory rangers, a detachment of Sir John Johnson's Royal Greens, 
and a large body of Indians, chiefly Senecas, led by Gi-en-gwah-toh, (not 
Brant,) descended the Susquehanna, and destroyed the flourishing settle- 
ments of the Wyoming valley. A few old men were hastily gathered for 
defence, with a few soldiers returned on a visit from the army ; the wo- 
men and children were sheltered in a stockade fort, where their defend- 
ers ought also to have remained ; but their courage outweighed their 
prudence, they loved fighting from habit, and they chose to go out to 
meet the enemy. This little handful of men fought with more than Spar- 
tan courage, but numbers overpowered them — they were routed — many 
were cut down in the flight, and those captured were put to death with 
the hatchet. Col. Dennison, who escaped to the fort with a few others, 
succeeded in entering into a capitulation by which the women and chil- 
dren were to be preserved, and permitted to depart. The forlorn band 
of widows and orphans, with nothing but the clothing upon their persons, 
and what little provision, hastily gathered, could be carried in the hand, 
escaped through the wilderness of the Pokono mountains, sixty miles, to 
Stroudsburg, and thence to New England. Their cottages were given 
to the flames.* 

Col. Hartley, with a small detachment from Muncy, soon after the 
battle, went up the Susquehanna, and destroyed the Indian villages at 
Wyalusing, Sheshequin, and Tioga. A month or two after the battle of 
Wyoming, a force of Indians and tories descended upon Fort Freeland, 
on the West Branch, about fourteen miles above Northumberland ; and 
after a short struggle, forced the garrison to capitulate, taking the armed 
men into captivity. Mrs. Kirk, a ready-witted woman, threw petticoats 
upon her son, (old enough to bear arms,) and smuggled him out with the 
women. 

In the following year, June, 1779, Gen. Sullivan went up the Susquehan- 
na with an army, and laid waste the Indian towns on the Tioga and Gen- 

* See Luzerne county. The ordinary accounts of this affair, published at the time and copied 
into several histories of the revolution, were incorrect and greatly exaggerated. 

6 



43 OUTLINE HISTORY 

esee rivers ; but this neither intimidated the savages nor prevented their 
incursions. Throughout the remainder of the war, they stole in small 
parties into all the frontier settlements, where blood and desolation marked 
their track. Col. Broadhead, about the same time, engaged in a success- 
ful expedition against the Senecas and Monseys on the Allegheny, destroy- 
ing the villages and crops about the mouth of Brokenstraw, and above 
the Conewango. 

In January, 1781, a revolt broke out among the Pennsylvania troops, 
then stationed at jMorristown. About thirteen hundred men paraded un- 
der arms without their officers, and threatened to march to Philadelphia 
and demand a redress of their grievances from congress. They com- 
plained that they were detained beyond the time of their enlistment ; that 
they suffered every hardship from a depreciated currency, and the want 
of provisions and clothing. The British generals seized the occasion to 
tempt them to join the royal cause, but they spurned the offer, and took 
the messengers as spies. By the coolness and prudence of Gen. WajTie 
and Gen. Joseph Reed, president of Pennsylvania, they were kindly 
treated with : an amnesty was granted, and a promise given that their 
grievances should be represented to congress. A great part of the line 
was disbanded during the winter, but recruited again in the spring. 

The depreciation of the continental currency, ^^^th which congress had 
hitherto carried on the "war, became now so gi'eat that further issues "were 
impracticable ; and it was necessary to devise some new basis for curren- 
cy and public credit. Robert Morris, the chief financier of the revolution, 
proposed to congress, in May, 1781, the plan of the Bank of North Ameri- 
ca; and on the 31st December, of the same year, congress incorporated 
the institution. The states of Pennsylvania and Massachusetts also 
granted it additional charters. The capital, according to Mr. Morris's 
plan, "was to consist of one thousand shares of four hundred dollars each ; 
but it "^vas afterwards raised to two million dollars. This bank had an 
immediate and highly beneficial effect upon the finances and commercial 
interests of the countrj'. In 1785, on the complaint of many citizens of 
Chester county, the legislature of Pennsj^lvania revoked its charter ; but 
it continued to act under the congressional charter, and the legislature of 
1787 again renewed it. 

Peace was concluded in 1782-83, and the army was disbanded. Many 
of the soldiers were still without their pay. A part of the Pennsylvania 
troops, some three hundred in all, gathered round the statehouse in Phila- 
delphia, with a view to overawe congress, and procure redress. The 
affair was quieted by Gen. Washington, without bloodshed. 

Since the year 1768, the northwestern boundary of Indian purchases in 
the state ran from the Susquehanna, on the New York line, to Towanda 
creek ; thence to the head of Pine creek ; thence to its mouth, and up the 
West Branch to its source ; thence over to Kittanning, and down the Ohio 
to the west line of the state. At a treaty held at Fort Stanwix, in Oct. 
1785, the commissioners of the state purchased all the remaining land 
■within its chartered limits. This purchase was confirmed by the Wy- 
andots and Delawares, at Fort M'Intosh, in January, 1785. In 1789, 
the state purchased from the Indians, and in 1792 from the United States, 
the small triangle, now part of Erie county, necessary to secure to the 
state a good harbor on Lake Erie. 



CONSTITUTION OF 1730. 43 

The vast territory, however, acquired by the treaty of 1784, was only 
purchased, but was not entered upon by the pioneers of Pennsylvania for 
ten years. The price of blood, as usual, was to be paid for it. The peace 
of 1783 with Great Britain quieted the vSix Nations on the northern fron- 
tier, but not the Indians of the west — the Delawares, Twigtwees, Wyan- 
dots, &c. — now driven into the wilds of Ohio. A bloody and barbarous 
warfare was carried on against these tribes, by successive expeditions of 
M'Intosh in 1778, of Broadhead in 1780, of Crawford in 1782, of Harmar 
in 1789, of St. Clair in 1791, and of Wa}Tie in 1792 to 1795. In addition 
to these larger expeditions, there was an under-current of partisan hos- 
tilities constantly maintained between the white savages of the frontier 
and the red, in which it is difficult to say on which side was exhibited the 
greatest atrocity. 

By several laws of the state, and especially the land law of 1792, set- 
tlers were encouraged to enter upon the lands ; but the disastrous cam- 
paigns of Harmar and St. Clair threw open the whole frontier west of the 
Ohio and Allegheny to savage hostilities. And from that time until Gem 
Wayne's treaty at Greenville, on the 3d Aug. 1795, it was unsafe for fami- 
lies to cross the Allegheny into the newly granted lands. An immense 
number of warrants, however, had been taken out of the land-office, by 
the Holland Land Company and others ; and in a very few instances, un- 
successful attempts had been made at actual settlement. By the act a 
settlement of five years was required to give title, " unless prevented by 
the enemies of the United States ;" and at the return of peace a lawsuit 
originated, which involved the titles of the Holland Land Company, and 
other companies and individuals, to a great part of the best lands included 
in that purchase. 

In 1787, the convention met for forming the new constitution of the 
United States. The adoption of this prepared the way for a change iii 
that of Pennsylvania. The constitution of 1776, tested by practical opera- 
tion, had exhibited many defects. Thomas M'Kean, then chief-justice, 
said of it : " The balance of the one, the few, and the many is not well poised 
in the state; the legislature is too powerful for the executive and judicial 
branches. We have now but one branch — we must have another branch, 
a negative in the executive, stability in our laws, and permanency in our 
magistracy, before we shall be reputable, safe, and happy." The conven- 
tion for forming the new constitution convened at Philadelphia, on the 
24th Nov. 1789, and was composed of the first talents that Pennsylvania 
could boast. M'Kean, Mifflin, Gallatin, Smiley, Findlay, Wilson, Lewis, 
Ross, Addison, Sitgreaves, and Pickering, were among the members. 
Thomas Mifflin was elected president. The constitution, adopted in 1 790, 
has been deservedly considered as an admirable model for a representa- 
tive republic, securing force to the government and freedom to the people. 
At the first election under the new constitution. Gen. Thomas Mifflin was 
chosen governor, and continued to discharge the duties of the office dur- 
ing nine years, with great ability. The previous presidents of the execu- 
tive council, under the constitution of 1776, had been Thomas Wharton, 
Jr., James Reed, W illiam Moore, John Dickinson, Benjamin Franklin, and 
Thomas Mifflin. 

The first Bank of the United States was incorporated by congress, and 
the act approved by Washington, in February, 1791. The idea of this in- 



44 OUTLINE HISTORY. 

stitution was conceived by Alexander Hamilton, then at the head of the 
treasury department, immediately after the adoption of the constitution. 
Its continuance was limited by the charter to the 4th March, 1811, at 
which time it expired, congress refusing to renew the charter. The 
capital was limited to $10,000,000, divided into shares of $400 each. 

In 1791-4, an alarming insurrection took place in the southwestern 
counties around Pittsburg, in opposition to a law of congress laying an 
excise of four pence per gallon upon all distilled spirits. The excise ofH- 
cers were insulted, threatened, and prevented from discharging their 
duty. Several had their houses burned, and others their barns and hay- 
stacks. Other citizens, who took part with the government, were pro- 
scribed, and obliged to escape the rage of the mob. Immense public 
meetings were held, both of citizens and military men ; liberty poles were 
erected, and preparations were made for an organized resistance. A 
few judicious men, disguising their real sentiments, managed to lead and 
moderate the movements of the insurgents, and finally to quell their im- 
petuosity. President Washington called out the militia from Pennsylvania, 
Maryland, New Jersey, and Virginia, to the number of fifteen thousand. 
Gov. Lee, of Virginia, was commander-in-chief Gov. Mifflin, in person, 
commanded the Pennsylvania troops. The insurgents were overawed by 
this force, even before it reached the seat of insurrection, and cheerfully 
accepted of the amnesty that was proclaimed. A few leaders were 
arrested, brought to Philadelphia, and tried in the U. S. Court. Two 
only were convicted, and these were afterwards pardoned. The excise 
officers resumed their duties without opposition. 

Another insurrection, of less importance, in opposition to a direct tax 
of the United States, took place in 1798-99, among the Germans in Le- 
high, Berks, Northampton, and a small portion of Bucks and Montgomery 
counties. It was headed by John Fries, who was convicted of treason and 
sentenced to be hung, but was afterwards pardoned by President Adams. 

It has been stated above, that the controversy between the proprietary 
government and the Connecticut claimants on Wyoming lands, was post- 
poned to the more pressing exigencies of the revolution, in which both 
parties made common cause. The Connecticut settlers had returned soon 
after Sullivan's expedition of 1779. In 1778, the title to these lands had 
been taken from the Penns and vested in the state. On the assertion of 
this new title on the part of the state, the controversy was opened anew, 
and was referred to congress, who appointed commissioners to meet 
at Trenton in the autumn of 1782. The commissioners, after hearing 
both parties, decided " that Connecticut has no right to the land in 
controversy — and that the jurisdiction and pre-emption of all lands 
within the charter bounds of Pennsylvania, do of right belong to that 
state." The settlers cheerfully acquiesced in the change o£ jurisdictioji, 
but claimed that, although " Connecticut had no right to the land," yet the 
Susquehanna Company had. The state proceeded to enforce her claims 
by a method very different from that of William Penn, and thereupon 
ensued a fierce and vindictive civil war, nearly as desolating as the pre- 
vious irruptions of the tories and savages. At length, after a series of 
vacillating and ill-advised legislation, the state passed a law, in 1799 and 
1801, compensating the Pennsylvanian claimants by a grant of lands 
elsewhere, or by a payment in money ; and confirming to the Connecticut 



GOVERNORS. 



45 



settlers their titles on condition of their paying the state a small price 
per acre, from 86 cents to $1 20, according to the quality of their land. 
The New England emigrants became obedient, industrious, and valuable 
citizens of their adopted state : and Wyoming, after a long train of un- 
paralleled sufferings, enjoyed a state of repose and prosperity. 

In 1799, Thomas M'Kean, who had for a long time been distinguished 
as the chief-justice of the state, was elected governor, and continued to 
discharge the duties of the office during nine years, being three times 
elected by the people. His election, in preference to his able and dis- 
tinguished competitor, the Hon. James Ross, was the result of a warm 
conflict between the two great parties — federal and republican — which 
were then assuming those distinct political ranks into which, for many 
years, the people were divided. His success, through what was termed 
" the momentum of Pennsylvania politics," paved the way for Mr. Jef- 
ferson's accession to the presidency, whose administration Mr. M'Kean 
vigorously supported. 

List of Governors of the Colonies on the Delaware, and of the Province and 

State of Pennsylvania. 
Access. < Exit. 

1623. The Dutch planted a colony on the Delaware under Cornelius Jacob May, ap- 

pointed governor by the West India Company, under the authority of the 
States General. 

1624. William Useling appointed governor of the Swedish colony to be established 

on the Delaware, (but he never came here.) 

1630. David Peterson De Vries, (Dutch.) 

1631. John Printz, (Swedish.) 

1638. Peter AFmuits, (Swedish, but himself a native of Holland.) . . 1640 

1640. William Kieft — Dutch governor of New York. . . . 

1643. John Printz, (Swedish.) ..... 1653 

1653. Papegoia, (son-in-law to Printz.) .... 1654 

1654. Risingh. ...... 

1657. Alrichs, ^ 

1658. John Paul Jaquet, > under Stuyvesant, Dutch governor of New York. 

1659. Beekman, ) 

1664. Robert Can- — under Richard Nichols, English governor of New York. 
1673. Anthony Colve — Dutch governor of New York. 



1674. Sir Edmund An dross — English governor of New 
1681. William Penn — founder of the province. 
1684. Governor's Council — Thomas Lloyd, president. 

1687. Five commissioners appointed by Wm. Penn, 

1688. John Blackwell, lieutenant-governor. 
1690. Governor's Council. 

691. Thomas Lloyd — deputy governor. 

1692. Benjamin Fletcher — governor of New York, 

1693. William Markham — lieutenant-governor. 

1700. William Penn. 

1701. Andrew Hamilton — deputy governor. 
1704. John Evans. . . . 
1709. Charles Gookin. 
1717. SirWiUiam Keith. 
1726. Patrick Gordon. 

1736. James Logan — president of council. , 
1738. George Thomas — lieutenant-governor. 

1747. Anthony Palmer — president of council. 

1748. James Hamilton — lieutenant-govemor. 
1754. Richard H. Morris, do. . 
1756. Wm. Denny, do. . 
1759. James Hamilton. do. • 
1763. John Penn. do. . 
1771. Richard Penn. do. . 



York, 



1684 
1687 
1688 
1690 
1691 
1692 
1693 

1701 
1704 
1709 
1717 
1726 
1736 
1738 
1747 
1748 
1754 
1756 
1759 
1763 
1771 
1776 



m OUTLINE HISTORY. 

Access. Exit. 

1776. Thomas Wharton, Jun.— president of the Supreme Executive Council. . 1778 

1778. Joseph Reed, do. do. do. do. . 1782 

1782. John Dickinson, do. do. do. do. . 1785 

1785. Benjamin Franklin, do. do. do. do. . 1788 

1788. Thomas Mifflin. do. do. do. do. . 1791 

1791. Thomas Mifflin— governor under the constitution of 1790. . . 1799 

1799. Thomas M'Kean. ...... 1808 

1808. Simon Snyder. ...... 1817 

1817. William Finley, ...... 1820 

1820. Joseph Hiester. ...... 1823 

1823. John Andrew Shulze. ...... 1829 

1829. George Wolfe. ...... 1835 

1835. Joseph Ritner. ...... 1839 

1839. David Rittenhouse Porter — jfirst under const, of 1838 — 2d term expires in Jan 1845 

The state of Pennsylvania, having purchased from the aborigines the 
whole territory within her chartered limits, and driven them beyond the 
boundary ; having done her full share in the revolutionary contest ; hav- 
ing, with the aid of the general government, quelled three civil wars 
within her own limits ; having quieted all the boundary claims of neighbor- 
ing states ; and having, for the government of the domain thus acquired, 
established a well-balanced constitution on the principles of republican 
freedom, was now fully prepared to lay aside the implements of war, and 
devote all her energies to the arts of peace. If not the first, Pennsyl- 
vania was one of the first states to engage in the great system of public 
improvement. She merits unquestionably the praise of having constructed 
the first stone turnpike in the Union, and probably of having attempted 
the first canal over one hundred miles in length. Her noble stone bridges, 
some of them constructed as early as 1800, at an expense of $60,000 and 
$100,000, conferred upon her the name of the state of bridges. The 
stone turnpike, from Lancaster to Philadelphia, 62 miles, was commenced 
in 1792, and finished in 1794, at a cost of $465,000, by a private company. 
Between that period and the war of 1812, some thirty companies received 
charters from the state, and constructed many miles of road. As late as 
the year 1832, 220 turnpike companies had been authorized by law, al- 
though all did not finally proceed in the prosecution of their respective 
works ; yet passable roads were made by these companies to the extent of 
about 3000 miles. A continuous line of stoned turnpike now extends 
from Trenton, on the Delaware, to the boundaries of Ohio. The cost of 
this thoroughfare, which is in length about 340 miles, including the 
bridges, has been ascertained to transcend that of the celebrated road of 
Napoleon over the Simplon. 

William Penn himself was aware of the near approach of the head- 
waters of the Swatara and Tulpehocken creeks, and had foreseen their 
future connection. As early as 1762, it w^as proposed to connect the 
waters of Lake Erie and the Ohio with those of the Delaware ; and, as a 
part of the plan. Dr. David Rittenhouse and Rev. Wm. Smith surveyed 
a route for a canal between the Susquehanna and Schuylkill, by way of 
the Swatara and Tulpehocken. On the 29th Sept. 1791, a company to 
construct a canal by that route was incorporated ; and another to make 
a canal from Norristown to the Delaware at Philadelphia, and to im- 
prove the navigation of the Schuylkill, was incorporated on the 10th 
April, 1792. After an expenditure of $440,000, these works were for a 
time suspended. In 1811 the two companies were united as the Union 



INTERNAL IMPROVEMENT. 47 

Canal Co., and were then specially authorized to extend their canal to 
Lake Erie, should it be deemed expedient. The Union Canal was, after 
many delays and embarrassments, completed in 1827, thirty-seven years 
after the commencement of the work. The Schuylkill Navigation Com- 
pany was incorporated in 1815; the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal in 
1801 ; the Lehigh Navigation, first company in 1798, and again in 1813 ; 
the Conewago Canal Co., (on the west side of the Susquehanna, around 
Conewago falls,) in 1793 ; the Lackawanna Navigation Company in 1817. 
These were among the earlier and more important attempts to improve 
the rivers and construct canals by private companies. Some of the 
works, however, lingered under embarrassing circumstances until a later 
day, when the opening of coal mines, and the development of other re- 
sources of the state, justified their completion. 

During the war of 1812-14 with Great Britain, the enemy gained no 
foothold in Pennsylvania, nor did any very important event of the war 
occur in the state, except the preparation of Perry's victorious fleet at 
Erie, in the summer of 1813. (See Erie county.) 

To carry out successfully the gigantic project of uniting the great east- 
ern with the great western waters, was supposed to require an amount 
of capital, and of credit, beyond the control of any joint-stock company ; 
and the preeminent power and credit of the state herself was enlisted in 
the enterprise. Unfortunately, to do this required legislative votes, and 
these votes were not to be had without extending the ramifications of 
the system throughout all the counties whose patronage was necessary to 
carry the measure. In March, 1824, commissioners were appointed to 
explore a route for a canal from Harrisburg to Pittsburg by way of the 
Juniata and Conemaugh, and by way of the West Branch of the Susque- 
hanna, Sinnemahoning, and the Allegheny — and also between the head 
waters of Schuylkill, by Mahanoy creek, to the Susquehanna — with other 
projects. In 1825, canal commissioners were appointed to explore a 
number of routes in various directions through the state. In August, 
1825, a convention of the friends of internal improvement, consisting of 
delegates from 46 counties, met at Harrisburg, and passed resolutions in 
favor of " opening an entire and complete communication from the Sus- 
quehanna to the Allegheny and Ohio, and from the Allegheny to Lake 
Erie, by the nearest and best practicable route." The starting impulse 
being thus given, the great enterprise moved on, increasing in strength 
and magnitude as each successive legislature convened ; and the citizens 
of every section were highly excited, not to say intoxicated, with local 
schemes of internal improvement. Contemporaneously with these enter- 
prises, anthracite coal began to be successfully introduced for family use ; 
and besides the discovery of vast and rich deposits of this mineral almost 
exclusively in Pennsylvania, the circumstance was an additional reason 
for the construction of improvements. Iron mines and salt wells were 
also opened, stimulated by the high tariff" of 1828 ; and the rich bitumi- 
nous coal-fields west of the Allegheny invited enterprise and speculation 
to that quarter. To describe the various public works that grew out of 
the powerful impulse given from 1826 to 1836, would require of itself a 
small volume. Suffice it to say that, in Oct. 1834, the Philadelphia and 
Columbia Railroad was opened for travelling : the main line of canal 
had been previously completed ; and in the same month, on the comple- 



48 OUTLINE HISTORY. 

tion of the Allegheny Portage Railroad, an emigrants' boat, from the 
North Branch of the Susquehanna, actually passed over the Allegheny 
Mountains, with all its family on board, and being launched into the 
canal at Johnstown, proceeded on its route to St. Louis ! 

The commonwealth had not progressed far with her grand system of 
internal improvements, before there was perceived an equal necessity for 
a general system of education, to develop the mental resources of the citi- 
zens. William Penn had been careful to declare, in founding his colony, 
that " that which makes a good constitution must keep it, viz., men of 
wisdom and virtue, qualities that, because they descend not with worldly 
inheritance, must be carefully propagated by a virtuous education of 
youth ;" and in his frame of government had provided that the governor 
and provincial council "■ shall erect and order all public schools." The 
first republican constitution of 1776 had decreed that " a school or schools 
shall he established in each county." The constitution of 1790 provided 
that " the legislature, as soon as may be, shall provide by law for the es- 
tablishment of schools throughout the state, in such manner that the poor 
may he taught gratis." Unfortunately, the legislature for many years over- 
looked that part of the provision which requires the " establishment of 
schools throughout the state," and devoted their more especial attention 
to provide " that the poor may be taught gratis." Colleges and numerous 
academies, it is true, were incorporated throughout the state, and gener- 
ally endowed by the legislature ; the conditions of endowment often be- 
ing that a certain number of poor children should be taught gratis. 
These enactments were not, however, the result of a great general prin- 
ciple emanating from the government, but were granted at the voluntary 
and often tardy solicitation of individuals, societies, or counties. The 
provision for the poor was nearly inoperative, for few of the freemen of 
Pennsylvania, poor and illiterate though they might be, were willing to 
place the fact on the public records of the county. These laws were 
partial and local in their object, and limited in their application. In short, 
education was generally left to voluntary effort. There was no general 
system of education ; no efficient plan for furnishing, not to the poor alone, 
but to the people at large, the opportunity and the inducement to become 
intelligent. The extensive prevalence of the German language, or rather 
the Pennsylvanian dialect of the German, was not without a pernicious 
effect upon the cause of education. There were German newspapers, 
but not a very plentiful supply of German books, in past years ; and the 
consequence was, that the minds of that class of our population, though 
naturally strong, were to a great extent \vithout ample means for culti- 
vation, and education among them gradually declined. The number of 
people who could neither read nor write, in either language, had increased 
to an alarming extent, and became an object of ridicule to the people 
of other states who had been more careful to provide a proper system of 
education. The state at length awaked from her lethargy, about the 
year 1833; the legislature took the matter seriously in hand, and passed 
an act " to establish a general system of education by common schools," 
approved by Gov. George Wolfe on the 1st April, 1834. It is worthy of 
remark, as exhibiting the tardiness of the state upon this subject, that the 
legislative committee are found referring to the example and experience, 
among others, of the young state of Ohio. The law of 1834 was found, 



EDUCATION. 



49 



in practice, to be defective in some points, and was amended in 1836. 
Under this law an excellent system has been gradually extended through- 
out the state, and promises, in the course of a few years, to raise up a 
whole generation of intelligent, well-educated youth. By this law the 
secretary of state is ex-officio the superintendent of common schools ; a 
fund is provided for the support, in part, of the schools, while the supply 
of the other part is left to be made up by taxation, under prescribed 
forms, of the people in the several accepting districts ; the state is laid 
off in school districts, generally corresponding with the township or 
borough divisions ; and it is left optional with each township or district to 
decide for itself whether it will accept of the school law or not. If it ac- 
cept, the taxes are assessed and the schools established accordingly, and 
its proper share of the general fund is received : if it do not accept, its 
share of the general fund is not received, and the citizens of the district 
are left to provide their own schools by voluntary effort, if they choose to 
have any ; while the authorities of the township assess a tax upon the 
citizens for the education of the poor. 

From the Philadelphia Public Ledger. 
The following tables have been compiled from the reports of the superintendent. They show 
briefly, but comprehensively, the progress of the school system from the commencement, in 1836, 
to the end of the school year, 1841. 

The whole number of School Districts in the State — the number which have and which have not 

accepted. 
907 accepting, 



1836, whole number 

1837, " 987 

1838, " 1,001 

1839, " 1,033 

1840, " 1,050 

1841, « 1,072 



536 
603 
765 

840 
887 
917 



non-acceptmg, 



371 
384 
239 
193 

162 
155 



Receipts and Expenditures of the several Common School Districts, exclusive of the City and 

County of Philadelphia. 



Receipts from 
state treasury. 

1835, $29,460 33 



1836, 
1837, 
1838, 
1839, 
1840, 
1841, 



1,670 54 
463,749 55 
323,794 92 
276,826 92 
264,536 66 
249,400 87 



Receipts from 
school tax. 

Not ascertained. 

$207,105 37 

231,552 36 

385,788 00 

382,527 89 

395,918 90 

397,952 01 



Expenditures for 
schoolljouses. 

Not ascertained. 

$111,803 01 

202,230 52 

149,132 23 

161,384 06 

123,004 19 



Expenditures for 
teaching, fuel, &c. 

Not ascertained. 
$193,972 90 
493,071 39 
560,450 69 
597,162 78 
580,262 63 
524,348 66 



The whole number of Scholars taught in the Common Schools, and the average number of 

months the Schools were open. 



1835, number of scholars 100,000 

1836, " " 139,604 

1837, " " 185,355 

1839, " " 233,710 

1840, " " 254,908 

1841, " •' 284,469 



Schools were open 3 months 12 days. 

" 4 " 3 

" 6 " 6 

5 " 18 

" 5 " 8 

" 5 " 7 



City and County of Philadelphia. — The schools in this district are not governed by the gene- 
ral law establishing a system of common-school education ; but as they are organized in an im- 
portant section of the commonwealth, for the same purposes as the other common schools through, 
out the state, and receive an equal share of the annual appropriation, the following information 
in relation to them, taken principally from the reports of the controllers, is submitted. 

The following table shows the annual receipts from the state and county treasury, the sums 
expended in purchasing and erecting schoolhouses, and the number of scholars educated in each 
year : — 



50 OUTLINE HISTORY. 

From tlie state. From tlie county. Paid for schoolhouseg. Number of schohr* 

1836, $47,617 54 $80,000 00 $23,433 07 11,177 00 

1837, 89,536 51 56,000 00 110,864 25 17,000 00 

1838, 39,578 00 96,000 00 74,790 35 18,794 00 

1839, 39,578 00 162,271 00 23,454 17 21,968 00 

1840, 49,283 00 150,000 00 36,078 81 23,192 00 

1841, 49,283 00 165,000 00 46,785 44 27,500 00 

The whole niunber of children in the city and county of Philadelphia, according to the census 

of 1840, over five and under fifteen years of a^e, is .... 53,963 

Number educated in the public schools in 1841, .... 27,500 

Number not educated in 1841, in the public schools, .... 26,463 

The number taught in private schools in the city and county of Philadelphia, is not known. 

Secondary Schools and Colleges. — The following sums have been paid at the state treasury to 

colleges, academies, and female seminaries. The number of scholars annually taught in them is 

annexed : — 

In 1838, amount paid, $7,990 00 Number of scholars, 4,479 

1839, " •' 39,993 70 " " 4,886 

1840, " " 37,442 74 " " 5,534 

1841, " " 47,656 91 « " 5,711 

It appears that 41,743 of the children in the accepting districts were not, during the year 1841, 
educated in the common schools of those districts. There were educated during the year, in the 
academies and female seminaries, 4,154 scholars. These principally reside in accepting districts. 
The number taught in private schools in these districts is not ascertained. 

Hence it follows, that according to these estimates there were about 37,000 children, in 1841, 
in the accepting districts, who were not instructed either in the common schools, academies, or 
female seminaries. 

From the progress already made in the business of education, as will hereafter appear, and 
the capacity of the system to the wants of the people, there is every reason to believe that in the 
course of a few years, every child in the accepting districts, which is the proper subject of com- 
mon-school instruction, will be taught in the public schools. This belief is strengthened by the 
fact that the niunber of scholars taught In 1841 was 29,561 greater than it was in 1830. 

It would be interesting and instructive to trace the financial history of 
Pennsylvania from the adoption of the constitution of 1790, down to the 
present day, but, interwoven as the subject is with banking operations, 
with the politics of each successive epoch, and even with private specu- 
lations, it would be impossible to do justice to it within the restricted 
limits of this outline. A few prominent facts and dates will be stated, 
" without note or comment." 

" The first bank established in the state, and indeed in the United States, was the Bank of North 
America, which was chartered by congress on the 3l9t day of December, 1781, with a capital 
not to exceed ten millions of dollars, and without any limits being assigned as to its duration. 
This charter was confirmed by the state of Pennsylvania, on the 1st day of April, 1782. 

On the 25th day of February, 1791, the first bank of the United States was chartered by con- 
gress, with a capital of ten millions of dollars, and located at Philadelphia. Its charter expired 
without renewal on the 4th day of March, 1811. 

On the 30th day of March, 1793, the Bank of Pennsylvania was incorporated for twenty years. 
The charter was renewed on the 14th of Pebruary, 1810, for twenty years longer, with an in- 
crease of capital which is now $2,500,000. This bank was authorized to have branches, of 
which it established four, viz., at Lancaster, Reading, Easton, and Pittsburg, the last of which 
has been discontinued. 

On the 5th of March, 1804, the Philadelphia Bank was chartered, after having been sometime 
in operation without a charter, to continue until 1st May, 1814, with a capital not to exceed two 
millions of dollars, of which 1,800,000 were raised. The charter was renewed from time to time. 
It was authorized, by an act of 3d March, 1809, to institute branches, of which it established 
four, viz., at Wilkesbarre, Washington, Columbia, and Harrisburg, the two last of which have 
been withdrawn. 

On the 16th March, 1809, the Farmers' and Mechanics' Bank was incorporated, with a capital 
of $1,250,000, to continue until the 1st May, 1824." 

After the demise of the old Bank of the United States, in 1811, numer- 
ous state banks sprung up to supply the vacuum. During the war of 
1812, the export of specie being checked, a considerable expansion took 



FINANCE. 5j 

place in their currency, which was followed, in August and September, 
181 4> by a suspension of specie payments by all the banks south of New 
England. This increased the expansion, and " money became plenty" — 
such as it was. 

" The notes of the city banks became depreciated 20 per cent., and those of the country banks 
from 25 to 50, and specie so entirely disappeared from circulation, that even the fractional parts 
of a dollar were substituted by small notes and tickets, issued by banks, corporations, and indi- 
viduals. Each city, town, and county, had its own local currency, bearing no equivalency with, 
or a fixed proportion to any other ; the consequence of which was, that a new and extensive class 
of brokers sprang into existence. Counterfeiters also added to the mass of paper in circulation. 

Congress chartered the second Bank of the United States, with a capital of thirty-five millions 
of dollars, on the 10th day of April, 1816, with corporate powers which expired on the 3d of 
March, 1836. 

No sooner was this measure adopted, than the numerous city banks, alarmed for their safety, 
resolved upon a retrograde movement, and with the reduction of their loans, commenced a reac- 
tion, which was accompanied by great mercantile distress. The result of this procedure, how- 
ever, was a gradual amelioration of the currency, insomuch that by the month of July of that 
year, the depreciation of the notes of the banks in Philadelphia was brought to 7 or 8 per cent., 
and by the month of December to considerably less. 

The Bank of the United States, the subscriptions to which were opened on the first Monday 
of July, 1816, commenced its operations about the 1st of January, 1817."* 

A rigorous commercial pressure ensued, commencing about the year 
1818, and continuing for a number of years. During this pressure the 
legislature was beset with petitions and plans for relief, such as stay laws, 
valuation laws, projects for loan offices, and similar schemes, which were 
not adopted. An interval of calm ensued in financial affairs from 1823 
to 1828. 

With the opening of the coal mines, and the commencement of the 
great system of internal improvements, about the year 1828-29, a spirit of 
speculation sprung up among all classes of citizens, unparalleled in the his- 
tory of the United States. The state found no difficulty in procuring loans, 
generally from capitalists in Great Britain, for the prosecution of her public 
works. Incorporated companies and banks followed the example of the 
state ; and individuals, who were not sufficiently known to procure loans 
abroad, found no difficulty in getting them at home. The banks expanded ; 
the excitement continued to increase ; as mines were discovered and 
opened, and public works laid out, towns were projected, town lots were 
multiplied, and passed almost like currency from hand to hand ; extensive 
manufactories were established " to develop the resources of the state ;" 
real estate, agricultural produce, and merchandise rose in price nearly 
double ; the former indeed, in many cases, ten-fold : in short, all the 
world was getting rich, and that without labor. 

In 1836, the charter of the second Bank of the United States expired, 
but the United States Bank of Pennsylvania was chartered by the state 
legislature, with the same capital of $35,000,000, and, purchasing the 
assets and assuming the liabilities of the old bank, continued the busi- 
ness under the same roof In 1837, a reaction commenced. All the 
banks, with very rare exceptions, suspended specie payments throughout 
the Union. A resumption was attempted in 1839, but was only perse- 
vered in by the banks of New England and New York. This new sus- 
pension, however, was not generally followed by contraction of the 

* See Report to the State Senate, Jan. 29, 1820, " on the present distressed and embarrassed 
itate 6f the commonwealth" — copied in Hazard's Register, Vol. IV. p. 136. 



S2 



OUTLINE HISTORY. 



currency in Pennsylvania until early in 1841, when another attempt was 
made to resume, but it proved fatal to the United States Bank of Penn- 
sylvania, and the Girard Bank, which were obliged to go into liquidation ; 
while nearly all the banks of this state, and of all the states south and 
west of it continued their suspension.* To relieve the distressing pressure 
throughout the state consequent upon the downfall of the great banks, 
and the general reaction of all private speculations, and also to provide 
temporary means for meeting the demands upon the state treasury, the 
banks, still in a state of suspension, were permitted, by a law of 4th May, 
1841, to issue small notes, of the denomination of $1, $2, and $3, which 
w^ere loaned to the state, and were redeemable in state stock whenever 
$100 were presented in one parcel. The treasury of the state still being 
embarrassed, the state stocks became depreciated, (being at one time 
as low as $35 for $100,) and the small notes depending upon it, sympa- 
thized in the depreciation, but not to an equal extent. An attempt to 
coerce the banks to specie payments, in the spring of 1842, was unsuc- 

* Depreciation of Stocks. — A calculation showing the relative value of the stocks held in 
Pennsylvania now, and three years ago, would be an interesting document. The wisest and 
best of our citizens have been deceived. Nay, some of those who railed most, at what they de- 
scribed as the ingenuity and falsehood of others, have also committed egregious errors. 

To illustrate the matter, we invite attention to the following table. It will be seen that we 
have mentioned only a portion of the stocks that have been bought and sold in our market 
within the last few years. The picture it presents is frightful indeed. It will be seen that out 
of a capital of little more than sixty-two millions of dollars, there is an aggregate loss of nearly 
fifty-seven millions ! — BicknelVs Reporter of 1841. 

[To this table have been added, by the compiler, two columns, bringing the quotations down 
to Jilne, 1843, from which the further aggregate loss may be easily estimated. An improvement 
will be noticed in the last colimin.] 





"rt 




til 00 




a 
.2 


00 


00 






cd 


3 M 


3C2 


• 2 


?-H 


.* 




CO 
Q 


> 

e4 


_2 


3 


o 

a. 

o 


u 








Ph 


"3 
> 


13 
> 


ft 


d 
S 


•-» 


"United States Bank, .... 


35,000,000 


100 


123 


10 


39,550,000 


2 


5i 


North America Bank, . ; . . 


1,000,000 


400 


408 


300 


270,000 


275i 


309 


Pennsylvania Bank, .... 


2,500,000 


400 


500 


260 


1,500,000 


130 


141 


Philadelphia Bank, . ; , . 


1,800,000 


100 


108 


75 


594,000 


49 


64 


Farmers' and Mechanics' Bank, 


1,250,000 


50 


62 


45 


425,000 


24i 


34i 


Commercial Bank, .... 


1,000,000 


50 


63 


44 


380,000 


37| 


45 


Mechanics' Bank, .... 


1,400,000 


35 


54 


26 


1,120,000 


16| 


19i 


Northern Liberties Bank, 


350,000 


35 


48 


30 


180,000 


20 


26 


Schuylkill Bank, .... 


1,000,000 


50 


50 


5* 


990,000 


5 


7 


Southwark Bank, 


250,000 


50 


60 


45 


75,000 


50 


57 


Kensington Bank, .... 


250,000 


50 


75 


40 


175,000 


36 


45 


Penn Township Bank, .... 


500,000 


50 


75 


40 


350,000 


19 


21 


Girard Bank, 


5,000,000 


50 


53 


28 


2,500,000 


2 


5i 


Western Bank, 


.500,000 


50 


53i 


30 


235,000 


37 


42 


Manufacturers' and Mechanics' Bank, 


401,300 


50 


55 


35 


160,520 


11 


15 


Moyamensing Bank, .... 


250,000 


50 


55 


38 


85,000 


23 


35 


Schuylkill Navigation Company, 


1,666,000 


50 


166 


46 


3,988,000 


29 


44 


Schuylkill Loans, 


2,200,000 


100 


95 


70 


550,000 


60 a 65 


80 


Lehigh Coal Company, 


1,500,000 


50 


90 


15 


1,950,000 


5 


10 


Lehigh Loans, . ... 


4,400,000 


100 


100 


60 


1,760,000 


28 


100 




62,217,300 


56,837,520 





Nominal. 



FINANCES, 



53 



cessful, the state having made no adequate provision for the redemption 
of the small notes, (called Relief Notes.) A few city banks resumed ; 
others failed ; the country banks generally remained in a state of sus- 
pension, and the relief notes, at a discount of from 7 to 10 per cent., 
formed the only currency throughout the state. During this year the 
state made only a partial payment, in depreciated funds, of the semi- 
annual interest on her stocks, and her credit, hitherto sustained with 
difficulty, sunk with that of other delinquent states. The legislative pro- 
visions of 1842 and 1843, especially the tax law of July, 1842, may in 
time replenish the exhausted treasury, and resuscitate the credit of the 
state. The following statement, compiled from Gov. Porter's message of 
4th January, 1843, exhibits the amount of the public funded debt of the 
state, and the objects for which it has been contracted. 

The whole amount of the present funded debt of the state, exclusive of the deposit of the 

surplus revenue, is $37,937,788 24. This debt is reimbursable as follows : 

Balance of loan per act of 14th April, 1838, - $15,000 00 

In the year 1841, 56,022 60 

1844, 62,500 00 • 

1846, 4,194,242 08 

1847, 72,335 06 

1850, 1,000,000 00 

1853, ..... 2,000,000 00 

1854, 3,000,000 00 

1856 2,783,161 88 

1858, 7,070.661 44 

1859, ..... 1,250,000 00 

1860, 2,648,680 00 

1861 120,000 00 

1862 2,265,400 00 

1863 200,000 00 

1864, ...... 2,515,000 00 

1865, 2,756,610 00 

1868, ., 2,524,000 00 

, 1870, - - . . . 1,957,362 15 

At the expiration of certain bank charters, . . 575,737 50 

Interest due 1st Aug. last, for which certificates have been 

issued, redeemable in Aug. 1843, . - 871,075 53 



$37,937,788 24 



This debt has been contracted for the following purposes, viz : 

For canals and railways, .... $30,533,629 15 

To pay interest on public debt, ... 4,410,135 03 

For the use of the Treasury, .... 1,571,68900 

Turnpikes, state roads, «&.c., . . . 930,000 00 

Union Canal, ...... 200,000 00 

Eastern Penitentiary, .... 120,000 00 

Franklin Railroad, ..... 100,000 00 

Pennsylvania and Ohio Canal, ... 50,000 00 

Insane Asylum, ..... 22,335 06 



The value of our Public Improvements, estimated at cost, is, 
The State ovms Bank Stock, which cost, at par, 
" Turnpike and Bridge Stock, 
" " Canal and Navigation Stock, 
" " Railroad Stock, .... 
Money due on unpatented lands, estimated at 



$37,937,788 24 

$30,5oi3,629 15 

2,108,700 00 

2,836,262 45 

842,778 66 

365,276 90 

1,000,000 00 

$37,686,647 16 



54 OUTLINE HISTORY, 

To the /undcd debt, as stated above, ..... $37,937,788 

Should be added the amount due domestic creditors, (contractors, &.c.) a little over 1,000,000 

Relief Notes, payable in State Stock, ..... 2,113,650 

And the interest on the State debts, payable in Feb. 1843, ... 874,278 

Total debt in Feb. 1843, about ...... $41,925,716 

The public improvements for which the principal amount of the state debt has been incurred, 
consist of 793i miles of canals and railways completed, and 140J miles of canals in progress of 
construction and nearly completed. 

The finished works are the following : miles. 

The Delaware canal, from Easton to tide at Bristol, ..... 59| 

The main line of canal and railway from Philadelphia to Pittsburg, . . . 395^ 

Canal from Beaver, on the Oliio river, to the mouth of the French creek feeder, in the di- 

rection of Erie, . . . . . . . . . 9';| 

Canal from Franklin, on the Allegheny river, to Conneaut lake, ... 49^ 

Canal, Susquehanna and North Branch, from Duncan's Island to Lackawanna, lll| 

Canal, West Branch, from Northumberland to Farrandsville, . . . .73 

Several side cuts and navigable feeders, ...... 7 

Total, canals and railways completed, . ..... 793^ 

Canals in progress, and nearly completed : 

North Branch extension, from Lackawanna to New York line, . - . 90 

Erie extension, from the mouth of the French creek Feeder to Erie harbor, . . 38J 

Wiconisco Canal, from Duncan's Island to Wiconisco creek, .... 12^ 

Total canals in progress, ......... 140| 

The state has always met the payment of the interest upon the public debt with punctuality, 
until the semi-annual payment due on the 1st of August, 1842, when, for want of adequate pro- 
vision for that purpose, certificates of the amount due to each holder of the stock were issued, 
bearing an interest of six per cent., payable in one year. 

On the 2d May, 1837, a convention, of which John Sergeant was 
elected president, assembled at Harrisburg for the purpose of revising the 
constitution of the commonwealth. Adjourning in July, the convention 
met again at Harrisburg in October, and removed in December to Phila- 
delphia, where their labors were closed on the 22d Feb. 1838. The 
amendments were adopted by the people at the subsequent annual elec- 
tion. In conformity with the more important amendments, the political 
year commences in January ; rotation in office is secured by allowing the 
governor but two terms of three years each, in any term of nine years ; 
the senatorial term is reduced to three years ; the power of the legisla- 
ture to grant banking privileges is abridged and regulated ; private prop- 
erty cannot be taken for public use without compensation previously 
secured ; the governor's patronage is nearly all taken away, and the 
election of many officers heretofore appointed by him is vested in the 
people or their representatives ; the governor's nomination of judicial 
officers must be confirmed in the senate with open doors ; all life offices 
are abolished ; judges of the supreme court are to be commissioned for fif- 
teen years, — presidents of the common pleas, and other law judges, for ten 
years, — and associate judges for five years — if they so long behave them- 
selves well ; the right of suffrage is extended to all white freemen twen- 
ty-one years old, one year resident in the state, having within two years 
paid a tax assessed ten days before the election, and having resided ten 
days immediately preceding in the district ; white freemen between the 
a^e of 21 and 22, citizens of the United States, having resided a year in 
the state and ten days in the district, may vote without paying any tax ; 
two successive legislatures, with the approbation of the people at a sub- 
sequent election, once in five years, may add to the constitution whatever 
other amendments experience may require. • 



ADAMS COUNTY. 55 



ADAMS COUNTY. 

Adams county was formerly a part of York, from which it was sepa- 
r«ited by the Act of 22d Jan. 1800. Length 27 m., breadth 24; area, 
5i^8 sq. miles. Population in 1800, 13,172 ; in 1810, 15,152 ; in 1820, 
10,370; in 1830,21,378 ; in 1840, 23,044. The lofty chain called the 
South Mountain, sweeps around the northern and western boundaries, 
passing into Maryland and Virginia under the well-known name of the 
Blue Ridge. The prevailing rocks of this mountain are the massive sili- 
cious sandstones of Formation I. of the great secondary series, according 
to the classification of the state geologist. The old red sandstone also 
appears in some places. The lower hills and valleys which compose the 
remainder of the county belong principally to the " middle secondary 
series," composed of blue, red, and green shales, talcose rocks, and gray 
sandstones. Here and there a bed of limestone has been protruded — a 
valuable acquisition for the neighboring farmers. Iron ore is found in 
several localities, and the dense forests of the mountain furnish abun- 
dance of charcoal for smelting it. Copper ore has also been found in 
some places, in the shape of green and blue carbonate, with a little na- 
tive copper ; but the furnace built for smelting it by Mr. Thompson in 
the southwestern part of the county, has been abandoned as unprofitable. 
There have been occasional rumors and surmises of the existence of gold 
and silver mines ; but hitherto the most successful mode of obtaining 
gold in Adams county, has been by that peculiar mixture of lime and red 
shale so well known and skilfully practised among the German farmers 
during the last fifteen years. 

Several iron furnaces are or have been in operation, among which the 
Caledonia furnace, on the Chambersburg road, and the Maria furnace, 
owned by Messrs. Stevens and Paxton, in Hamilton Ban township, are 
the most prominent. 

The silicious and broken lands of the mountains are poorly adapted to 
agricultural purposes ; but the rolling slate lands in the lower and mid- 
dle portions of the county furnish some excellent farms, on which there 
thrives an industrious and frugal people. 

There are no navigable streams in the county, yet it is well watered, 
and useful mill seats are abundant. Rock, Marsh, Middle, and Toms 
creeks, branches of the Monocasy river, drain the southern and middle 
sections of the county, and flow into Maryland. Latimore, Bermudian, 
and Opossum creeks, water the northeastern section, forming the sources 
of the Conewago creek, which flows through York county into the Sus- 
quehanna. 

There are fifteen or twenty well-built public bridges, and, in all, about 
ninety miles of excellent turnpike roads. A track has been graded, at an 
expense to the state of about $700,000, for a railroad from Gettysburg to 
the Maryland line, intended to connect with the Baltimore and Ohio 
road ; but the rails have never been laid, and the work is now suspend- 
ed — perhaps abandoned. This is the road which, from its very circuitous 
and expensive character, has been stigmatized by some state politicians 
las " the Tajie-ivorm" 



56 ADAMS COUNTY. 

About the years 1734-6, a band of emigrants from Scotland and the 
north of Ireland, more usually known in Pennsylvania as Scotch-Irish, 
settled on the " red lands" in the southeastern part of York county. Not 
long afterwards, and probably about the year 1740, a number of the 
same race made the first settlement in what is now Adams county, 
among the hills near the sources of Marsh creek. At that time the lime- 
stone lands in the lower part of the county, now so valuable in the hands 
of the German farmers, were not held in high estimation, on account of 
the scarcity of water, and the Scotch-Irish passed them by to select the 
slate lands, with the pure springs and mountain air to which they had 
been accustomed at home. These settlers were of the better order of 
peasantry, and brought with them the characteristics of their native land. 
They were moral, industrious, and intelligent ; and for the most part 
were rigid Presbyterians, or " Seceders." They were frugal, as the 
Scotch always are — plain in their mode of living, but cordial and hospita- 
ble. They were universally men of undaunted courage and high patri- 
otic feeling ; and when the alarm of the revolution first rung through the 
land, it called no truer or more willing hearts than those of the Scotch- 
Irish Presbyterians. The manners and character of the early settlers 
have been very generally inherited by their descendants — many of whom 
still cultivate the same farms, worship in the same old churches, and hold 
fast to the rigid and venerated " form of sound words" of the Presbyterian 
church. The Scotch rarely leave their learning behind them. One of 
the first Latin schools established in the state was taught here by an 
old Scotsman, who continued to fill the station for many years. He was 
succeeded by the Rev. A. Dobbin, as we infer from the following notice 
in an old Gettysburg paper of 1804. " The students of the Rev. A. Dob- 
bin hereby solicit the public to favor them with their attendance at the 
courthouse in Gettysburg, where they hope to entertain them with 
some short discourses on interesting and amusing subjects." 

The German population now so large in the county, and which threat- 
ens soon to outnumber the Scotch-Irish, came in at a much later date — 
probably about the close of the last century. As late as the year 1790, 
the inhabitants of all these townships were obliged to go to York post- 
office for their letters, 25 or 30 miles. In an old York newspaper of that 
date, there is an advertisement of letters remaining in the office ; and it 
is remarkable that nearly all the names from the region now Adams 
county, are Scotch and Irish — the McPhersons, McLellans, and all the 
other Macs ; the Campbells, Alisons, Wilsons, Morrisons, Worrells, &c. 
&c. — while a German name seldom occurs. It will not escape observa- 
tion, too, that the names of the townships in Adams county are nearly all 
of Irish origin. 

The region around Gettysburg, including all of Cumberland and part 
of Strabane townships, was originally known as " the Manor of Mask," 
established by warrant from the Penns in 1740, previous to which time 
many settlements had been made. Some dispute arose concerning the 
title ; but a compromise was effected by the original settlers through the 
agency of Mr. McLellan in 1765, when the boundaries of the manor were 
marked, and a list of the names of the first settlers, with the date of their 
settlement, wjis returned to the land-office, to prove the incipiency of 
their title. % 



ADAMS COUNTY. 



57 



Another section of the county, around Millerstown, is known as " the 
tracts," or the Carroll tracts, upper and lower. These were large tracts 
surveyed and held by the Carroll family under Lord Baltimore's title, 
before the southern boundary line of the state had been definitively 
marked. 

The separation from York was agitated first about the year 1790 ; and 
in June of that year James Cunningham, Jonathan Hoge, and James 
Johnston, were appointed to fix upon a site for the county seat. They 
selected a tract of 125 acres belonging to Garret Vanosdol, in Strabane 
township, between the two roads leading from Hunter's and Gettys' 
towns to the brick house, including part of each road to Swift's run. In 
1791 the subject was again agitated ; but it was not until 1800 that the 
act passed the assembly, and the present site for a county se9.t was se- 
lected. 

A strong motive for the division was doubtless the antipathy and jeal- 
ousy existing between the Irish and the Germans of York county. They 
spoke different languages, had difierent social habits, and were of oppo- 
site politics. The Germans were democrats. The people of Adams 
county were federalists, strongly attached to the administration of John 
Adams, and they therefore conferred his name upon their new county. 
Party feeling was then at its height between the old federalists and demo- 
crats. During the McKean administration, a law was passed ordering 
the state troops to wear the blue and red cockade ; but the federalists, 
who held to the old black cockade, refused to mount the other. Quite an 
excitement ensued : the obstinate were court-martialled, and in some in- 
stances their horses and other property seized to pay fines and costs of 
prosecution. 

Gettysburg, the county seat, was laid out by Mr. James Gettys, the 
proprietor, a few years previous to the organization of the county. It is 




Gettysburg, from the railroad. 

a plain, but neat and well built town, situated on elevated ground, at the 
intersection of several important turnpike roads, and is surrounded by a 
delightful and well-cultivated country. It contains the usual county 

8 



S8 ADAMS COUNTY. 

buildings — a bank — an academy — Presbyterian, Seceder, Methodist, and 
German Lutheran churches — a Theological Seminary, and the Pennsyl- 
vania College, both lender the patronage of the Lutheran denomination. 
The society of the place is highly respectable and intelligent. It was 
formerly noted for its extensive manufacture of coaches, but that business 
has declined with the change of the times. Gettysburg is 114 miles from 
Philadelphia, 36 from Harrisburg, and 53 from Baltimore. The principal 
trade of the region is carried on with Baltimore, to which place there is 
an excellent turnpike road. There are also turnpikes to York, Cham- 
bersburg, and Mummasburg. Population in 1840, 1,908. 

The following facts were gathered from aged citizens of the vicinity : 

The Upper Marsh Creek Presbyterian Church was the first erected in the county. The ven 
erable Mr. Paxton, now oyer 80, has recently retired from the pastoral charge, which he held I'ol 
about fifty years. The old edifice is demolished, and a new one erected on another site. The 
old " hill church" of the Seceders is also of nearly equal antiquity. They had also another 
church near the town, at which the Rev. Alexander Dobbin officiated for 36 years, until 1809. 
The site of the present Scceders' chui'ch in town was formerly shaded by a beautiful grove, 
called Federal Grove — a name indicative of the political bias of the citizens of that day. 

The Presbyterian congregation now under the charge of the Rev. Mr. Watson, in town, for- 
merly worshipped at the Lower- Marsh Creek Church, in the country. Rev. John Black was their 
first minister. Rev. David McConaughy succeeded him, and preached about forty years ; and 
then the church removed into town. 

Mr. McPherson's ancestors, near town, settled about 1741-42, when the patent is dated. ]\Ir. 
Warrell's ancestors settled about the same time up in the mountains, and purchased their farm 
of four hundred acres, upon which he now resides, from a man who liad become tired of it, for a 
pair of shoes ! It is now worth twenty dollars per acre. Mr. William McLellan, the well-known 
and obliging landlord at Gettysburg, says that his ancestor obtained his patent from William 
Penn, at Newcastle, but did not settle till about 1740. The land still remains in possession of 
the family, and the graves of the deceased members are all there. There are very many instances 
of the same kind in the county, where the descendants are still cultivating the farms wliich their 
fathers opened one hundred years since. The venerable Capt. David Wilson, of the revolution- 
ary army, was born "out on the tract" in 1752, and still lives upon the same place. The old 
veteran still retains his zeal in the affairs of his country, and presided in a political meeting at 
Gettysburg in 1842. " Capt. Nicolas Bittinger died in Adams county in 1804, aged seventy-eight. 
He was one of the first who took up arms in the war of the revolution. He was taken a prisoner 
fighting at the head of his column, at Fort Washington. He endured a tedious captivity and 
hard treatment, which induced the complaint that terminated his life." 

The following is extracted from the " Lutheran Almanac," for 1842 : — 

Theological Se?ninary. — As early as the year 1820, the subject of a theological seminary was 
agitated, and a number of ministers in Maryland and Virginia had taken up collections for this 
purpose at the monthly associations which had been formed by them. But nothing further was 
accomplished till the general synod determined to establish such an institution, and elected the 
Rev. S. S. Schmucker, then pastor of the Lutheran church in New Market, Va., as the first pro 
fessor. In 1825 the Theological Seminary commenced operations in Gettysburg, with Dr. 
Schmucker at its head, having but a few students and no funds. But by the efforts of the pas- 
tor elect and other ministers, and especially the self-denying labors of the Rev. Benjamin Kurtz, 
who visited Germany, the Seminary was established on a firm basis, and has already proven of 
incalculable benefit to our branch of the church. In 1830 Rev. E. L. Hazelius, D. D., was 
elected to fill the second professorship. In 1831 the corner-stone of the Seminary building was 
laid, with religious services, and the edifice was put under roof, and the next year fitted for the 
reception of students. 

The Seminary edifice, of which a view is here given, is situated about one fourth of a mile 
from Gettysburg, and is a four-story brick building, one hundred feet by forty. A number of 
rooms are furnished by congregations and benevolent individuals. At a short distance on each 
aide of the Seminary are the dwellings of the professors, likewise of brick. 

Present Faculty. — Samuel S. Schmucker, D. D., Professor of didactic and polemic, homiletic 
and pastoral theology, and chairman of the faculty. Charles P. Krauth, D. D., Professor of sa- 
cred philology and exegesis. Henry I. Smith, A. M., Professor of German language and litera- 
ture. 

By the liberality of the fi-iends and brethren in Europe and this country, and by purchase, a 
library has been collected, of between seven and eight thousand volumes. It consists of works 



adaMs county. 



5d 




Theological Seminary, at Gettysburg' 

of almost every age, language, and size. There are two societies in the Seminary ; one the " So- 
ciety of Inquiry on Missions," the other the " Theological Society." Tuition and use of library, 
gratis. 

Particular attention is paid to the German language, and the course of studies so regulated, 
that a due portion may bo pursued in that language by all the students who wish. 

From the year 1825, there have been connected with this institution one hundred and fifty-four 
students. During the past year thirty-two have attended the lectures of the professors. Within 
the last twelve months eighteen persons have left the Seminary. 

The Seminary is in a very flourishing condition, and the healthiness of the situation, the mod- 
crate expense, the advantages of a good library, the acknowledged high standing of the faculty, 
warrant the hope that tiiis institution is destined to become yearly more and more useful to the 
cause of the Redeemer. 

Efforts are now making to establish a second professorship. 




Pennsylvania College, at Gettysburg. 

The new College edifice is a chaste specimen of the Doric order. It is 150 feet in length, 
and contains 75 apartments, 54 of which are designed for the lodging of students ; the others are 
a college hall, library and lyceum, two rooms for literary societies, four recitation rooms, refec- 
tory, and apartments for the steward and his family. The trustees intend to erect another build- 
ing for the use of the preparatory department. 

The College had its origin in the wants of the German portion of the community, and 
especially of the Theological Seminary. Some of the applicants for admission to that 



60 ADAMS COUNVy. 

institution being found deficient in classical attainments, the board, in May, 1827, resolved to 69 
tablisli a preparatory department. 

The Rev. D. Jacobs commenced this preparatory school in Jmie, 1827, and his brother in 1829 
assisted liim in the mathematical department. It soon after took the name of the Gettysburg 
Gymnasium, under the direction of an as-sociation of stockholders. Rev. Mr. Jacobs died in 
Nov. 1831), and was Succeeded in 1831 by Rev. H. L. Baugher, A. M. As the number of stu- 
dents had increased, and the pro.spect of usefulness, especially to the German community, was 
very flattering, Prof. SchmilCker, after consultation with his brethren, invited the citizens of Get- 
tysburg to cooperate in the establishment of a respectable college, to take the place of the Gym- 
nasmm, A charter was procured from the legislature, and the institution was organized under 
the title of Pennsylvania College, in July, 1832, and went into operation in the following October. 
Prof. Schmucker and Dr. E. L. Ilazelius temporarily officiated as professors, until, in Oct. 18.31, 
Rev. C. P. Krauth, D. D., was inducted into office as president. 

Present Faculty. — Rev. C. P. Krauth, D. D., President and Prof, of intellectual and moral 
science; Rev. H. L. Baugher, A. M., Prof, of Greek language and literature, rhetoric and ora- 
tory ; Rev. M. Jacobs, A. M., Prof, of mathematics, mechanical philosophy and chemistry ; Rev. 
W. M. Reynolds, A. M., Prof. of Latin language and literature; Rev. Henry I. Smith, A. M., 
Prof, of German language and French ; D. Gilbert, M. D., Lecturer on anatomy and physiology ; 
Mr. M. L. Stoever, A. B., Principal of Prep. Dep., and Mr. Gottlob Bassler, A. B., Tutor in 
Prep. Dep. 

Number of students in 1836, 101 ; in 1841, 189. 

The College library is well selected and regularly increased There are two library societies 
and one German society, which have formed libraries for themselves. A Lyceum and cabinet of 
natural history have been commenced. 

The medical department iS located in ]fhiladelphia, under the charge of Drs. S. G. Morton, 
George M'Lellan, William Rush, Samuel M'Lellan, Walter R. Johnson, and James M'Clintock. 

Among thd more modern occurrences which have excited the good 
people of Gettysburg, is the following, an account of which is extracted 
from one of the York newspapers for 1842 :- — 

Ballooning Extraordinary. — A daring feat was accoinplished on Saturday last, by a citizen 
of our neighboring town of Gettysburg. Mr. John Wise, the American jEronaut, par excellence, 
had announced his intention to make his thirty-ninth balloon ascension on that day, from an en- 
closure in Gettysburg ; and with his usual punctuality, was ready on the day and hour promised. 
His balloon was inflated ; his ballast, grappling-iron, &c., duly stowed ; and he was about to step 
into the basket. At that moment, Mr. John McClcllan, a young gentleman of Gettysburg, in- 
quired of Mr. Wise whether it would not be possible for two persons to ascend with the power 
then in the balloon. On receiving a negative reply, Mr. McClellan seemed much disappointed — 
said he was determined to have a ride ; and inquired the price at which Mr. Wise would permit 
him 10 make the voyage alone. " One hundred dollars, sir," said Mr. Wise, who did not appear 
to consider the inquirer to be in earnest. "I will give you fifty dollars!" "Agreed — fork over!" 
The joke was "carried on," and the cream of it was soon transferred to the pocket of the sero- 
naut ; and his substitute was seated snugly in the car, vociferating his direction to " cut loose !" 
Mr. Wise thought that matters had now gone far enough, and requested his customer to get out, 
as the time had arrived at which he had promised to be off. But he refused to do so, and insisted 
that he had regularly hired and paid for a passage "in this boat," and go he would. As Barney 
O'Reardon said to the man irl the moon, when the latter respectable personage told him to " lave 
his hould," "the more he bid him, the more he wouldn't !" 

Mr. Wise then let the balloon up a short distance by a rope, thinking probably that as there 
was considerable wind, and the air-horse consequently turbulent, that his substitute would have 
his courage cooled, and "give in." But this was no go; and thinking that he had as good a 
start as he ever would have, Mr. McClellan cut the rope — and was off! After he found fhat it 
was the determination of Mr. McClellan to go, Mr. Wise had but time to give him a fe\* hasty 
and imperfect instructions in regard to the management of tlie balloon ; and in a few minutes 
the daring amateur asronaut had ascended to a height of about two miles. Here he struck a 
current of air which bore him directly towards York. He says that the earth receded from him 
very rapidly after he had thrown a bag or two of sand upon it ; that Geltysbiirg passed off to- 
wards Hagerstown, and that he aavr Carlisle, Hanover, Abbotstown, Oxford, and Berlin, stroll- 
ing about ; and that soon after, just ahead of him, he saw Old York coming full-tilt up the turn, 
pike towards him, apparently taking an afternoon's walk to Gettysburg. Having determined to 
stop at York, and fearing from the remarkable speed at which our usually staid and sober town 
was travelling, that she would soon pass under his balloon and give liun the slip, he pulled the 
string attached to the safety-valve, in order to let off a portion of his gas. This valve is so con. 
structed that when the rope attached to it is pulled, the valve opens to the interior, and again 
closes by the force of the gas when the rope is let go. 



ADAMS COUNTY. 



61 



Unfortunately, however, the inexperienced ceronaut pulled too violently at the valve-rope, toro 
it. completely oiF its hinges, and brought it dovi^n into the car ! When this occurred he was more 
than a mile high, and he immediately and with fearful rapidity descended, or rather fell to the 
earth ! When the valve-door came off, the gas of course escaped rapidly ; but the balloon caught 
sufficient air to form a parachute, by which the fall was moderated ; — and we are happy to say 
that the voyager reached the earth, about five miles from York, entirely uninjured I He says 
that as soon as the valve-door came down upon him, he knew that something had "broke loose;" 
and just then remembering that Mr. Wise had told him to be sure when he descended to throw 
out his grappling-iron, he was preparing to get at it among the numerous things in his basket, 
" when the earth bounced up against the bottom of the car." 

When first seen from York, the balloon was about thirteen miles off, nearly due west. It ap- 
peared to be approaching directly towards our town, until the valve was pulled and it had fallen 
considerably. As it fell, it seemed to find a current that bore it rapidly towards the north. The 
spot at which it landed is about northwest of our borough. 

The escape of the gas was distinctly seen from York ; and as the balloon neared the earth it 
had lost its rotundity, and appeared to the gazers here to come down heavily, like a wet sheet. — 
York Gazette. 

Adams county contains several small but pleasant and flourishing vil- 
lages, among which are Petersburg, Berlin, Abbotstown, Littlestown, 
Millerstown, Oxford, Hunterstown, Mummasburg, and others. Peters- 
burg, 13 miles south of Carlisle on the turnpike leading thence to Balti- 
more, and about 1 3 miles northeast of Gettysburg, contains thirty or forty 
dwellings, an academy, and a church. This place was laid out about 
the year 1800, and took its name from one Peter Fleck, who kept a 
small liquor store in a log cabin there. Peter was bought out by 
Mr. Isaac Sadler, a hatter. Mr. Jacob Garner was also one of the early 
settlers- 

About one and a half miles from Petersburg are the York Sulphur 
Springs, which were discovered about the year 1790 on the plantation of 




York Sulphur Springs. 

Mr. Jacob Fickes. The waters were analyzed by Mr. Heteric k and Dr. 
James Hall, who visited the spring at that time for the purpose. Their 
medicinal properties have been highly extolled, particularly for their effi- 
cacy in cases of debilitated constitutions. 

The buildings erected by Mr. McCosh, who was for some years the 
proprietor, are extensive and comfortable ; and the gounds and neighbor- 



62 ADAMS COUNTY. 

ing hills are highly picturesque. More fashionable resorts at the north 
have \vithdrawn some of the patronage formerly bestowed upon this 
pLace. yet it is still a tavorite resort of the wealthy citizens of Baltimore. 
Daily stages run to York and Baltimore. 

During the old French war of IToo-oS, the barrier of the South Moun- 
tain shielded the early settlers of Adams county from the savage incur- 
sions that desolated the Cumberland valley. * Yet occasionally a party 
more daring than the rest would push across the mountain, and murder 
or carry captive defenceless families. An atfecting instance of this kind 
is described in the tbllowing narrative, abridged from one much more in 
detail by Mr. Archibald Bard, of Franklin county. 

Mv fiithor, Richard Bard, owned, and resided near, the mill now called Marshall's Mill, on 
the Carroll tract, in Adams co. On the morning of I3th April. 17;>8. his house was invested by 
a party of nineteen Delaware Indians. Hannah .McBride. a little girl, on seeing: them, screamed, 
and ran into the house, where were my father, mother, a child six months old, a bound boy, and 
my cousin, Lieut. Potter, i^brofher of Gen. Potter.") The Indians ruslied in — one of them' made 
u blow, with a larije cutlass, at Potter, who wrested it from him. My father snapped a pistol at 
one of the Indians; the siolit of the pistol alarmed them, and they ran out of the house. The 
Indians outside, however, were very numerous, and my father's partv having: no ammunition, and 
fearing: that the Indians would burn the house, surrendered. The Indians also made prisoners, 
in a tield, of Samuel Hunter, Daniel McManimy, and William White, a lad cominu: to mill. 
Havinji secun-d the prisoners, tiiey i>lundered the house and set tire to the mill. Not far from 
tlie house, contrary to all their pnnnises, they killed Thomas Potter ; and havinix proceeded on 
the mountain three or four miles, an Indian '"' sunk the spear of his tomahawk into the bn^ast of 
the small child, and after n-peated blows, scalj>rd it." The prisoners were taken over the moun.. 
tain past McCord's fort, into the Path Valley. Alarmed, and hurried by a partv of whites in pur- 
suit, on reachini: the top of Tuscarora .^tountain, they sat down to rest, "when an Indian, with' 
out any pnn-ious warning:, sunk a tomahawk into the head of Samuel Hunter, who was seated 
by my father, and by repeated blows kdled him. Passing: over Sideling: Hill, and the Alleg:heuy 
Mountains, by Blair's Cap, they encamped beyond Stony Creek. The half of my father's head 
had bt^n painted rtxl, denoting: that a conned had been held, and an equal number were for 
putting; him to death, and for kcejuug: him alive, and that another council would determine the 
«luestion. My parents being: en<rag:ed tog:cther in plucking: a turkey, my father told her of his 
desisrn to escape. Some of the Indians had laid down, and one of them was amusing: the others 
by dressiuij hiujself with a gjown of my mother's. My father was sent for water to the spring, 
and contrived to escape while my mother kept the Indians anuised with tlie g:own. After an un- 
successful search, they proceeded down the stream to Fort Duquesne. (now Fort Pitt,'' and 
thence alwut ^0 miles down the Ohio, to an Indian town, and afterwards to " Cususkey," [Kus- 
kusky, in what is now Butler co.] " thi arriving at this place, Daniel McManimy was detained 
outside, but my mother, with the two Inns and girls, were taken into the town", at the same 
time having their hair pulled and faces senitched, and being beaten in an unmerciful manner. 
Here I shall extract from my father's papers the circumstance of McManimy "s death. This ac- 
count appears to have btn-n obtained from my mother, who obtained it from eye witnesses. The 
Indians lormed themselves into a circle n>und the prisoner, and connneuced beating him, some 
with sticks, and some with tomahawks. He was then tied to a jxist near a large tire, and after 
Wing tortured some time with burning coals, they scalped him, and put the scalp on a jK->le to 
bleed before his face. A gun-barrel was tluMi heated red hot, and passed over his luidy, and with 
a red hot bayonet they pierced his body, with many rt-petitions. In this manner they continued 
torturing him. singing and shouting until he expired." Leaving the two boys and girl, whom 
she never saw again until they were liberated, my mother was taken to another place. Du^ 
tressed beyond measure — goiiii: she knew not where, without a comforter or companion, and i^V 
pectiug every day the fate of McManimy, she chanced to meet anotlier captive woman, who to^ 
lier that the belt of wcmipum about her (my mother's) neck, was a certain sign that she was in- 
tended for an adopted relative. 

Soon at^er, in a council, two squaws entered, and struck my mother on the side of tlie head. 
The warriors were displeased, such conduct in council being contraPk- to the usage. A chief 
took m^- luother by the hand, and delivered her to two Indian men, to be in the place of a de- 
ceased sister. She was put in charge of a squaw to be cleanly clothed. After remaining here near 
a month with her adopted friends, they took her a journey of two or three hundnnl miles, to the 
headwaters of the Susquehanna. Much of this journey "she was obliged to perform on toot over 
mountains and swamps, with extreme suti'ering. Her fatigues brought on sickness, which lasted 
near two months.—" In this doleful situation, with none to comfort or sympathize witli her, a 



ALLEGHENY COUNTY. 63 

blanket was her only coverinfj, and lier bed the cold earth in a niisrrable cabin ; boiled com was her 
only food. Recovering from her sickness, siie met with a woman who had been in captivity several 
years, and had an Indian husband, by whom she had one child. My mother reproved her for 
this, but received for answer, that before she had consented they had tied her to a stake in order 
to burn her. She added, that as soon as their captive women could speak the Indian tongue, 
they were obliged to marry some one of them or be put to death." My mother resolved not to 
learn the language. She remained in captivity two yeans and five months. She was treated 
(luring this time by her adopted relations with much kindness, even more than she had reason 
to expect. 

My father suffered extreme hardships in effecting his escape and return to his home, travelling 
over mountains thick with laurel and briers, and covered with snow, with swollen feet — his clothes 
often wet and frozen — exhausted, and often ready to lie down and perish for want of food, 
and living, during a journey of nine days, upon a few buds and four snakes ! He at length 
reached Fort I/ittleton, (in Ikuiford co.) After this, he did little else but wander from place to 
place ill quest of information respecting my mother. He performed several perilous journeys to 
Pittsburg, in which he narrowly escaped several times losing his life by the Indians. He at 
length found where she was, and redeemed her, at Shamokin, (Sunbury,) on the Susquehanna. 

Before my father and mother left Shamokin, he requested an Indian who had been an 
adopted brother of my mother, if ever he came down amongst the white people to call and see 
iiini. Accordingly, some time afterwards the Indian paid him a visit, he living then about ten 
miles from Cliambersburg. The Indian having continued for some time with him, went to a tavern, 
known by the name of M'Cormack's, and there became somewhat intoxicated, when a certain 
Newgen, (since executed in Carlisle for stealing horses,) having a large knife in his hand, struck 
it into the Indian's neck, edge foremost, designing thereby to thrust it in between the bone and 
throat, and by drawing it forward to cut his throat, but he partly missed his aim, and only cut 
the forepart of the wind-pipe. On this Newgen had to escape from justice ; otherwise the law 
would have been put in force against him. And it has been remarked, that ever after he con- 
tinned to progress in vice until his death. A physician was brought to attend the Indian ; the 
wound was sewed up, and he continued at my father's until he had recovered, when he returned 
to his own people, who put him to death, on the pretext of his having, as they said, joined the 
white people. 



ALLEGHENY COUNTY. 

Allegheny county was taken from Westmoreland and Washington, by 
the Act of 24th Sept. 1788, and in 1789 a small addition was made to it 
from Washington. It then comprised all the territory north and west of 
the Ohio and Allegheny, from which was formed, in 1800, the counties 
of Beaver, Butler, Mercer, &c. The present limits compri.se the small 
but very populous country around the confluence of the Allegheny and 
Monongahela rivers with the Ohio, and of the Youghiogheny with the 
Monongahela. Besides the large navigable rivers, there are, tributary 
to them, Chartiers creek, Peters creek, Montours creek. Turtle creek, 
Poketas creek. Pine creek, and a number of less important streams. The 

•nty forms an irregular figure about 26 miles in diameter, and contain- 
fan area of 754 sq. miles. The population in 1790, was 10,309 ; in 
0, 15,087; in 1810, 25,317; in 1820, 34,921; in 1830, 50,552; in 
1840, 81,235. 

The surface is undulating, and near the great streams, hilly ; and 
many of the hills are precipitous. The uplands are fertile, and make 
excellent farms : along the rivers there are wide and exceedingly rich 
bottom lands, generally elevated above the reach of floods, and occupied 
by extensive farms and comfortable mansions. The forest trees, which 
are of every variety, are large, healthy, and of luxuriant growth, indi 



64 ALLEGHENY COUNTY. 

eating great fertility of soil. Fruit trees are abundant, and the vine and 
mulberry succeed well. 

Bituminous coal of the finest quality abounds throughout the county. 
The Pittsburg seam, from 5 1-2 to 8 feet in thickness, is probably the most 
important and extensively accessible in the western coal measures, and 
furnishes exhaustless supplies for the manufacturers of Pittsburg, and for 
exportation down the river. Limestone and excellent sandstone for ar- 
chitectural purposes, are found above and below the coal. There is a 
chalybeate spring about four miles southwest from Pittsburg, issuing 
from the fissures of a rock in the side of a hill, on the estate of J. S. 
Scully, Esq. 

The richest gifts of nature seem to have been bestowed by Providence 
upon this region ; and the art of man has been most diligent in adorning 
the works of nature, and developing her latent sources of wealth. Mag- 
nificent bridges span the noble streams ; innumerable steamboats are 
constantly plying to and fro ; mines are opened in every hill-side ; long 
shafts bring up salt water from the bowels of the earth ; durable stone 
turnpikes run in every direction ; the Monongahela is dammed at several 
points, and made capable of regular steamboat navigation ; the great 
Pennsylvania canal passes along the right bank of the Allegheny, and 
crossing it at Pittsburg on a splendid aqueduct, passes, by a tunnel, di- 
rectly through the hill back of the town, and connects its commerce with 
that of the Ohio. Magnificent public edifices, beautiful villas in the 
midst of fertile gardens and farms, extensive manufactories rolling out 
their black volumes of smoke, meet the eye of the observer in all parts 
of the county, but especially in the environs of Pittsburg. There are 
probably few regions where the respective departments of agriculture, 
commerce, and manufactures are so well balanced, and where each finds 
its own appropriate facilities to such an equal degree as in Allegheny 
county. 

This county was originally settled principally by Scotch-Irish, many 
of whom emigrated from the Kittatinny valley, others directly from Ire- 
land ; and to this day, although many Germans have also come in, the 
Scotch and Irish blood, not to mention the brogue, prevails about Pitts- 
burg. 

Pittsburg, the seat of justice of Allegheny county, but more distin- 
guished as the great manufacturing city of the west, is situated on a tri- 
angular point at the junction of the Allegheny and Monongahela, in lati- 
tude north 40° 26' 25", and longitude west from Greenwich 79° 59'. It is 
300 miles west from Philadelphia, 120 south of Lake Erie, 1,100 by land, 
and 2,029 by water, above New Orleans. The Allegheny comes down 
with a strong current from the northeast, and sweeping suddenly ro^^ 
to the northwest, receives the more gentle current of the Monongaj^^ 
from the south — their combined waters flowing on to the Mississippi tIp 
der the name of the Ohio, or Beautiful River. The aborigines and the 
French considered the Allegheny and Ohio to be the same stream, and 
the Monongahela to be a tributary — Allegheny being a word in the Dela- 
ware language, and 0-hee-o in the Seneca, both meaning fair water. 
Hence the French term Belle Riviere, was only a translation of the Indian 
name. 

The alluvial bottom on which the city is built is quite limited ; for im- 




O 

H 



S 6 






ALLEGHENY COUNTY. 65 

mediately back of it, and at less than a mile from the point, rises Grant's 
hill, (on which the courthouse stands,) with Ayres' hill on the* west, and 
Quarry hill on the east of Grant's. At the foot of these hills there ex- 
tends up the Allegheny a strip of alluvial land about a quarter of a mile 
wide, on which the suburb Bayardstown is built ; and on the Mononga- 
hela side a still narrower margin. The city is rapidly pushing its eastern 
limits on to the sides and summits of these hills. Grant's hill is already 
occupied. Opposite to Pittsburg, on a beautiful plain on the north bank 
of the Allegheny, is the large city of Allegheny ; below it a mile or two 
is the more rural village of Manchester ; while on the other side of 
Pittsburg, across the Monongahela, the smoky street of Sligo, with its 
noisy manufactories, is nestled under the high precipice of Coal hill ; 
and about two miles above Sligo, where the alluvial bottom spreads out 
wider, lies the large manufacturing town of Birmingham. All these vil- 
lages may be considered as belonging to and forming part of one great 
manufacturing and commercial city. 

The accompanying large view of Pittsburg was taken from the hill 
behind Sligo, about a quarter of a mile below the ferry. The editor of 
the Wheeling Times, in speaking of the visit of a Board of Inquiry to 
Pittsburg in 1841, for the purpose of selecting a site for the U. S. Ma- 
rine Hospital, says, concerning the prospect from this hill — 

This Board found Pittsburg a much larger place than Wheeling ; they found it a thriving 
place, with numerous engines, furnaces, and machinery ; they found it witli a rich and industri- 
ous population — a people that would work, and would therefore prosper, — at the same time they 
found them an hospitable, gentlemanly class of beings, possessed of mtelligence and willing to 
impart it. They doubtless took an early excursion upon the hills that environ the city. They 
looked down, and a sea of smoke lay like the clouds upon Chimborazo's base. No breath of air 
moved its surface ; but a sound rose from its depths like the roar of Niagara's waters, or the 
warring of the spirits in the cavern of storms. They looked around them, and saw no signs of 
life or human habitation. They looked above them, and the summer sun, like a haughty war- 
rlor, was driving his coursers up the eastern sky. Then from the sea of smoke a vapor rose — 
another and another cloud rode away, and a speck of silvery sheen glittered in the sunbeams. 

Again, a spire came into view, pointing heavenward its long slim finger ; then a roof — a house, 
top — a street ; and lo ! a city lay like a map spread out by magic hand, and ten thousand busy 
mortals were seen in the pursuit of wealth, of fame, of love, and fashion. On the left, a noble 
river came heaving onward from the wilderness of the north, bearing on its bosom the treasures 
of the forest. On the right, an unassiuning but not less useful current quietly yielded to the ves- 
sel's prow that bore from a more genial soil the products of the earth. They looked again, and 
extending downward through fertile and cultivated vales, checkered with gently swelling hills, 
they saw the giant trunk formed by the union of these noble branches. Ruffling its mirrored 
surface, they saw the noble steamer leaping like the panting courser, bearing a rich burden from 
the far sunny south ; another, gathering strength and rolling onward to commence its long jour- 
ney past fertile fields, high hills, rich and flourishing cities, and forests wide and drear, bearing 
the hand-work of her artisans to Mississippi, Texas, Mexico, the groves of India, and the hills 
of Pernambuco — nay, to every land to which the sun in its daily course gives light. Such they 
saw Pittsburg ; and as such, as a citizen of the west, we are proud of her. 

With the villages on the left bank of the Monongahela, Pittsburg is 
connected by the Monongahela bridge, 1,500 feet in length, having 8 arches 
resting on stone piers. This bridge was erected in 1818, at a cost of 
$102,450. Over the Allegheny there are no less than four bridges cross- 
ing to Allegheny city, besides the splendid aqueduct of the Pennsylvania 
canal. The first of these bridges was erected in 1819 at an expense of 
$95,250. It is 1,122 feet in length, resting on 6 piers of stone, and is ele- 
vated 38 feet above low water. 

There are in Pittsburg and its environs, within convenient walking dis- 





ee ALLEGHENY COUNTY. 

tance, 17 Presbyterian churches, 3 Cumberland Presbyterian, 12 Metho- 
dist Episcopal, 3 Protestant Methodist, 4 Baptist, 4 Roman Catholic, 5 
Episcopal, 2 Associate, 4 Associate Reformed, 2 Evangelical Lutheran, 2 
Congregational, 2 Disciples' churches, 1 "Church of God," 1 Unitarian, 
1 German Evangelical Protestant, 1 German Reformed, 3 Welsh, and 4 
African churches of different denominations. 

The population of Pittsburg, in 1786, was by estimate about 500 ; in 
1796, according to the assessor's lists, 1,395 ; in 1810, about 5,000 ; in 1820, 
7,248 ; in 1830, including Allegheny and the suburbs, 21,912 ; and in 1840, 
including the same, 38,931. 

Pittsburg owes its preeminence to the fortunate combination of several 
advantages. It is, with slight exceptions, at the head of steamboat navi- 
gation ; it is also the terminating point of the main line of internal im- 
provements. It is the mart of portions of Virginia and New York, as 
well as of western Pennsylvania ; while the Ohio opens to the enterprise 
of its citizens the whole of the Mississippi valley. The exhaustless banks 
of coal in the neighboring hills, and the excellent mines of iron ore found 
in great abundance in the counties along the mountains and on the banks 
of the Ohio below, together with the vast forests of pine timber on the 
head- waters of the Allegheny River, give to this city its preeminence 
over all others in the west for manufacturing purposes. 

To enumerate the various manufacturing establishments of this great 
workshop, does not fall within the scope of this work. The principal ar- 
ticles of manufacture arc steamboats, steam-engines, and a great variety 
of machinery, both of iron and wood ; bar-iron, nails, ploughs, and agri- 
cultural implements ; glass, cotton cloths, leather, and saddlery ; flooring- 
boards ; with a great number of articles of which the manufacture is 
prosecuted on a smaller scale. The steam power exerted in these various 
departments is immense ; in 1833 it was estimated to be equal to that of 
2,580 horses, and it was probably augmented one half in 1843. To stran- 
gers these manufactories are well worth a visit, especially those of glass, 
nails, bar and rolled iron. 

There is much moral power in this city ; many men of talents in the 
learned professions, whose light shines throughout the great valley of the 
west ; many benevolent societies and institutions of learning. 

An immense throng of passengers and travellers is passing into and 
out of Pittsburg daily, during the warm season. Five or six steamboats 
arrive and as many depart daily, either for nearer or more distant ports : 
and the number of canal-boats it would not be easy to estimate. To ac- 
commodate these travellers, the city contains some of the best hotels in 
the country — in the world. The Monongahela House, itself a princely 
palace, is also a perfect model as regards its management. It stands near 
the end of the Monongahela bridge, opposite the steamboat landing ; and 
from its balconies and the beautiful terrace on the top, the traveller may 
view the city, the rivers, with the surrounding scenery, and the arrival 
and departure of steamboats. It was commenced in 1840, and finished 
in 1841. It is five stories high, with a front towards the river of 120 feet, 
and 160 feet on Smithfield-street ; and with the ground cost about 
$100,000. It is kept by Mr. James Crossan. The Exchange Hotel, sur- 
passed in splendor only by the Monongahela House, is kept by Messrs. 
Smith and M'Kibbin, on the same orderly and correct system that gave 



ALLEGHENY COUNTY. 



err 



it its original celebrity under Mr. Crossan. The other hotels of the city- 
are also highly respectable. 

Of commercial institutions there are in Pittsburg, the Bank of Pittsburg, 
Merchants' and Manufacturers' Bank, Exchange Bank, Farmers' Deposit 
Bank, and a branch of the late U. States Bank ; five insurance com- 
panies ; a board of trade, who have a reading-room and exchange-room 
for merchants ; the Monongahela Navigation Company for improving 
that river by means of locks and dams ; and about twelve transportation 
companies for conducting the passenger and freight business on the ca- 
nals. 

Besides the banks, hotels, churches, bridges, coal-mines, canals, and 
manufacturing establishments, the principal objects worthy of attention 
are, first, the new courthouse. 




The New Courtlwuse at Pittsburg. 

This edifice is situated on Grant's hill, an eminence so high as 
to aflford an extensive view of the hills and valleys of the three rivers, 
with the towns and villages for miles around. The building is 165 feet 
long by 100 feet broad, and is connected with the jail in the rear. The 
principal story contains a rotunda 60 feet in diameter, four court-rooms 
and two jury-rooms. In the second story are the rooms for the U. 
S. district court, for the supreme court of the state, and the law 
library. This edifice, one of the most elegant in the United States, occu- 
pied five years in being built, and cost nearly 8200,000. It is built of the 
fine gray sandstone of the neighboring hills. John Chislett, Esq., of Al- 
legheny, was the architect ; Messrs. Coltart and Dilworth the contractors 
and builders. 

The Western University of Pennsylvania commenced its operations as a 
college in 1822, and since that time about one hundred have graduated, of 
whom nearly seventy have devoted themselves to the ministry of the gospel. 
The buildings, on Third-street, between Smithfield and Grant streets, were 
erected in 1830. Rev. George Upfold is president of the board of trus- 



68 



ALLEGHENY COUNTY. 




Western University of Pennsylvania. 

tees, Rev. Robert Bruce, D. D., of the Seceders' Church, is at the head 
of the institution, and also professor of natural and moral philosophy and 
mathematics. Mr. Robert Grierson is professor of ancient languages. 
The number of students in 1841, M'as about fifty. The Tilghman Literary 
Society is connected with the University. 

The city water- works, erected in 1827, is a valuable monument of 
liberality and enterprise. The water is elevated 116 feet, from the Alle- 
gheny river, to a reservoir on Grant's hill, 11 feet deep, and calculated to 
contain 1,000,000 of gallons. The water is raised by steam. 




Western Theological Seminary at Allegheny city. 

Passing over to Allegheny city, there may be seen the Western Theolo- 
gical Seminary of the Presbyterian Church, founded by the General As- 
sembly in 1825, and located in Allegheny town in 1827. The edifice was 
completed in 1831. It stands on a lofty, insulated ridge, about 100 feet 



ALLEGHENY COUNTY. 



69 



higher than the Allegheny river. It is indeed quite a task to ascend thia 
hill of science and religion, but one is amply repaid by the pure air and 
magnificent prospect. It contains a library of about 6,000 volumes, and 
has connected v^^ith it a workshop for manual labor. Rev. Francis Her- 
ron, D. D., is president of the board of directors. Rev. David Elliott, 
Rev. L. W. Green, Rev. Robert Dunlap, professors. 

The Theological Seminary of the Associate Reformed Church, located 
in Allegheny city, was established in 1826. It is under the charge of 
Rev. John T. Pressly, D. D., possesses a valuable library, and numbers 
about thirty students. 

The Allegheny Theological Institute was organized by the general 
synod of the Reformed Presbyterian church in 1840. Rev. James R. 
"Wilson, D. D., senior professor ; Rev. Thomas Sproull, junior professor. 
The seminary possesses a valuable library. Measures are in progress to 
erect a large edifice in Allegheny city. 




Western Penitentiary. 

The Western Penitentiary is an immense castle, built in the ancient 
Norman style, situated on the plain behind Seminary hill, and on the 
western border of Allegheny city. It was completed in 1827, at a cost 
of $183,092, including its equipments. Notwithstanding some glaring 
defects in its original construction and arrangement, it has now become 
an efficient institution. It is conducted on the " Pennsylvania system" of 
solitary confinement and labor. Weaving, shoe-making, and oakum- 
picking, are the employments of the prisoners. About 800 prisoners had 
been received, in 1842, since the commencement of the institution. 

The United States Allegheny Arsenal is located at Lawrenccville, a 
pretty village about two and a half miles above Pittsburg, on the left 
bank of the Allegheny river. The site for this arsenal was selected by 
Col. Woolley and Wm. B. Foster, Esq. Col. Woolley superintended the 
erection of the buildings. The site is just opposite Wainwright's Island, 
the spot where Gen. Washington was cast away in his first effort to cross 
the Allegheny, when returning from his mission to Venango. At this 
post are manufactured and stored, ordnance, small-arms, and all sorts of 



70 ALLEGHENY COUNTY. 

military equipments, which are shipped, as occasion demands, to the 
southern and western forts of the United States. The arsenal is under 
the general charge of Major H. K. Craig, at present the superintendent 
of the Harper's Ferry Armory. J. M. Morgan, 1st lieutenant, commands 
in his absence. 

Many of the extensive manufactories spoken of as being situated at Pittsburg, are not within 
the limits of the city proper, but are scattered around within a circle of five miles radius from 
the courthouse. Within this compass are the cities of Pittsburg and Allegheny, (the latter 
already a large place of near 12,000 inhabitants, containing many extensive manufactories, par- 
ticularly of cotton, iron, and white-lead, and doing a large proportion of the lumber business of 
the district,) the boroughs of Birmingham and Lawrcnceville, and the towns and villages of 
Manchester, Stewartstown, Sharpsburgh, East Liberty, Wilkinsburgh, Croghansville, Minersville, 
Arthursville, Riceville, Oakland, Kensington, Sligo, Cuddysville, Temperance Village, Millers, 
ville, and New Troy. The manufacturing establishments located in these surrounding villages, 
have their warehouses, owners, or agents within the city, and so far as general business interests 
are concerned, may be considered a part of the city itself, that being the centre, where the 
greater part of the business is transacted. The population within this region has been estimated 
at 60,000, but since the census of 1840 it is found that that estimate was too large. It will be 
seen that the population of Allegheny county is, whites, 81,417 — colored, 2,101 — total, 83,518. 
It is the opinion of the county commissioners, that within the district above laid down, 50,000 
of this population reside. Within this district there are about 75 churches, or places where 
religious worship is held ; about 90 sabbath-schools, 98 clergymen of all denominations, 95 
lawyers, 65 practising physicians, besides many who have retired from practice, about 475 
merchants of all kinds, about 100 of whom are wholesale, and 225 hotels and tavern-keepers. 

The following extracts are taken from three numbers published by Ne- 
ville B. Craig, Esq., in the Pittsburg Gazette for 1841. The earlier dis- 
coveries of the French, previous to their occupation of the Allegheny and 
Ohio, are noticed under the head of Erie county. 

In the 6th note to the 2d volume of Sparks' Writings of Washington, we have the following 
account of the first movement towards making a settlement on the Ohio. 

" In the year 1748, Thomas Lee, one of his majesty's council in Virginia, formed the design 
of effecting a settlement on the wild lands west of the Allegheny mountains, through the agency 
of an association of gentlemen. Before this date there were no English residents in those re- 
gions. A few traders wandered from tribe to tribe, and dwelt among the Indians, but they nei. 
ther cultivated nor occupied the land." 

Mr. Lee associated with himself Mr. Hanbury, a merchant from London, and twelve persona 
in Virginia and Maryland, composing the " Ohio Land Company." One half million acres of 
land were granted them, to be taken principally on the south side of the Ohio, between the Mo. 
nongahela and Kenhawa. 

In 1750, Mr. Christopher Gist, who afterwards acted as Washington's guide to Le Boeuf, was 
despatched by the company to explore the country along the Ohio. He kept a journal of his 
trip, which we have never seen ; but a writer who has seen it, states that he went from Virginia 
to the Juniata, ascended that river, and descended the Kiskiminitas to the Allegheny. 

He crossed that river about four mdes above this city, and passed on to the Ohio. In his 
journal he makes no mention of the Monongahela, and the writer who gives us this information 
presumes that he was ignorant of its existence. If he passed to the north of Hogback hill, as 
that writer supposes, the Monongahela might very readily escape notice. 

In this expedition, Gist went as far as the Falls, on the north side of the Ohio, and in Nov. 
1751, he examined the country on the south side of the Ohio as far as Kenhawa. 

In 1744, a treaty had been made with the Delaware Indians at Lancaster, by which they ceded 
to the king all the land within the bounds of Virginia. This was the first treaty supposed to 
contain a cession of lands on the Ohio. 

In 1752, a treaty was held at Logstown, [14 miles below Pittsbiu-g on the right bank of the 
Ohio,] Col. Fry and two other commissioners present on the part of Virginia, and Gist as agent 
of the Ohio company. One of the old chiefs declared that the Indians considered that the 
treaty at Lancaster did not cede any lands west of the first hills on the east side of the Alle- 
gheny mountains. 

They agreed, however, not to molest any settlements that might be made on the southeast side 
of the Ohio. 

[Two old chiefs, through an interpreter, asked Mr. Gist where the Indians' land lay — for the 
French claimed all the land on one side of the Ohio river, and the English on the other ? Mr. 
Gist found the question hard to answer.] 



ALLEGHENY COUNTY. 71 

Soon after the treaty at Logstown, Gist was appointed surveyor for the Ohic company, and 
directed to lay off a town and fort near the mouth of Chartiers creek. Nothing, however, we 
presume, was done in that matter, as Washington in his journal of his visit to I.e Boeuf used the 
following language : 

" About two miles from this, (the Forks,) on the southeast side of the river, at the place where 
the Ohio company intended to lay off their fort, lives Shingiss, king of the Delawares." 

Our late esteemed friend, James McKee, has often pointed out the place where Shingiss re- 
sided : it was near the river, and a short distance south of McKee's rocks. 

About this time, 1753, the French were carrying out their grand scheme for uniting Canada 
with Louisiana by a line of forts, two of which were to be placed at this place and at Logs- 
town. In the prosecution of this scheme, and to enforce their claim to the whole country on the 
Ohio, they surprised a blockhouse which the Ohio company had erected at the latter place, 
seized the goods and skins to the amount of about twenty thousand pounds, and destroyed all the 
traders but two, who made their escape. 

In the summer and fall of 17.53, accounts were received that a considerable French force had 
arrived at Presque Isle, on their way to the Ohio ; and in October of that year, George Washing- 
ton was selected as a messenger to proceed by the way of Logstown to the French commandant, 
wherever he might be found, to demand information as to the object of the French troops. Wash, 
ington departed immediately from Williamsburg, and arrived here about the 23d or 24th of Nov. 
1753. He examined the point, and thought it a favorable position for a fort. He then proceeded 
to Logstown — and thence to the French commandant, at Le Bceuf, from whom he received a 
very unsatisfactory reply. 

Immediately upon Washington's return to Williamsburg, arrangements were made to send 
two companies to the Ohio, to erect a fort at this place. One company, under the command of 
Capt. Trent, being first ready, marched and arrived here. While they were marching to this 
place, it seems, by the following extract from the records at Harrisburg, that the French had 
built a fort at Logstown. 

" March 12th, 1754. Evidence sent to the house that Venango and Logstown, where the 
French forts are built, are in the province of Pennsylvania." 

On the 2l9t of March, 1754, Gov. Dinwiddie said, in a lettter to Gov. Hamilton of Pennsyl- 
vania. " I am much misled by our surveyors, if the Forks of the Monongahela be within the 
bounds of the province of Pennsylvania." 

This is the first notice of the controversy between those two states, about Pittsburg and the 
country around it, which we have found. Thus the region around us was the bone of double 
contention : England and France were about to go to war for it, and Pennsylvania and Virginia 
to commence a controversy about it, which endured for more than twenty years — in the course 
of which much ill blood and angry feeling were displayed. 

It was, perhaps, a fortunate circumstance that considerable doubt existed as to which state the 
" Fork" belonged. Both states were probably induced to contribute more liberally in the ef- 
forts to recover it from the French, from the belief entertained by each that the country belonged 
to it. The Virginia troops very reluctantly accompanied Forbes by the Pennsylvania route, and 
had they known that tliis coimtry belonged to Pennsylvania, they might have declined alto- 
gether. 

We know not precisely at what time Capt. Trent's company arrived here, but on the llth of 
April, 1754, they were engaged in erecting a fort near the junction of the rivers Monongahela and 
Allegheny. Captain Trent was absent at Will's creek, and Lieut. Frazier was at his residence 
near Turtle creek, thus leaving Ensign Ward in command of a company of forty-one men. The 
fort was still unfinished, when, on that memorable day, 17tli of April, 1754, a French commandant, 
Monsieur Contrecoeur, made his appearance on the beautiful Allegheny, with sixty batteaux, three 
hundred canoes, and a motley host of above one thousand French and Indians, having with 
them eighteen pieces of cannon. Poor Ensign Ward, with his forty-one men and his unfinished 
stockade, could, of course, make no resistance to such a host, strengthejied as they were by a 
strong park of artillery. Some negotiation took place ; Contrecoeur, however, was peremptory, 
and cut discussion short. Ward surrendered the post, and was permitted to bring away his little 
company of forty-one men, and all his working tools. 

The seizure of this post was the first overt act of hostility in the memorable war which raged 
for seven years, both in Europe and America. 

The French, having thus taken possession of this place, proceeded at once to erect Fort Du- 
quesne, to secure and perpetuate their power here. Their labors, however, proved fruitless ; theil 
rule here was destined to a short endurance. 

Brief as it was, however, it was a period of much enterprise and activity, and marked by for- 
tunes both adverse and prosperous. The seizure of this place excited great sensation over the 
whole country, and more especially in the provinces of Pennsylvania and Virginia. 

Washington, who was at Will's creek, near where Cumberland now stands, with about ona 
hundred and fifty men, determined to proceed to the mouth of Red Stone creek, and erect a fort 
there. * « * * [See Fayette co.] 



72 ALLEGHENY COUNTY. 

At the surrender, by Washington, of the fort at Great Meadows, one of the terms of capitula- 
tion was that Captain Van Braam and Captain Stobo should be held by the French until the French 
prisoners, taken on the 28th of May, should be released. 

Captain Stobo was detained in Fort Duquesne for some time before he was sent to Quebec, and 
on the 29th of July, 1754, he wrote the following letter describing the state of affairs here, (4th 
Vol. Hazard's Register, page 328-9.) 

" Sir — I wrote you yesterday by an Indian named the Long, or Mono ; he will be with you in 
seven days. This goes by Delaware George. If these discharge their trust, they ought to be 
well rewarded. The purport of yesterday's letter was to inform you of a report, and I hope false, 
which greatly alarms the Indians, that the Half King, and Monecatooth are killed, their wives 
and children given to the Catawbas, Cattoways, and Cherokees. I wish a peace may be made 
up between the Catawbas and the nations here ; they are much afraid of them. Many would 
have joined you ere now, had it not been for that report. You had as just a plan of the fort as 
time and opportunity would allow. The French manage the Indians with the greatest artifice. I 
mentioned yesterday a council the Shawanese had with the French, the present they gave, and if 
they made the French a speech yesterday, the bearer, who was present, will inform you to what 
purport. If yesterday's letter reaches you, it will give you a particular account of most things. 
I have scarce a minute, therefore can only add one more thing : there are but 200 men here at this 
time, 200 more expected in a few days ; the rest went off in several detachments, to the amount 
of 1,000, besides Indians. The Indians have great liberty here ; they go out and in when they 
please, without notice. If 100 trusty Shawanese, Mingoes, and Delawares were picked out, they 
might surprise the fort, lodging themselves under the platform, behind the palisades, by day, and 
at night secure the guard with their tomahawks. The guard consists of 40 men only, and 5 offi- 
cers. None lodge in the fort but the guard, except Contrecoeur — the rest in bark cabins around 
the fort. All this you have more particularly in yesterday's account. Your humble servant, &-c. 
La Force is greatly missed here. Let the good of the expedition be considered preferable to our 
safety. Haste to strike." 

In the previous letter. Captain Stobo says : " La Force is greatly wanted here — no scouting 
now — he certainly must have been an extraordinary man amongst them — he is so much regretted 
and wished for." 

The 5th day of July, 1755, must have been one of great bustle and excitement within the limits 
of the west ward of our city. Within those limits, and near the Point, was then assembled, 
around and in Fort Duquesne, a number of French and Indians. Intelligence had been brought 
by their scouts that Braddock, with his formidable and disciplined army, was rapidly approaching. 
The French commandant was, no doubt, greatly distressed and perplexed by the condition of 
things — his force was comparatively small — Fort Duquesne was only a stockade, incapable of 
resisting, even for an hour, the lightest field-pieces. At this crisis, when it seems the com- 
mandant had abandoned all idea of resistance. Captain Beaujeu, a bold and enterprising spirit, 
well suited to such an emergency, proposed to take a detachment of French and Indians, and meet 
Braddock on his march. 

The consent of the Indians to accompany him was first to be obtained. Captain Beaujeu is 
represented to have been a man of great affability of manners, and very popular among the In- 
dians. He went among them, explained his plan, and urged them to go with him. They pro- 
nounced the plan to be a hopeless one, and refused peremptorily to go. 

A second time he applied to them — urged them to hold a council on the subject ; they did so, 
and again refused to go with him. Still not despairing. Captain Beaujeu again went among 
them, used all his arts of persuasion, told them that he was determined to go, and asked them 
whether they would permit him to go alone to meet the enemy. This appeal proved successful. 

They agreed to accompany him. This was on the 7th of July, 1755, and they had informa- 
tion that Braddock was only eighteen miles distant. That day and the next was spent in making 
preparations, and early on the morning of the 9th, the united forces of French and Indians de- 
parted on what seemed an utterly hopeless expedition. Along with Beaujeu were two other cap. 
tains, Dumas and Lignery, four lieutenants, six ensigns, and two cadets. 

Mr. Craig does not describe the battle at Braddock's field. The sub- 
joined account is abridged from various authorities. 

Major-general Edward Braddock had arrived in this country early in 1755, with the 44th and 
48th regiments of royal troops, under Sir Peter Halkett and Col. Dunbar. At Will's creek, (Fort 
Cumberland,) he was joined by about a thousand provincial troops, but the army was detained 
at this place several weeks, for want of horses, wagons, and forage. By the energy and tact of 
Dr. Franklin, then postmaster of the province, about 200 wagons, with the necessary horses and 
equipments, were raised among the farmers of the Cumberland valley, and in Lancaster and 
York counties. The army moved, at length, on the 8th and 9th of June, but soon found them- 
selves so encumbered with baggage and wagons, that it was determined, at the suggestion of 
Washington, who acted as aid-de-camp, to divide the force, pushing forward a small but chosen 
bandj with such artillery and light stores as were necessary, leaving the heavy artillery, baggage, 



ALLEGHENY COUNTY. 



73 



,&c., to follow by slow and easy marches. The general, with 1,200 chosen men, and Sir Peter 
Halkctt, as bri^fadier, Lieut. Col. Gage, (afterwards Gen. Gage,) Lieut. Col. Burton, and Major 
■Sparks, went forward, leaving Col. Dunbar to follow with the remainder of the troops and bag- 
gage. Col. Washington, who had been very ill with a fever, was left in charge of Col. Dunbar, 
but with a promise from Gen. Braddock that he should be brought up with the advanced corps 
before they reached Fort Duqufsne. He joined it, at the mouth of the Yough'ogheny, on the 
8th July. On the !)tli, the day of the battle, he says, " I attended the general on horse- 
back, though very low and weak. The army crossed to the left bank of the Monongahela, a 
little below the mouth of Yough'ogheny, being prevented by rugged hills from continuing along 
the right bank to the fort." 

" Washington was often heard to say during his lifetime, that the most beautiful spectacle he 
had ever beheld was the display of the British troops on this eventful morning. Every man was 
neatly dressed in full uniform ; the soldiers were arranged in columns and marched in exact 
.order ; the sun gleamed from their burnished arms ; the river flowed tranquilly on their right, and 
the deep forest overshadowed them with solemn grandeur on their left. Officers and men were 
(equally inspirited with cheering hopes and confident anticipations."* 

At noon they recrossed to the right bank of the river, at a ripple about half a mile below the 
fnouth of Tiu-tle creek, and ten miles above Fort Duquesne. The annexed sketch exliibits a 




BraddocJis Field. 

view of the battle-ground. The trees in the foreground mark the landing place ; the ford is now 
destroyed by the pool of the Monongahela Navigation Works. The cattle on the hill in the 
centre of the view, mark the place of the first attack ; the ravines in which the enemy were 
concealed are seen on either side. These ravines are from eight to ten feet deep, and sufficient 
to contain at least a thousand men. The whole ground was then covered with the forest, and 
the ravines were completely hidden from view. Capt. Orme, an aid of Braddock, who was 
wounded in the battle, in a letter dated at Fort Cumberland, 18th July, gives the following par- 
ticulars : " The 9th inst. we passed and repassed the Monongahela by advancing first a party of 
300 men, which was immediately followed by another of 200. The general, with the column of 
artillery, baggage, and main body of the army, passed the river the last time about one o'clock. As 
soon as the whole had got on the fort side of the Monongahela, we heard a very heavy and quick fire 
in our front. We immediately advanced in order to sustain them, but the detachments of the 
200 and 300 men gave way and fell back upon us, w^hich caused such confusion and struck so 
great a panic among our men, that afterwards no military expedient could be made use of that 
had any etiect upon them. The men were so extremely deaf to the exhortation of the general 
and the officers, that they fired away in the most irregular manner all their ammunition, and then 
ran off, leaving to the enemy the artillery, ammunition, provisions and baggage ; nor could they 
be persuaded to stop till they got as far as Gest's plantation, nor there only in part : many of 
them proceeded as far as Col. Dunbar's party, who lay six miles on this side. The officers were 
absolutely sacrificed by their unparalleled good behavior, advancing sometimes in bodies and 
sometimes separately — hoping by such example to engage the soldiers to follow them ; but to no 
purpose. The general had five horses killed under liim, and at last received a wound through 
the right arm into the lungs, of which he died the 13th inst. Poor Shirley was shot through the 



10 



Sparks. 



74 ALLEGHENY COUNTY. 

head: Capt. Morris wounded. Mr. Washington had two horses sliot under bim, and his ckithes 
shot through in several places ; behaving the whole time with the greatest courage and resolution. 
Sir Peter Halkett was killed upon the spot — Col. Burton and Sir John St. Clair wounded ; and 
enclosed I have sent you a list of killed and wounded, according to as exact an account as we are 
yet able to get. Upon our proceeding with the whole convoy to the little meadows, it was found 
impracticable to advance in that manner. The general therefore advanced with 1,200 men, 
with the necessary artillery, ammunition, and provisions, leaving the main body of the convoy 
imder the command of Col. Dunbar, with orders to join him as soon as possible. In this manner 
we proceeded with safety and expedition, till the fatal day I have just related ; and happy it was 
that the disposition was made, otherwise the whole must cither have starved or fallen into the 
hands of the enemy, as numbers would have been of no service to us, and our provisions were 
all lost. As our horses were so much reduced, and those extremely weak, and many carriages 
were wanted for the wounded men, it occasioned our destroying the ammunition and the super- 
fluous part of the provisions left in Col. Dunbar's convoy, to prevent its falling into the hands 
of the enemy ; as the whole of the artillery is lost, and the troops are so exceedingly weakened 
by deaths, wounds, and sicknesses, it was judged iippossible to make any further attempts. 
Therefore Col. Dunbar is returning to P'ort Cumberland, with every thing he is able to bring up 
with him. I propose remaining here till my wound will suffer me to remove to Philadelphia ; 
from thence shall proceed to England. Whatever commands you may have for me, you will do 
me the honor to direct to me here. By the particular disposition of the French and Indians, it was 
impossible to judge the number they had that day in the field. Killed — Gen. Braddock, William 
Shirley, Sec'y. Cp}- Halkett. Wounded — Roger Morris and Robert Omie, aid-de-camps. Sir John 
St. Clair, Dep. Quarter-master Gen., Matthew Lesly, Asst., Lieut. Col. Gage. Between 6 and 
700 officers and soldiers killed and wounded." 

Gen. Morris wrote to Gen. Shirley: "The defeat of our troops appears to me to be owing to 
the want of care and caution in the leaders, who have been too secure, and held in great con- 
tempt the Indian manner of fighting. Even by Capt. Orme's account they were not aware of 
the attack. And there are others that say that the French and Indians lined the way on each 
side, and in the front and behind intrenchments [ravines,] that we knew nothing of till they fired 
upon us." 

Washington also says: "The dastardly behavior of the regular troops (so called) exposed those 
who were inclined to do their duty, to almost certain death; and at length, in spite of every 
efTort to the contrary, they broke and ran, as sheep before hounds, leaving the artillery, ammuni- 
tion, provisions, baggage, and in short every thing, a prey to the enemy. And when we endeav- 
ored to rally them, in hopes of regaining the ground and what we had left upon it, it was with 
as little success as if we had attempted to stop the wild bears of the mountains. * * » 
It is conjectured, (I believe with much truth,) that two thirds of our killed and wounded received 
their shot from our own cowardly regulars, who gathered tliemselves into a body, contrary to or- 
ders, ten or twelve deep — would then level, fire, and shoot down the men before them." 

Col. Burd, who had obtained his information from Col. Dunbar at Fort Cumberland, also writes : 
"The battle began at one o'clock of the noon, and continued three hours. The enemy kept behind 
trees and logs of wood, and cut down our troops as fast as they could advance. The soldiers 
then insisted much to be allowed to take to the trees, which the general denied, and stormed 
much, calling them cowards ; and even went so far as to strike them with his own sword for at- 
tempting the trees. Our flankers, and many of our soldiers that did take to the trees, were cut 
off from the fire of our own line, as they fired their platoons wherever they saw a smoke or fire. 
The one half of the army engaged never saw the enemy. Particularly Capt. Waggoner, of the 
Virginia forces, marched 80 men up to take possession of a hill : on the top of the hill there lay 
a large tree about five feet diameter, which Capt. Waggoner intended to make a bulwark of. He 
marched up to the log with the loss of only three men killed by the enemy, and at the time 
his soldiers carried their firelocks shouldered. When they came to the log they began to fire 
upon the enemy. As soon as their fire was discovered by our line, they fired from our line upon 
him. He was obliged to retreat down the hill, and brought off with him only 30 men out of 
80 ; and in this manner were our troops chiefly destroyed. * * The general had with 
him all his papers, which are entirely fallen into the hands of the enemy, as likewise about 
^25,000 in cash. All the wagons that were with the general in the action, all the ammunition, 
provisions, cattle, &,c., two twelve-pounder cannon, six four-pounders, four cohorns and two 
hortts, with all the shells, &.c. The loss of men, as nigh as Col. Dmibar could compute at that 
time, is 700 killed and wounded, (the one half killed,) and about 40 officers. Col. Dunbar re- 
treated with 1,500 effective men. He destroyed his provisions, except what he could carry along 
with him for subsistence. He arrived on Tuesday, 22d inst., at Fort Cumberland, with his 
troops. He likewise destroyed all the powder he had with him, to the amount (he thinks) of 
50,000 pounds. His mortars, shells, «S^c., he buried ; and brought with him to our fort two six . 
pounders. He could carry nothing off" for want of horses." 

Col. Washington wrote to his mother from Fort Cumberland, 18th July, 1755, nine days after 
the battle : " When we came there we wsre attacked by a party of French and Indians, whose 



ALLEGHENY COUNTY. 7$ 

number I am persuaded did not exceed 300 men, while ours consisted of about 1,300 well-armed 
troops, chiefly regular sbldiers, who were stnick with such a panic that they behaved with more 
cowardice than it is possible to conceive. The officers behaved gallantly in order to encourage 
their men, for which they suffered greatly, there being near 60 killed and wounded — a large pro- 
portion Of the number we had. The Virginia troops showed a good deal of bravery, and were 
nearly all killed ; for I believe out of three companies that were there, scarcely 30 men are left 
alive. Capt. Pej^rouny and all his officers, down to a corporal, were killed. Capt. Poison 
had nearly as hard a fate, for only one of his was left. In short, the dastardly behavior of those 
thej call rcgidars exposed all others that were inclined to do their duty, to almost certain death ; 
and at last, in despite of all the efTorts of the officers to the contrary, they ran, as sheep pursued 
by dogs, and it was impossible to rally them. 

The general was wounded, of which he died three days after. Sir Peter Halkett was killed 
iji the field, where died many other brave officers. I luckily escaped without a wound, though I 
had four bullets through my coat, and two horses shot under me. Capts. Orme and Morris, two 
of the aids-de-camp, were wounded early in the engagement, which rendered the duty harder 
upon me, as I was the only person then left to distribute the general's orders ; which I was 
scarcely able to do, as I was not half recovered from a violent illness, that had confined me to 
my bed and a wagon for above ten days. I am still in a weak and feeble condition, which in- 
duces me to halt here two or thret; days, in the hope of recovering a little strength to enable me 
to proceed homeward." 

And to his brother John he writes at the same time : "As I have heard, since my arrival at 
this place, a circumstantial account of my death and dying speech. I take this early opportunity 
of contradicting the first, and of assuring you that I have not yet composed the latter. But, by 
the all-powerful dispensations of Providence, I have been protected beyond all human probability 
or expectation; for I had four bullets through my coat,* and two horses shot under me, yet es- 
caped unhilrt, although death Was levelling my companions on every side of me !" 

It appears that Washington's estimate of the numbers of the enemy was imderrated. Mr. 
Sparks ascertained in Paris that they were about 850, of whom two thirds were Indians. 

In relation to Braddock's grave, see some further particulars under the 
head of Payette county. The extracts from Mr. Craig's numbers are 
continued : — 

Various estimates are given of the force of the French and Indians. The largest estimate is, 
two hundred and fifty French and Canadians, and six hundred and forty Indians. The lowest 
estimate reduces the number of white men to two hundred and thirty-five, and Indians to six 
hundred. 

The brave and enterprising Beaujeu fell at the first fire, and the victory was achieved under 
the command of Capt. Dumas. 

Again, on the evening of that memorable day — if the statement of Col. James Smith, who had 
been some time a prisoner in Fort Du QuesHe, may be relied on — the Point was the scene of 
savage ferocity and human sufTering. On that evening, a number of the Indians returned fixim 
the battle-ground, bringing with them twelve prisoners, all of whom were burnt to death with all 
the cruel ingenuity which is usually displayed upon such occasions. 

About the 1st of April, 1756, a Mr. Paris, with a scouting party from Fort Cumberland, fell in 
with a small body of Indians commanded by a Monsieur Donville ; an engagement ensued ; the 
commandant was killed and scalped, and the following instructions, written at Fort Du Quesne, 
were found about him. 

" Fort Duquesne, 23d March, 1756. 

" The Sieur Donville, at the head of a detachment of fifty savages, is ordered to go and ob- 
s<^rve the motions of the enemy in the neighborhood of Fort Cumberland. He will endeavor to 
hTirass their convoys, and burn their magazines at Conococheague, should this be practicable. 
He must use every effort to take prisoners, who may confirm what we already know of the ene- 
my's designs. The Sieur Donville will employ all his talents, and all his credit, to prevent the 
savages from committing any cruelties upon those who may fall into their hands. Honor and 
humanity ought, in this respect, to serve as our guide." 

"DuMAS." 

We infer from these instructions, that Contrecoeur had then left this place, and that Dumas 

* When Washington went to the Ohio, in 1770, to explore wild lands near the mouth of the 
Kenhawa river, he met an aged Indian chief, who told him, through an interpreter, that during 
the battle of Braddock's field he had singled him out as a conspicuous object, fired his rifle at 
him many times, and directed his young warriors to do the same ; but none of his balls took 
effect. He was then persuaded that the young hero was under the special guardianship of the 
Great Spirit, and ceased firing at him. He had now come a long way to pay homage to the 
man who was the particular favorite of heaven, and who could never die in battle. 



76 ALLEGHENY COUNTY. 

was in command. He was, no doubt, the same person who com'manded at Braddock's defeat 
after the death of Captain Beaujeu. The instructions to Donville show him to have been as hu- 
mane as he was brave and enterprising. 

On the Bth of June, 1757, Lieut. Baker returned to Fort Cumberland from an expedition, with 
five soldiers and fifteen Clierokee Indians, towards P^ort Duquesne. They had fallen in with a 
party of three Frcjioh officers and seven men on the head waters of Turtle creek, about twenty 
miles from Fort Duquesne. 

They killed five of the Frenchmen, and took one oflicer prisoner. From this officer they 
learned that Capt. Lignery then commanded at Fort Duquesne, and that the force then here was 
six hundred French troops and two hundred Indians. This Capt. Lignery was, probably, the 
same who acconii)onied Beaujeu to Braddock's field, and was second in command after the death 
of that enterprising soldier. 

From this time we have no notice of Fort Duquesne until late in the succeeding year, 1758. 

" The great man after whom our city is named, was at length called to direct the energies of 
Great Britain, and under his auspices the years 1758 and '59 witnessed the extinction of French 
power in America. In the beginning of 1758, it was determined to act with great energy in this 
country ; three different expeditions were planned, and the first against Fort Duquesne was in^ 
trusted to Brigadier Gen. Joseph Forbes." 

[The particulars of Gen. Forbes' expedition will be found under Bedford, Somerset, and West- 
moreland counties.] 

Prior to Washington's arrival at Raystown, Major Grant had been detached towards Fort Du- 
quesne, with eight hundred men. He, however, as it is said, exceeded hi» orders, and arrived 
and encamped on the hill now called by his name ; on the 13th September, and on the next day,, 
a most sanguinary action took place within the limits of otu- city. The following account, which 
is the fullest that we have seen, is from the 2d vol. of Marshall's Life of Washington : 

" In the night he reached a hill near the fort, where he posted his men in different columns, 
and sent forward a party for the purpose of discovery. They burnt a log house near the walla 
and returned. Next morning. Major Grant detached Major Lewis, of Col. Washington's regi- 
ment, with a baggage guard, two miles into his rear, and sent an engineer, with a covering party, 
within full view of the fort, to take a plan of the works. In the mean time he ordered the reveille 
to be beaten in different places. This parade drew out the enemy in great force, and an obsti- 
nate engagement ensued. As soon as the action commenced. Major Lewis left Capt. Bullett, of 
Col. Washington's regiment, with about 50 Virginians, to guard the baggage, and advanced with 
the utniost speed to support Major Grant. The English were defeated with considerable loss, 
and both Major Grant and Major Lewis taken prisoners. In this action the Virginians behaved 
most gallantly, and evinced the spirit with which they had been trained. Out of eight officers, 
five were killed, a sixth wounded, and a seventh taken prisoner. Captain Bullett, who defended 
the baggage with great resolution, and contributed to save the remnant of the detachment, was 
the only officer who escaped unhurt. Out of one hundred and sixty-six men, sixty-two were 
dilled on the spot, and two wounded. This conduct on the part of his regiment, reflected high 
honor on their commiander as well as on themselves, and he received on the occasion the com- 
pliments of the general. The total loss in this action was, 273 killed, and 42 wounded." 

This was really a sanguinary affair ; more than one third of Grant's force being killed. Major 
Grant and Major Lewis were taken prisoners, and sent to Montreal. Major Grant afterwards 
returned to this place, and erected the redoubt which stood on the bank of the Monongahela, op- 
posite the mouth of Redoubt alley. We recollect distinctly seeing the stone tablet stating that 
Col. Wm. Grant built the redoubt. A similar tablet still remains in the wall of the other redoubt 
near the Point, and states that Col. Bouquet built it. 

About the 5tli Nov. the main body of the army arrived at Ligonier, by roads indescribably 
bad. Washington was advanced in front to superintend the opening of the road, and the army 
moved after him by slow and laborious steps until it arrived close to the fort. On the 24th of 
Nov. 1758, the French set fire to the fort, embarked in their boats to descend the Ohio, and thus 
forever abandoned their rule over this country. 

The works were repaired, and distinguished by the name of Fort Pitt, after that great minister 
under whose auspices the British banner was floating in triumph in all quarters of the world. 

Two hundred men of Washington's regiment were left to garrison the place ; the want of pro- 
visions for more forbade the leaving a larger force. Gen. Forbes returned to Philadelphia, and 
died a few weeks afterwards in that city. 

" Provisions being scarce, a larger force could not be maintained there during the winter. The 
first Fort Pitt, a slight work, composed of pickets with a shallow and narrow ditch, was hastily 
thrown up for the reception of 220 men, and the rest of the army returned to the settlements.' 
That work was intended merely for a temporary purpose; and in the summer of 1759, Gen 
Stanwix arrived, and commenced the erection of Fort Pitt. The draught of that work was 
made by R. Rutzer, who probably superintended the work as engineer. A letter written from 
the place, Sept. 24, 1759, says : 

" It is now near a month since the aiTny has been employed in erecting a most formidable fort i- 



ALLEGHENY COUNTY. 



77 



fication, such a one as will to latest posterity secure the British empire on the Ohio. There is 
no need to enumerate the abilities of the chief engineer, nor the spirit shown by the troops, in 
executing this important task; the fort will soon be a lasting monument oi hoi\i. Upon the 
generars arrival, about 400 Indians, of different nations, came to confirm the peace with the 
English, particularly the Tawas and Wyandotts, who inhabit about Fort D'Etroit ; these con- 
fessed the errors they had been led into by the perfidy of the French ; showed the deepest con- 
trition for their past conduct, and promised not only to remain fast friends to the English, but to 
assist us in distressing the common enemy, whenever we should call on them to doit. And all the 
nations which have been at variance with the English, said they would deliver up what prisoners 
they had in their hands to the general, at the grand meeting that is to be held in about three 
weeks." 

On republishing this letter in 1831, the Pittsburg Gazette remarked : 

" How short-sighted is man I Scarcely sixteen years elapsed from the writing of this letter, 
before this ' formidable fortification,' and the country around it, passed from the I3ritish empire, 
and became a constituent part of a great and independent republic. Scarcely seventy-two years 
have yet elapsed, and now this ' lasting monument' of the skill of the engineer, and the spirit of 
the troops, has already become one of those things that have been. The spirit of improvement 
and the enterprise of our citizens, have almost entirely defaced every trace of tliis ' formidable 
fortification.' One redoubt alone, of all the results of tlie labors and genius of Britons, now re- 
mains ; and it is a circumstance, perhaps, not unworthy of notice, that this only remnant of a 
British engineer's works of defence against French hostility, is now the peaceful domicil of an 
industrious and meritorious Frenchman — an indefatigable and accurate surveyor and civil 
engineer." 

Washington, who visited this place in Oct. 1770, mentions that the sides next the country are 
of brick, the others stockade. 




Plan of Fort Pitt. 
References. — a, Barracks abeady built — b, Commandant's House, not built — c. Store House — 
rf, d. Powder Magazine — e. Casemate completed—/. Store House for flour, &.c. — g, Wells, in two 
of which are pumps — h, Fort Duquesne — i, i, Hom-work, stockaded to cover French barracks — 
k, First Fort Pitt destroyed — n, Sally Port. 



78 



ALLEGHENY COUNTY. 



The preceding plan is a reduced copy of the draught made by the en- 
gineer Rutzer, in 1761, afterwards given to George III, and by George 
IV presented to the British Museum. From the original a copy was 
made for the Hon. Richard Biddle, of Pittsburg, during his visit to Lon- 
don in 1830. In the southeast bastion Mr. Rutzer places two magazines, 
marked d d. Within a few years past, a single stone magazine stood in 
that place, erected, it is said, by Major Isaac Craig, in 1781. 

In 1764, Col. Bouquet built a redoubt outside the fort, on the spot 
marked *. This redoubt is still standing. Annexed is a view of it, as it 




Redoubt at Pittsburg. 

now appears. In looking at the drawing, the reader should understand 
that the redoubt is merely the square building in front. It is situated 
north of Penn-street, about 46 feet west of Point-street, a few feet back 
from Brewery alley. 

In the winter of 1783-4, before the town of Pittsburg was laid off, the agent of the Penns 
sold to Isaac Craig and Stephen Bayard, the piece of ground extending from the ditch of Fort 
Pitt to the Allegheny, supposed to be about three acres. This redoubt being on the outside of 
the ditch of the fort, passed to Craig and Bayard, and when the subsequent firm of Turnbull, 
Marmie «Sl Co. was formed, it became partnership property. By this firm the addition to the 
old redoubt was built, in 1785, thus constituting a dwelling-house, which was occupied one year 
by Mr. Turnbull, and subsequently three years by the father of the writer of this, who, in 1787, 
was born in that building. ***** Another redoubt, precisely similar, had previously been 
erected by Col. Wm. Grant, on the bank of the Monongahela river, just opposite to the mouth of 
Redoubt alley. — Neville B. Craig, in the American Pioneer. 

The following extracts from the introduction to Harris's Directory, 
bring the history of Pittsburg down to the commencement of the present 
century. 

In 1763 an arrangement was made between the Shawanese and other tribes of Indians, along 
the lakes, and on the Ohio and its tributary streams, to attack, simultaneously, all the English 
posts and frontier settlenients. In the execution of this plan, they captured Le Boeuf, Venangj, 
Presqu'isle, Michilimackinac, and various other posts, which were feebly garrisoned, and mur- 



ALLEGHENY COUNTY. 79 

dered all the prisoners. As a part of this great scheme of operations, Fort Pitt was completely 
surrounded by the Indians, who cut off all communication with the interior of the country, and 
fjrcatly annoyed the orarrison by an incessant discharge of musketry and arrows. The com. 
manding officer, Capt. Ecuyer, and the garrison, (which was increased by the Indian traders, 
who had escaped massacre and taken refuge in the fort,) made a gallant defence. 

Col. Henry Bouquet was detached from Carlisle to relieve the beleaguered posts, and after a 
Bcvcre conflict with the Indians, at Bushy run, he arrived at Fort Pitt on the 9th of Aug. 1763. 
In the action of the 5th Aug. 1763, the Indians were severely handled, several of their principal 
chiefs were killed, and they were so much dispirited that they immediately abandoned their 
operations against Fort Pitt, and retired to their towns on the Muskingum and further west. In 
Oct. 1764, Col. Bouquet marched on an expedition against the Indian towns on the Muskingum. 
He reached the Indian towns near the forks of that river, without opposition, and there dictated 
tenns of peace to them. 

[Col. Bouquet was subsequently promoted to be a Brigadier-general, and in 1766 died at 
Pcnsacola.] 

It was during this year, 1764, probably after the treaty had removed all fear of the Indians, 
that the old military plan, being that portion of the city lying between Water-street and Second- 
street, and between Market and Ferry streets, was laid out. During this year also, was erected 
the brick redoubt still standing. 

In our early day, the ditch that ran from the Allegheny river through Marbury, down Liberty 
and Short streets, to the Monongahela and the Mound, and several old brick and log houses, that 
composed a part of old " Fort Pitt,'''' were standing conspicuous. Several of our first houses 
were built of old brick, especially the large three-story brick house at the corner of the Diamond 
and the Market-house, where the late Mr. Irwin kept tavern, and the first court in Allegheny 
county was held. 

From this time until the close of the revolutionary war, but little improvement was made at 
Pittsburg. The fear of Indian hostilities, or the actual existence of Indian warfare prevented 
emigration. In 1775, the number of dwelling-houses within the limits of our present city did 
not, according to the most authentic accounts, exceed twenty-five or tliirty. 

During the revolutionary war, a garrison was maintained in the fort at 
Pittsburg, which served not only to guard the settlement, but was also 
used as a central post, from which offensive expeditions could be sent 
out to attack the Indians northwest of the Ohio. 

In the spring of the year 1778, Gen. Mcintosh, with the regulars and 
militia from Fort Pitt, descended the Ohio about thirty miles, and built 
Fort Mcintosh on the site of the present town of Beaver. In the fall of 
the same year. Gen. Mcintosh received an order from government to 
make a campaign against the Sandusky towns. 

In 1780, Gen. Broadhead was charged with the defence of this part of 
the frontier, and made Fort Pitt his head-quarters. He was distinguished 
as a daring partisan officer, well adapted to command a party of forest 
rangers in ravaging Indian towns and cutting off their war parties. 
One of his principal aids in this species of warfare was Capt. Samuel 
Brady, whose fame as an " Indian killer" has been sounded far and wide 
throughout the frontier. (See Armstrong, Beaver, and Northumberland 
counties.) Gen. Broadhead made an excursion to the Indian towns on the 
Allegheny above and below the Conewango, burnt their cabins, and de- 
stroyed their corn. Broadhead was a brave officer, but a poor disciplina- 
rian : while his soldiers were idle, they were on the point of mutiny. 
When Gen. Irvine superseded him in the command in Nov. 1781, he at 
once called the malcontents to a drumhead court-martial, hung one or 
two of them, and had no further trouble in preserving order. 

Gen. Irvine continued in command here until the peace of 1783, and 
succeeded by his firmness and prudence in maintaining quiet on the fron- 
tier. He enjoyed in a very high degree the confidence of Gen. Washing- 
ton. It was about this time that the first projects were entertained for 
cofonizing the region now forming the state of Ohio — projects that could 



80 ALLEGHENY COUNTY. 

not be successfully executed until after Wayne's treaty in 1795. Gen. 
Irvine seems to have entertained strong apprehensions that something 
more than mere colonization was intended, but his apprehensions were 
groundless ; and after the date of the intended meeting no further allu- 
sion is made to the subject in his official correspondence.* The follow- 
ing is an extract from one of his letters to Gen. Washington : 

" Fort Pitt, April 20th, 1782. 

" Sir — I arrived [returned] here the 25th March : at that time things were in greater confusion 
than can well be conceived. The country people were to all appearance in a fit of phrenzy : 
about 300 had just returned from the Moravian towns, where they found about 90 men, women, 
and children, all of whom they put to death, 'tis said after cool deliberation and considering the 
matter for three days. The whole were collected into their church, and tied when singing 
hymns. On their return, a party came and attacked a few Delaware Indians who have yet re- 
malned with us on a small island close by this garrison ; killed two who had captains' commis- 
sions in our service, and several others — the remainder effected their escape into the fort, except 
two who ran into the woods and have not since been heard of. There was an officers' guard on 
the island at the same time ; but he either did not do his duty, or his men connived at the thing, 
— which, I am not yet able to ascertain. This last outrage was committed the day before I ar- 
rived. Nothing of this nature has been attempted since. A number of wrong-headed men had 
conceived an opinion that Col. Gibson was a friend to Indians, and that he must be killed also. 
These transactions, added to the then mutinous disposition of the regular troops, had nearly 
brought on the loss of the whole coimtry. I am confident, if this post was evacuated, the bounds 
of Canada would be extended to the Laurel hill in a few weeks. I have the pleasure, however, 
to inform your excellency that things now wear a more favorable aspect. The troops are again 
reduced to obedience ; and I have had a meeting, or convention, of the county lieutenants and 
several field-officers, with whom I have made arrangements for defending their frontiers, and 
who promise to exert themselves in drawing out the militia, agreeable to law, on my requisitions. 

" Civil authority is by no means properly established in this country — which I doubt [not] pro- 
ceeds in some degree from inattention, in the executives of Virginia and Pennsylvania not run- 
ning the boundary line — which is at present an excuse for neglect of duty of all kinds for at least 
twenty miles on each side the line. More evils will arise from this than people are aware of. 
Emigrations and new states are much talked of. Advertisements are set up announcing a day 
to assemble at Wheeling, for all who wish to become members of a new state on Muskingham. 
A certain J is at the head of 'this party : he is ambitious, restless, and some say disaf- 
fected ; most people, however, agree, he is open to corruption. He has been in England since 
the beginning of the present war. Should these people actually emigrate, they must be either 
entirely cut off, or immediately take protection from the British, — which I fear is the real design 
of some of the party, though I think a great majority have no other views than to acquire lands. 
As I apprehended taking cognizance of these matters would come best from the civil depart- 
ments, I have written to the governors of Virginia and Pennsylvania on the subject, — which I 
should not have done till I had first acquainted your excellency thereof, but for this consideration, 
viz : that the 20th of May is the day appointed for the emigrants to rendezvous ; consequently a 
representation from you would be too late, in case the states should think proper to take meas- 
ures to prevent them." 

During the Revolution, the Penn family were adherents of the British government, and in 1779, 
the legislature of this state confiscated all their property, except certain manors, &c., of which 
surveys had been actually made and returned into the land office, prior to the 4th of July, 177G, 
and also, except any estates which the said Penns held in their private capacities, by devise, 
pin-chase, or descent. Pittsburg, and the country eastward of it, and south of the Monongahela, 
containing about 5,800 acres, composed one of these manors, and, of course, remained as the 
property of the Penns. 

In the spring of 1784, arrangements were made by Mr. Tench Francis, the agent of the Penns, 
to lay out the manor of Pittsburg in town lots and out lots, and to sell them without delay. For 
this purpose he engaged Mr. George Woods, of Bedford, an experienced surveyor, to execute this 
work. In May, 1784, Mr. Woods arrived here, bringing with him, as an operative surveyor, Mr. 
Thomas Vickroy, of Bedford co., who was then a very young man, and who still survives and 
enjoys vigorous health, at a good old age. 

* Gen. Irvine's correspondence with the general government, and with all the neighboring 
county lieutenants, while at Fort Pitt, with many other interesting documents relating to liis 
miUtary and civil career, are in possession of his grandson. Dr. Wm. A. Irvine, who resides at 
the mouth of Brokenstraw in Warren county. The compiler is much indebted to him for the 
loan of these documents. 



ALLEGHENY COUNTY. 81 

(At that time there were no buildings outside the fort, except a few huts on the bank of the 
Monongahela. Mr. Vickroy, at the time of his survey, purchased a piece of property there which 
he sohi some time afterwards for ;e30. It is now worth !$500,L)00. — D.] 

Mechanics and traders composed a greater proportion of the population. In 1784, Arthur 
Lee, a conspicuous diplomatist during our Revolution, passed through Pittsburg. In his 
journal we find the following notice of this place : " Pittsburg is inhabited almost entirely by 
Wcots and Irish, who live in paltry log houses, and arc as dirty as in the north of Ireland, or 
<'ven Scotland. I'hcrc is a great deal of small trade carried on ; the goods being brought, at the 
vast expense of forty-five shillings per cwt., from Philadel])hia and Baltimore. They take, in the 
shops, money, wheat, flour, and skins. There are in the town four attorneys, two doctors, and 
not a priest of any persuasion, nor church, nor chapel. The rivers encroach fast on the town, 
and to such a degree, that, as a gentleman told me, the Allegheny had within thirty years of his 
memory, carried away one hundred yards. The place, I believe, will never be very considerable." 
If Mr. Lee could now visit the valley of the head of the Ohio, he would find here a free white 
population exceeding that of the six largest cities and towns in the Old Dominion. The ap- 
pearance of Pittsburg at that time was not such as would excite extravagant expectations. A 
small town, composed of two or three brick redoubts, converted into dwelling-houses, and some 
forty or fifty round or hewn log buildings, inhabited principally by poor mechanics and laborers, 
would have a very discouraging aspect to the eye of a Virginia gentleman, who had visited Lon- 
don, Paris, and Madrid. But these mechanics and laborers were free, had the direction of their 
own exertions, were industrious, were striving for the advantages of themselves and their off- 
spring, and the possession and enjoyment of the produce of their own labor were secured to them 
by equal laws. 

Discouraging as were the appearances of things in 1784, yet in 1786, John Scull and Joseph 
Hall, two poor, but enterprising young men, boldly determined to risk their little all in a printing 
establishment here, and on the 29th of July, of that )'ear, issued the first number of the Pitts- 
burg Gazette. The publication of a paper, by disseminating information, and attracting atten- 
tion to the place, contributed to the growth of the towji. 

Pittsburg was then in Westmoreland co., and the inhabitants had to trave) to Greensburg, 
about thirty miles, to attend coml. Allegheny co. was erected 24th Sept. 1788. 

Mr. Brison, on Sept. 14, 1786, returned from New York witii orders to establish a post from 
this place to Pittsburg, and one from Virginia to Bedford. The two met at Bedford. Prior to 
that time there was no regular mail to this place, and the then printers of the Gazette and other 
inhabitants had to depend upon casual travellers. — Harris's Directory. 

About this time emigration began to increase from Virginia to Ken- 
tucky ; the Indian wars, too, and the expedition to quell the Whiskey in- 
surrection,* in 1794, brought many young men here as soldiers, who after- 
wards became settlers. In 1786 Judge H. H. Brackenridge, then a young 
attorney, estimated the number of houses here at 100, which at the rate 
of five persons to each house, would give 500 inhabitants. In Jan. 1796, 
the population amounted to 1,395, according to a census by the assessors. 
In Aug. 1789, it appears from the Pittsburg Gazette, 

That there was then settled in the town, one clergyman of the Calvinistic church, Samuel Barr, 
and one of the German Calvinistic church occasionally preached here. 

Also, that " a church of squared timber and moderate dimensions is on the way to be built." 
This church stood within the ground now covered by the First Presbyterian church. 

Two medical gentlemen were then here. One, we know, was Dr. Bedford. Also two law- 
yers, probably the late Judge Brackenridge and John Woods. 

Carriage from Philadelphia was then six pence for each pound weight. The writer makes 
the following prediction : " However improved the conveyance may be, and by whatever channel, 
the importation of heavy articles will still be expensive. The manufacturing them, therefore, 
will become more an object here than elsewhere." 

In 1776-87, an academy, or public school, was established here, by act 
of the legislature, and the First Presbyterian church was incorporated. 
The hor-ough of Pittsburg was incorporated 22d of April, 1794, the city on 
the 18th March, 1816. The borough of Allegheny was incorporated 14th 
April, 1828, and was made a city some time between the years 1837 and 
1840. 

* An account of the Whiskey insurrection will be found under the head of Washington co. 

11 



82 ALLEGHENY COUNTY. 

From 1790 to 1800, the business of Pittsburg and the West was small, but gradually im 
proving ; the fur trade of the West was very important, and Messrs. Peter Maynard and William 
Morrison were engaged largely in it, and from 1790 to 1796 received considerable supplies of 
goods, through Mr. Guy Bryan, a wealthy merchant in Philadelphia, and the goods were taken to 
Kaskaskia in a barge, which annually returned to Pittsburg, laden with bear, buffalo, and deer 
skins, and furs and peltries of all kinds, which were sent to Mr. Bryan, and the barge returned, 
laden with goods. At that period tlicre was no regular drayman in Pittsburg, and the gooda 
were generally hauled from the boats with a three horse wagon, — until (in 1797) a Mr. James 
Rattle, an Englishman, settled in this city, and was encouraged to take up the business, and 
drayed and stored goods, until a box of drygoods was stolen from his yard, and shed, (for then 
we had no warehouse, nor regular commission mcTchant, in Pittsburg,) — and this broke the poor 
man up, and he died broken-hearted and unhappy. 

A French gentleman, Louis Anastasius Taras^oh,* emigrated in 1794 from France, and es 
tablished himself in Philadclpliia, as a merchant. He was a large importer of silks, and all kinds 
of French and German goods. Being very wealthy and enterprising, in 1799 he sent two of his 
clerks, Charles Brugiere and James Berthoud, to examine the course of the Ohio and Mississippi 
rivers, from Pittsburg to New Orleans, and ascertain the practicability of sending ships and 
clearing them from this port, ready rigged, to the West Indies and Europe. Those two gentle- 
men returned to Philadelphia, reported favorably, and Mr. Taras^on associated them and hia 
brother, John Anthony, with himself, under the firm of " John A. Taras^on, brothers, James 
Berthoud, «Sl Co.," and immediately established, in Pittsburg, a large wholesale and retail store 
and warehouse, a shipyard, a rigging and sail loft, an anchor smith shop, a block manufactory, 
and in short every thing necessary to complete vessels for sea. The first year, 1801, they built 
the schooner Amity, of 120 tons, and the ship Pittsburg, of 250 tons, — and sent the former, load- 
ed with flour, to St. Thomas, and the other, also with flour, to Philadelphia, — from whence they 
sent them to Bordeaux, and brought back a cargo of wine, brandy, and other French goods, part 
of which they sent here in wagons at a carriage of from six to eight cents per pound. In 1802, 
they built the brig Nanino, of 250 tons ; in 1803, the ship Louisiana, of 300 tons ; and in 1804, 
the ship Western Trader, of 400 tons. 

[A curious incident connected with this subject, was mentioned by Mr. Clay on the floor of 
Congress. " To illustrate the commercial habits and enterprise of the American people, (he said) 
he would relate an anecdote of a vessel, built and cleared out at Pittsbm-g for Leghorn. When 
she arrived at her place of destination, the master presented his papers to the custom-house offi- 
cer — who could not credit him, and said to him, ' Sir, your papers are forged ; there is no such 
port as Pittsburg in the world : your vessel must be confiscated.' The trembling captain laid 
before the officer the map of the United States, directed him to the Gulf of Mexico, pointed out 
the mouth of the Mississippi, led him a thousand miles up it to the mouth of the Ohio, and thence 
another thousand up it to Pittsburg : ' There, sir, is the port from whence my vessel cleared out.' 
The astonished officer, before he had seen the map, would as readily have believed this vessel 
had been navigated from the moon."] 

In or about the year 1796, three of the royal princes of Orleans came to Pittsburg, and stopped 
at a hotel situated on the bank of the Monongahela, where Jno. D. Davis's warehouse now stands. 
They were very affable and conversant, and remained for some time in the city : at length they 
procured a large skifi", part of which was covered with tow linen, laid in a supply of provisions, 
and (having procured two men to row the skiff) proceeded on to New Orleans. One of these 
princes was Louis Phillippe, the present king of France — who, in his exile, visited our city, and 
spent his time very agreeably with Gen. Neville, Gen. James O'Hara, and several other respect- 
able families who then lived on the bank of the Monongahela river. 

We remember well during the Embargo times and last war, when the internal trade and com. 
merce of Pittsburg, by the Ohio, Western, and Southern rivers, brought us comparatively nigh In 
Wheeling, Cincinnati, Louisville, Nashville, St. Louis, Natchez, and New Orleans, but the .slow 
process of keel-boats and barges was such that it consumed almost a whole summer for a trip 
down and up — when all was done by the hardy boatmen, with the pole or by warping ; and when 
a barge arrived, with furs from St. Louis, cotton from Natchez, hemp, tobacco, and saltpetre 
from Maysville, or sugar and cotton from New Orleans and Natchez, it was a wonder to the 
many, and drew vast crowds to see and rejoice over it. And the internal commerce during the 
\yar allied us closely with Richmond, Baltimore, Philadelphia, and New York, — these cities get- 
ting much of their sugar, saltpetre, &c., by boats and wagons, through Pittsburg — which then 
did an immense carrjang trade for the United States. — Harris's Directory. 

The following graphic sketch of early times in Pittsburg is from Hon. 
H. M. Breckenridge's " Recollections" : 

Pittsburg, when first I knew it, was but a village. Two plains, partly short commons, depas. 
tared by the town cow s, embraced the foot of Grant's hill, one extending a short distance up the 

* These facts have been furnished by Anthony Beelen, Esq., an early merchant 



ALLEGHENY COUNTY. 83 

Monongahela, the other stretching up the Allejgjheny river ; while tlic town of straggling houses, 
easily counted, and more of logs than frame, and more of the latter than of brick or stone, lay 
from the junction of the Monongahela. On the bank of the Allegheny, at the distance of a long 
Sunday afternoon's walk, stood Fort Fayette, surmounted by the stripes and stars of the old thir- 
teen : and from this place the King's Orchard, or garden, extending to the ditch of old Fort Pitt, 
the name by which the little town was then known. On the north side of the river just men- 
tioned, the hills rose rude and rough, without the smoke of a single chimney to afford a rhyme to 
the muse of Tom Moore — 

" I knew by the smoke that so gracefully curled 
Above the green elms, that a cottage was near." 

The clear and beautiful Allegheny, the loveliest stream that ever glistened to the moon, gliding 
over its polished pebbles, being the Ohio, or La Belle Riviere, under a different name, was still 
the boundary of civilization ; for all beyond it was called the Indian country, and associated in 
(he mind wHth many a fireside tale of scalping-knife, hair-breadth escapes, and all the horrors of 
S'ivage warfare. 

On the Monongahela side, the hills rose from the water's edge to the height of a mountain, 
with some two or three puny houses squeezed in between it and the river. On its summit stood 
the farm hoUse and barn of Major Kirkpatrick. The barn was burnt down by the heroes of the 
Whiskey Insurrection, and this happening in the night, threw a light over the town so brilhant 
that one might see to pick up a pin in the street. 

To the east — for I am now supposed to be standing on the brow of Grant's hill — the ground 
was peculiarly picturesque, and beautifully diversified with hill and dale, having undergone some 
little change from the state of nature. The hill was the favorite promenade in fine weather, and 
on Sunday afternoon. It was pleasing to see the line of well-dressed ladies and gentlemen, and 
children-^nearly the whole population — repairing to this beautiful eminence. It was considered 
so essential to the comfort and recreation of the inhabitants, that they could scarcely imagine how 
a town could exist without its Granfs hill ! There was a fine spring half way up, which was 
supposed to afford better water than that of the pumps, and some persons even thought it was 
possessed of medical properties — which might be the case, after a pleasant afternoon's walk, and 
the toil in overcoming the steep ascent. 

What a change in the appearance of Pittsburg since that day ! — since the time v/hen I used to 
roll over and over on the smooth side of Grant's hill. 

Sed fugit interea, fugit irrevocabile tempus. 

Yes, that beautiful hill itself, which might have enjoyed a green old age, has been prematurely 
cut to pieces and murdered by barbarous hands ! The shallow pond at its base, where we used 
to make our first attempts at skating, has been wickedly and wilfully filled up, and is now con- 
cealed by brick buildings — the croaking of the bull-frogs having given place to men, more noisy 
still than they. What is passing strange, as if in mockery vf nature, the top of the hill is half 
covered by an enormous reservoir of water, thrown up there from the Allegheny river by means 
of steam engines, while the remainder is occupied by a noble cathedral church. What is still 
more lamentable, the hill itself has been perforated, and a stream has been compelled to flow 
through the passage, at an expense that would have discouraged a Roman emperor. Streets 
have been cut in its sides, as if there was a great scarcity of ground in this new world ; and in 
time houses will rise up along them like those of the Cowgate in Edinburgh — thirteen stories on 
one side, and half a story on the other. In short, it would fill a volume to enumerate the changes 
produced in a quarter of a century, — in which comparatively short space of time, a small village 
has grown into a large city, possessing extensive capital, manufactures, and a wide-spread com- 
merce. Its increase is still in the same ratio, and will continue until it reaches half a million of 
souls. Such has been the extraordinary growth of this city, that every ten years produce such a 
change as to render the person who has been absent during that period almost a stranger. 

But to return again to Grant's hill — for I have not yet completed my sketch of the appearance 
of the place in olden time, and should consider it extremely imperfect if I were to say nothing of 
the race-course, to which the plain or common between it and the Allegheny was appropriated ; 
but at this day, since it has become the scene of business, it would require the whole amount of 
the sweepstakes to furnish a single foot of ground there. At the time to which I allude, the 
plain was entirely unincumbered by buildings or enclosures, excepting the Dutch church, which 
stood aloof from the haunts of man, unless at those times when it was forced to become the cen- 
tre of the hippodrome. And the races, shall we say nothing of that obsolete recreation ? It was 
then an affair of all-engrossing interest, and every business or pursuit was neglected during their 
continuance. The whole town was daily poured forth to witness the Olympian games, many of 
all ages and se.fcs as spectators, and many more, directly or indirectly, interested in a hundred 
different ways. The plain within the course, and near it, was filled with booths as at a fair, — 
where every thing was said, and done, and sold, and eaten or drmik — where every fifteen or 
twenty minutes there was a rush to some part, to witness a fistycuff — where dogs barked and bit, 



84 ALLEGHENY COUNTY. 

and horses trod on men's toes, and booths fell down on people's heads ! Tliere was Crowder witFr 
his fiddle and his votaries, making the dust fly with a four-handed or rather four-footed reel ; and 
a little further on was Dennis Loughy, the blind poet, like Homer casting his pearls before swine^ 
chanting his master-piece in a tone part nasal and part guttural — 

" Come, gentlemen, gentlemen all, 

Genral Sincleer shall rem'ber'd be, 
For he lost thirteen hundred men all 

In the Western Tari-to-ree." 

All at once the cry, To horse ! to horse ! suspended every other business or amusement as ef- 
fectually as the summons of the faithful. There was a rush towards the starting post, while 
many betook themselves to the station best fitted for the enjoyment of the animating sight. On 
a scaffold, elevated above the heads of the people, were placed the patres pntruf, as judges of the 

race, and but I am not about to describe the races : m}' object was merely to call to mind 

the spot where they were formerly executed ; yet my pen on this occasion was near running 
away with me, like the dull cart-horse on the course, who feels a new lire kindled under his ribs, 
and, from seeing others scamper, is seized with a desire of trying his heels also. The Dutch 
church, after some time spent in searching, was found by me ; but as for the race field, it is now 
covered with three-story brick buildings, canal basins, and great warehouses — instead of tempo 
rary booths, erected with forks, and covered witli boughs just cut from the woods. 

It will be the business of the annalist, or of the historian, to trace the gradual progress of in 
crease, or the various changes which the city has undergone. Who would imagine, on beholding 
the concourse of country merchants from all quarters, laying in their supplies of merchandise for 
the purpose of retail, that, but a few years ago, the business was done in small shops, part cask 
and part country produce, that is, for skins, tallow, beeswax, and maple sugar ? Who would 
imagine that tlie arrival and encampment of Cornplanter Indians on the bank of the Allegheny, 
would make a great stir among the merchants ? It was quite a cheering sight, and one which 
made brisk times, to see the squaws coming in with their packs on their backs, and to whom the 
business of selling as high, and buying as cheap as possible, was intrusted. Now an Indian is 
not to be seen, unless it be some one caught in the woods a thousand miles ofT, and sent to 
Washington in a cage to make a treaty for the sale of lands. 

I can still remember when the mountains were crossed by pack-horses only, and they might be 
seen in long filcS, arriving and departing with their burdens swung on pack-saddles. Wagons 
and wagon roads were used in the slow progress of things, and then the wonder of the west, a 
turnpike, was made over the big hills ; and now, canals and railways are about to bring us aa 
near to Philadelphia and Baltimore, as the Susquehanna was in those times. The western in- 
surrection is not so much a matter of wonder, and there is no trifling excuse for the dissatisfac- 
tion of the west, when we reflect on their situation at that period. The two essentials of civil- 
ized and half-civilized life, iron and salt, were almost the only articles they could procure. And 
how could they procure them ? There was no sale for their grain down tiie Ohio and Mississippi, 
on account of the Indian war, and the possession of New Orleans by the Spaniards. There was 
no possibility of transporting their produce acmss the mountains, for sale or barter. There was 
but one article by means of which they could contrive to obtain their supplies, and that was 
whiskey ! A few kegs were placed on each side of a jiorse, transported several hundred miles, 
and a little salt and iron brought back in their place. Is it any wonder that the excise, in addi- 
tion to the expense of transportation, almost cut them oft' even from this miserable resource ? 

Before my time. Black Charles kept the first hotel in the place ; wlien I can first remember, 
the sign of General Butler, kept by Patrick Murphy, was the head tavern ; and afterwards the 
Green Tree, on the bank of the Monongahela, kept by William Morrow. The General Butler 
was continued by Molly Murphy, for some years after the death of Paddy. She was tlie friend 
of my boyhood and youth ; and although as rough a Christian as ever I knew, I verily believe 
that a better Ciiristlan heart — one more generous and benevolent, as well as sturdy and fearless — 
never beat in Christian bosom. Many an orphan — many a friendless one — many a wretched 
one, has shed, in secret, the tear of gratitude over the memory of Molly Murphy. 

But it could not be said of Fort Pitt that there was a want of private hospitality, any more 
than there was of the public. It so happened, that after the revolutionary war, a number of 
famdies of the first respectability, principally of officers of the army, were attracted to tills spot ; 
and hence a degree of refinement, elegance of manners, and poll.'^bed society, not often found in 
the extreme frontier. The Butlers, the OTIaras, the Craigs, the Kirkpatricks, the Stevensons, 
the Wilkinscs, the Nevilles, are names which will long be handed down by tradition. Col. Ne- 
ville was indeed the model of a perfect gentleman — as elegant in his person, and finished in hia 
manners and education, as he was generous and noble in his feelings. His house was the tem- 
ple of hospitality, to which all respectable strangers repaired. He was during the revolution the 
aid of Lafayette, and at the close of it married the daughter of the celebrated Gen. Morgan, an 
elegant and accomplished lady, who blessed him with an offspring as numerous and beautiful a3 
Ihe children of Niobe. Pittsburg could fm'iiish at that day its dramatis persona of original char 



ALLEGHENY COUNTY. 85 

acters ; and its local history is full of curious incident, which it might be worth while to rescue 
from oblivion. My esteemed friend Morgan Neville, in his admirable productions, " Mike Fink," 
the " Last of the Boatmen," " Chevalier Dubac," and others, has clearly proved this. I must, 
however, correct an inaccuracy he has fallen into in relation to the Chevalier Dubac. It was 
not a monkey which he consulted in presence of his country customers, about the lowest price 
of his goods — it was a racoon. What should we think of the historian, who would write that 
Scipio Africanus consulted a sheep instead of an antelope ? It ought also to be put on record, 
that the racoon used sometimes (like a sans culotte as he was) to aspire to be free. On these 
occasions the chevalier was much anno^'cd by the boys, who would run to him, crying out, " M. 
Dubac, M.^Dubac, your racoon has got loose — your racoon has got loose I" to this he would 
rather petiilantly, yet slowly, and with a most polite motion of the head and hands, repeat, " Late 
eem go — late eeni go." 

This town being the key or rather the gate of the west, was frequently visited by travellers of 
distinction, who remained a few days making preparations for their voyage. This circumstance, 
together with others which I might enumerate, gave a peculiar character and interest to the 
place. I have a distinct recollection of the present king of PVance and his two brothers, who 
were on their way to New Orleans. They were plain modest young men, whose simplicity of 
manners was favorably contrasted with those of the showy city gentlemen, with fair top boots 
and ratan, who found nothing good enough for them at the tavern, although at home content with 
an undivided portion of an attic chamber, and a meal hastily snatched. 

The ensuing extract from the Cincinnati Gazette was published in 
1829. The contrast between the early trade and the modern is now still 
greater. The main line of canal and railway over the mountains was 
first opened entirely through in 1834, and occasioned an immense aug- 
mentation in the business of Pittsburg. Harris's Directory for 1841 con- 
tains a list of 89 steamboats owned entirely or in part within the district 
of Pittsburg. 

The first boat built on the western waters, of which the writer of this article has any record, 
was the New Orleans, built at Pittsburg in ISIL He has no account of more than seven or 
eight btlilt previously to 1817. From that period they have been rapidly increasing in number, 
character, model, and style of workmanship, until 1825 ; when two or three boats, built about 
that period, were declared by common consent to be the first in the world. Since that time, we 
are informed that some of the New York and Chesapeake boats rival and probably surpass us in 
richness and beauty of internal decoration. As late as 1816, the practicability of navigating the 
Ohio with steamboats was esteemed doubtful ; none but the most sanguine augured favorably. The 
writer of this well remembers that in 1816, observing, in company with a number of gentlemen, 
the long struggles of a stem-wheel boat to ascend Horse-tail ripple, (five miles below Pittsburg,) 
it was the unanimous opinion that "such a contrivance" might conquer the diflSculties of the 
Mississippi, as high as Natchez ; but that we of the Ohio must wait for some more happy " cen- 
tury of inventions." In 1817, the bold and enterprising Capt. Shreve, (whose late discovery of 
a mode for destroying snags and improving western navigation entitles him to the reputation of 
a public benefactor,) made a trip from New Orleans to Louisville in 25 days. The event was 
celebrated by rejoicing, and by a public dinner to the daring individual who had achieved the 
miracle. Previous to that period, the ordinary passages by barges, propelled by oars and sails, 
was three months. A revolution in western commerce was at once effected. Every article of 
merchandise began to ascend the Mississippi, until we have seen a package delivered at the 
wharf of Cincinnati, from Philadelphia, via New Orleans, at one cent per pound. From the pe- 
riod of Capt. Shreve's celebrated voyage till 1827, the time necessary for the trip has been grad- 
ually diminishing. During that year the Tecumseh entered the port of Louisville from New Or- 
leans in eight days and two hours from port to port! ******* 

We cannot better illustrate the magnitude of the change in every thing connected with west- 
em commerce and navigation, than by contrasting the foregoing statement with the situation of 
things at the time of the adoption of steam transportation, say in 1817. About 20 barges, aver- 
aging 100 tons each, comprised the whole of the commercial facilities for transporting merchan- 
dise from New Orleans to the " upper country." Each of these performed one trip down and up 
again to Louisville and Cincinnati, within the year. The number of keel-boats emploj^ed on the 
upper Ohio cannot be ascertained, but it is presumed that 150 is a sufficiently large calculation 
to embrace the whole number. These averaged 30 tons each, and employed one month to make 
the voyage from Louisville to Pittsburg ; while the more noble and dignified barge of the Missis, 
sippi made her trip in the space of 100 days, if no extraordinary accident happened to check her 
progress. Not a dollar was expended for wood in a space of 2000 miles, and tht squatter on the 
banks of the Ohio thought himself lucky if the reckless boatman would give the smallest trifle 
for the eggs and chickens which formed almost the only saleable articles on a soil whose only 



86 ALLEGHENY COUNTY. 

fault is its too great fertility. Such was the case twelve years since. The Mississippi boats now 
make five trips within the year, and are enabled, if necessary, in that period to afford to that 
trade 135,000 tons. Eight Or nine days are suffici.^nt, on upper Ohio, to perform the trip from 
Louisville to Pittsburg and back. In short, if the steamboat has not realized the hyperbole of 
the poet, in "annihilating time and space," it has produced results scarcely surpassed by the in- 
troduction of the art of printing.— ^Cincinnati Gazette. 

^' Among others whose attention was drawn to the new field of enterprise bpened on the lakes, 
after Wayne's treaty, was Gen. James O'Hara, a distinguished citizen of Pittsburg. He entered 
into a contract with the government to supply Oswego with provisions, which could then be fur- 
nished from Pittsburg cheaper than from the settlements on the Mohawk. Gen. O'Hara Was a 
far-sighted calculator ; he had obtained correct information in relation to the manufacture of salt 
at Salina ; and in his contract for provisioning the garrison, he had in view the Supplying of the 
western country with salt from Onondaga. This was a project that few men would have thought 
of, and fewer undertaken. The means of transportation had to be created on the whole line ; 
boats and teams had to be provided to get the salt from the works to Oswego ; a vessel built to 
transport it to the landing beloW the falls ; wagons procured to carry it to Schlosser — then boats 
constructed to carry it to Black Rock. There another vessel was required to transport it to Erie. 
The road to the head of French creek had to be improved, and the salt carried in wagons across 
the portage ; and finally, boats provided to float it to Pittsburg. It required no ordinary sagacity 
and perseverance to give success to this speculation. Gen. O'Hara, however, could execute as 
well as plan. He packed his flour and provisions in barrels suitable for salt. These were reserved 
in his contract. Arrangements were made with the manufacturers, and the necessary advances 
paid to secm-e a supply of salt. Two vessels were built, one on Lake Erie and one on Lake On- 
tario; and the means of transportation on all the various sections bf the line Wore secured. The 
plan fully succeeded, and salt of a pretty fair quality was delivered at Pittsburg, and sold at four 
dollars per bushel — just half the price of the salt obtained by packing across the mountains. 
The vocation of the packers roas gone. The trade opened by this man, whose success was equal 
to his merits, and who led the way in every great enterprise of the day, was extensively prose- 
cuted by others. A large amount of capital was invested in the salt trade, and the means of 
transportation so greatly increased, that in a few years the Pittsburg market was supplied with On- 
ondaga salt at twelve dollars per barrel of five bushels." — Judge Wilkeson, in American Pioneer, 

The conspicuous rank which Pittsburg held, as the metropolis of the 
West, drew to the place many young men of eminent talents. As Mr. 
Hall, in his sketches, justly remarks — 

"When this settlement was young and insulated, and the savage yet prowled in its vicinity, 
legal science flourislied with a vigor unusual in rude societies. The bench and bar exhibited a 
galaxy of eloquence and learning. 

"Judge Addison, who first presided in this circuit under the present system, possessed a fine 
mind and great attainments. He was an accomplished scholar, deeply versed in every branch 
of classical learning. In law and theology he was great ; but although he explored the depths 
of science with unwearied assiduity, he could sport in the sunbeams of literature, and cull with 
nice discrimination the flowers of poesy. He was succeeded by Judge Roberts, an excellent law- 
yer, and a man of great integrity and benevolence. 

"Judge Wilkins, who succeeded Judge Roberts, has long been a prominent man. As an ad- 
vocate he was distinguished for his graceful and easy style of speaking, and his acuteness in the 
development of testimony. He brought to the bench an active mind, much legal experience, and 
an intimate knowledge of the practice of the court. His public spirit and capacity for business 
have thrown him into a multitude of offices." 

" There were at the bar in the olden time many illustrious pillars of the law : Steel Semple, long 
since deceased, a man of stupendous genius, spoken of by his contemporaries as a prodigy of elo- 
quence and legal attainments ; James Ross, who is still on the stage, and very generally known 
as a great statesman and an eminent a Ivocate — who, for depth of thought, beauty of language, 
melody of voice, and dignity of manners, has few equals ; Breckenridge, the eccentric and highly 
gifted author of " Modern Chivalry," celebrated for his wit, his singular habits, his frolicsome 
propensities and strange adventures, and who, though a successful advocate and an able judge, 
cracked his jokes at the bar and on the bench of the supreme court as freely as at his own fire- 
side ; Woods, Collins, Campbell, and Mountain, who would have shone at any bar ; Henry Bald- 
win, an eminent lawyer, a rough but powerful and acute speaker, conspicuous in congress as 
chairman of the committee on domestic manufactures, and as the author of the celebrated tariff 
bill — with others, whose history has not reached me. This constellation of wit and learning, illu- 
mining a dusky atmosphere, presented a singular contrast to the wild and untutored spirits around 
them ; and the collision of such opposite characters, together with the unsettled state of the 
country, produced a mass of curious incidents, many of which are still preserved, and circulate 
at the bar in the hours of forensic leisure." 



ALLEGHENY COUNTY. 87 

Of the gentlemen noticed by Mr. Hall, there are still living, the Hon. 
James Ross, now the most venerable patriarch of the city ; the Hon. 
Henry Baldwin, who adorns the bench of the U. S. supreme court ; and 
the Hon. William Wilkins, who was a few years since minister to Rus- 
sia, and now resides at his splendid mansion near Wilkinsburg, a few 
miles from the city. Mr. Ross has held a distinguished rank in the poli- 
tics of Pennsylvania ever since the revolution. He was a prominent 
member of the convention for forming the constitution of 1790 ; was an 
able defender of the new constitution of the United States at its first 
presentation ; and took a bold and open stand on the side of order during 
the great whiskey insurrection, being appointed a commissioner by Gen. 
Washington to treat with the insurgents. He was the candidate of the 
federal party of that day for governor, in opposition to Thomas M'Kean, 
in 1799 and 1802; and again in 1808, in opposition to Simon Snyder. 
Retiring from political life with the decline of his party, he stood for many 
years at the head of the bar in Allegheny county ; and is now passing 
the evening of an honorable life, enjoying the sincere esteem of his fel- 
low-citizens of all parties. 

Hon. Judge Baldwin is a native of New Haven, Conn., where he grad- 
uated at Yale College, in 1797, and prepared himself for admission to the 
bar. His father was a highly respectable farmer, possessing a powerful 
intellect — a quality which seems to have been inherited by his children, 
who have nearly all been eminent in public life. An elder brother of the 
judge was a distinguished member of congress from Georgia ; another 
was an eminent statesman of Ohio — perhaps also a member of congress. 
One of the sisters was the lady of Hon. Joel Barlow, the poet, and am- 
bassador to France ; and a younger brother held for many years a public 
office under the U. S. in New Haven. Judge Baldwin's boyhood was 
spent amid the toils of agricultural life, to which circumstance he un- 
doubtedly owes that mens sana in corpore sano, that strong mind in a vig- 
orous frame, which has marked his later years. We have heard him 
boast that he drove the cart for " Jemmy Hillhouse" to plant that noble 
avenue of elms that now forms the pride of his beautiful native city ; 
and Mr. Hillhouse used afterwards to delight in introducing Mr. Baldwin 
to his friends in Philadelphia as " a ploughboy of his." This " Jemmy 
Hillhouse," by the way, was a member of the convention for forming the 
constitution of the U. S., and a distinguished member of the U. S. senate 
for many years afterwards. 

Judge Baldwin was attracted to the west by the influence of his 
brother, of Ohio, and eventually settled in Pittsburg. His legal practice, 
however, extended far beyond the Ohio river, and the early citizens of 
Columbus, Ohio, had frequent occasions to admire his eloquence. He 
was appointed to his present office by Gen. Jackson ; but he is still living, 
and this is neither the time nor the place to write his biography. 

The following sketch is abridged from an able article in the Southern 
Literary Messenger for 1842. 

Hugh Henry Brackenridge (or Breckenridge, as the name is most usu- 
ally spelt,) was born in Scotland in the year 1750. When he was five 
years of age, his father emigrated to the barrens of York co., Pa., then a 
new settlement. Hugh's father was a poor farmer, but Scotch boys 
always find an education, rich or poor. With a few ragged books, bor- 



88 ALLEGHENY COUNTY. 

rowed here and there, by an occasional recitation to the clergyman, and 
diligent study by the dim light of chips and splinters thrown on a winter's 
fire, Hugh mastered learning enough to become a teacher himself; and 
with the scanty earnings of that employment, found himself, at the age 
of 18, in Princeton College. He agreed to teach two classes, on condi- 
tion of being permitted to pursue his studies in the others. He was very 
ambitious. After having graduated, he remained some time as a tutor ; 
was afterwards licensed to preach, and took charge of an academy in 
Maryland, where he continued until the revolution. About the year 1776, 
he edited the U. S. Magazine, a political work, in Philadelphia. It 
abounded in appeals to American patriotism, and occasionally plied the 
lash of satire. In 1777 he joined the revolutionary army as chaplain to 
a regiment ; lived in camp, preached to the soldiers, and attended them to 
the battle-field as in the time of the Covenanters. His sermons were of 
course political. He soon after abandoned the clerical profession, be- 
coming somewhat skeptical as regarded the tenets of certain sects, and 
studied law with Judge Chase, of the Supreme Court of the U. S. He 
crossed the mountains to Pittsburg in 1781, and was not long in establish- 
ing a reputation in the western counties ; and sometime afterwards, in 
1788, when the county of Allegheny was established, he was already at 
the head of the bar of western Pennsylvania. 

In a few years he was elected to the legislature, where he took an ac- 
tive part in favor of instructing congress to demand the free navigation 
of the Mississippi. When the great struggle for and against the federal 
constitution came on, he " fought a hard battle in its defence." Findlay, 
Gallatin, and others, with whom he afterwards acted in the western in- 
surrection, were in the opposition. 

Mr. Brackenridge prospered in his profession, laid the foundation of a 
large fortune, married, and was universally respected for his integrity and 
talents. He was popular, and was looked up to as the champion of popu- 
lar rights. He adhered, after the adoption of the constitution, to the re- 
publican, or democratic party. At the date of the great whiskey insur- 
rection, Mr. Brackenridge was about in the forty-fourth year of his age. 
In this affair he took an important, dangerous, but honorable part, 
although his conduct at the time was misrepresented by his enemies, and 
was, for a while, misunderstood. The part which he played in this great 
crisis was to appear to side with the insurgents — not for the purpose of 
betraying them, but — to gain their confidence, and get the lead in their 
movements in such a way as to moderate their impetuosity, and keep 
them, as far as possible, within the bounds of reason and law, and eventu- 
ally to bring about a reconciliation, without bloodshed, with the general 
government. In this he eventually succeeded ; but he himself had like 
to have been arraigned for high treason, until his conduct was satisfac- 
torily explained. 

Two years after the insurrection, Mr. Brackenridge published the first 
volume of Modern Chivalry, a comic and satirical work, but abounding 
in great political and philosophical views under the guise of pleasantry, 
in which many traces of those times may be discovered. His object was 
to indoctrinate the people in the true principles of a democratic republic. 

He was one of the most active and efficient in bringing about the revo- 
lution of party in the years 1799-1800. On the election of Gov. McKean, 



ALLEGHENY COUNTY. 89 

he was appointed a judge of the supreme court of the state, which place 
he continued to till until his death, in 181 G. 

Few combined a greater variety of brilliant qualities. He was a man 
of decided talents, with a commanding person, an eagle eye, highly popu- 
lar manners, and a mind richly stored with various learning. He had a 
profound knowledge of men, possessed great address, could reason clearly, 
and make the blood run cold by touches of genuine eloquence. His wit 
was rather delicate irony, than broad humor, and always employed as 
the means of conveying some important truth, or correcting something 
wrong. Originality was the peculiar characteristic of his mind. 

Birmingham. — This borough is situated one mile south of Pittsburg, on 
the opposite side of the Monongahela river, upon the Birmingham and 
Elizabeth turnpike. Its location is a beautiful one ; and in manufactur- 
ing interest it partakes of the character of its English namesake, — having 
within its limits four glass manufacturing establishments — two of all 
kinds of window and green glass, belonging to Messrs. C. Ihmsen and S. 
M'Kee & Co., and two flint glass works, one of which belongs to Messrs. 
O'Leary, Mulvany & Co., and the other suspended at the present time. 
There are also two extensive iron establishments belonging to Messrs. 
Wood, Edwards & M'Knights, a large lock factory belonging to James 
Patterson, sen., a white-lead factory belonging to Mr. Isaac Gregg, seve- 
ral extensive coal establishments, and breweries, together with artisans 
of various kinds — the whole constituting as useful and industrious a pop- 
ulation as any place of the size in our country can boast of. It has two 
churches, a Presbyterian and a Methodist, and a flourishing temperance 
society. 

Sligo extends, on the south side of the Monongahela, from the bridge, 
to Temperance village on Saw Mill run, and Millersville on the Wash- 
ington turnpike. Within this district there are three very extensive iron 
establishments : the Sligo iron works, owned by Lyon, Shorb & Co. ; the 
Pittsburg iron works, belonging to Messrs. Lorenz, Sterling & Co. ; and 
Robinson & Minis' extensive foundry and boat yard, where the iron 
steamer Valley Forge was built. There are also several glass establish- 
ments, belonging to Messrs. Wm. M'Cully & Co., and a steam saw-mill 
attached to the boat yard The coal for the use of these works, as well 
as large quantities for exportation, is let down by railroads from the hill 
above to the very doors of the furnaces. One owned by Mr. Smith ex- 
ports large quantities. In Temperance village there are likewise several 
coal establishments, and a salt establishment — a large saw-mill — an ex- 
tensive axe factory, where the best articles of edge tools are made — and 
a steam flouring-mill. This village has two churches — and a large num- 
ber of industrious mechanics reside here. On the hills around are seve- 
ral delightful country residences. 

Manchester occupies a delightful site on the right bank of the Ohio, a 
mile or two below Pittsburg. Near the river are several thriving manu- 
facturing establishments, — such as plough and wagon manufactories, ex- 
tensive steam saw-mills, paper- mill, &c., — while the higher grounds are 
adorned with beautiful country-seats, surrounded with tall shade trees 
and gardens, and commanding an extensive view of Pittsburg and the 
river scenery. Manchester has grown up principally within the last ten 
or twelve years. 

12 



go ALLEGHENY COUNTY. 

Laurenceville, named in honor of the gallant Capt. Laurence of the 
U. S. navy, was located in 1816 by Wm. B. Foster, Esq. It is pleasant- 
ly situated on the left bank of the Allegheny, 2 1-2 niiles above Pittsburg. 
The U. S. Arsenal, noticed under the head of Pittsburg, stands near the 
centre of the village. Immediately around the town are several exten- 
sive manufacturing establishments — paper-mill, woollen manufactory, 
edge tool manufactory, brewery, &c. Above the town a short distance 
is Messrs. Noble and Bayard's steamboat yard, where a large steam saw- 
mill and other extensive works are in operation. In this vicinity, on the 
higher gi'ounds, are the splendid mansions of Messrs. Bayard and otifer 
wealthy citizens of Pittsburg, Laurenceville contains three churches — 
Episcopal, Methodist, and Presbyterian, — and the Lyceum, a literary in- 
stitution. 

Washington's island is directly opposite the arsenal. The following 
extract from Washington's journal while returning from his visit to Fort 
Le BoBuf in 1753, describes a trying scene which he encountered at this 
place. He had left his horses and heavy baggage, and for the sake of 
expedition was travelling with Mr. Gist on foot. 

I took my necessary papers, pulled off my clothes, and tied myself up in a watcli-coat. Then, 
with gun in hand, and pack on my back, in which were my papers and provisions, I set out with 
Mr. Gist, fitted in the same manner, on Wednesday tlie 26th Dec. The day following, just after 
we had passed a place called Murdering Town, (where we intended to quit the path and steer 
across the country for Sbannopin's Town,) we fell in with a party of French Indians, who had 
lain in wait for us. One of them fired at Mr. Gist or me, not fifteen steps off, but fortunately 
missed. We took this fellow into custody, and kept him until about nine o'clock at night, then 
let him go, and walked all the remaining part of the night without making any stop, that we 
might get the start so far a» to be out of the reach of their pursuit the next day, since we were 
well assured they would follow our track as soon as it was light. The next day we continued 
travelling until quite dark, and got to the river about two miles above Shannopin's. We expect- 
ed to have found the river frozen, but it was not, only about fifty yards from each shore. The 
ice, I suppose, had broken up above, for it was driving in vast quantities. 

There was noway for getting over but on a raft, which we set about with but one poor hatchet, 
and finished just after sun-setting. This was a whole day's work : we next got it launched, then 
went on board of it, and set off; but before we were half way over, we were jammed in the ice in 
such a manner that we expected every moment our raft to sink, and ourselves to perish. I put 
out my setting-pole to try to stop the raft, that the ice might pass by, when the rapidity of the 
stream threw it with so much violence against the pole, that it jerked me out into ten feet water ; 
but I fortunately saved myself by catching hold of one of the raft-logs. Notwithstanding all our 
efforts, we could not get to either shore, but were obliged, as we were near an island, to quit our 
raft and make to it. 

The cold was so extremely severe, that Mr. Gist had all his fingers and some of his toes frozen ; 
and the water was shut up so hard, that we found no difiiculty in getting off the island on the ice 
in the morning, and went to Mr. Frazier's. 

As we intended to take horses here, and it required some time to find them, I went up about 
three miles to the mouth of Youghiogany, to visit Queen Aliquippa, who had expressed great con- 
cern that we passed her in going to the fort. I made her a present of a watch-coat and a bottle 
of rum, which latter was thought much the better present of the two. 

Tuesday, the 1st of January, we left Mr. Frazier's house, and arrived at Mr. Gist's, at Mo 
nongahela, the 2d, where I bought a horse and saddle. The 6th, we met seventeen horses loaded 
with materials and stores for a fort at the Fork of tlie Ohio, and the day after, some families go- 
ing out to settle. This day, we arrived at Will's Creek, after as fatiguing a journey as it is pos 
sible to conceive, rendered so by excessive bad weather. 

East Liberty. — This handsome town is situated five miles ea.st of 
Pittsburg, on the Greensburg and Philadelphia turnpike. It was laid out 
more than twenty years since, by the late Jacob Negly, Esq. It is sur- 
rounded by a delightful country, over which many beautiful country-seats 
belonging to wealthy citizens are scattered. 

WiLKiNSBURGH. — Wilkinsburgh is pleasantly situated near the turnpike to 



ALLEGHENY COUNTY. 91 

Chambersburgh ; the Northern turnpike, leading to Blairsville, intersects 
this near this place. 

About two and a half miles south is the celebrated Braddock's Field, 
on the Monongahela river, a place interesting for its historical reminis- 
cences. For a long time the prosperity of this delightful village was 
paralyzed, and its inhabitants disheartened by litigations attending uncer- 
tain titles to the soil ; but this difficulty has been removed, a new impetus 
has been given to business, good buildings are being erected, important 
improvements are making, and Wilkinsburgh is becoming a desirable 
location for country-seats. There are many flourishing farms and gar- 
dens in and around it, and within a mile of the village, the Hon. Wm. 
Wilkins, our late ambassador to Russia, has a most charming country- 
seat. Mr. Wm, Peebles, Major A. Horback, and several others have 
pleasant country residences in this neighborhood. 

MiNERsviLLE. — This village is pleasantly situated about two miles east 
of Pittsburg, on a new turnpike road, from Pittsburg to East Liberty. It 
is the dwelling-place of a number of very respectable families, whose 
neat houses and flourishing farms and gardens, and other choice im- 
provements, surrounded by the naturally picturesque scenery, render it a 
very desirable residence. There are some of the best coal pits in the 
vicinity here. There are two churches, (Presbyterian and Welsh,) and 
the population is sober, intelligent, and industrious. As much mining is 
done here, a large proportion of the inhabitants are Welsh. 

Sharpsburgh. — Sharpsburgh is pleasantly situated on the right bank of 
the Allegheny river, five miles above Pittsburg. The Pennsylvania canal 
passes through it. It has two churches, hotels, stores, a sash manufac- 
tory, and 3 boat yards, at which several steamboats and a number of 
keels are built yearly. There is a chain ferry at this place across the 
Allegheny. The population is sober, industrious, and enterprising. 

Stewartstovvn. — Stewartstown is a pleasant village, situated on the 
Butler turnpike, five miles from Pittsburg. There is an extensive iroii 
establishment and several industrious merchants, mechanics, &c., here. 

Elizabethtown is a beautifully situated manufacturing town, lying on 
the right bank of the Monongahela river, 16 miles above Pittsburg. The 
town was originally laid off" by the late Col. Stephen Bayard, in 1787, 
who brought out from Philadelphia a company of ship-carpenters, and 
established the building of vessels at this point in 1800, and in the fol- 
lowing year they built the schooner Monongahela Farmer, owned by the 
builders and farmers of the neighborhood, who loaded her with a cargo 
of flour, &c., and she sailed, via New Orleans, for New York. In 1803, 
the brig Ann Jane, of 450 tons, was built here for the Messrs. M'Farlane, 
merchants, who loaded her w^ith flour and whiskey, and sailed her to 
New York. This vessel was one of the fastest sailers of her day, and 
was run as a packet to New Orleans for some time. 

From the above period to the present time, Elizabethtown has done a 
large share of building, and has turned out some thousands of tons of 
boats, barges, and other river crafts. 

In 1826, the steamboat building was commenced by Messrs. Walker & 
Stephens. 

This place has 3 churches, Methodist, Baptist, and Covenanters ; also, 
3 steamboat yards, several saw-mills, 1 steam flour-mill, 1 glass manu- 



92 ALLEGHENY^ COUNTY. 

factory, I woollen manufactory, &c. The completion of the Mononga- 
hela slackwater steamboat navigation has added greatly to the commer- 
cial advantages of this place. 

Shousetown is pleasantly located on the left bank of the Ohio river, 
15 miles below Pittsburg. It has a population of 150 inhabitants, the 
greater part of whom are engaged in the building of steamboats. The 
value of steamboats built in this place in the last ten years, averages 
about $50,000 per annum. 

This place is surrounded with a most extensive farming neighborhood, 
bordering on the river. 

There are 2 large steam saw-mills, a house of worship, built and re- 
corded as such by Mr. Peter Shouse ; 1 public school. 

M'Keesport is 12 miles above Pittsburg, by land, and about 16 by the 
river, and is pleasantly situated on the Monongahela, at the junction of 
the Yough'ogheny. 

There are considerable shipments of bituminous coal from this point ; 
10 collieries are in active employ within one mile of the village, where 
about two million bushels of the best bituminous coal are annually 
shipped, at an expense of 4 cents per bushel, and resold at the various 
points fi'om the mouth of the Ohio to New Orleans. The village, its sub- 
urbs, and collieries, comprise about 100 houses, having a population of 
aboilt 500 persons, including 1 steam flour-mill, 2 steam saw-mills, 1 steam 
woollen factory, several establishments for boat building, 3 taverns, a 
church, school-house, &c. 

NoBLESTOwN, or NoBLESBORo, is situatcd 12 miles S. W. from Pittsburg, 
in a rich agricultural neighborhood. This place has a population of 250 
inhabitants. It has 1 church — Scotch Seceders — 1 steam grist-mill, I 
saw-mill, 3 stores. 

Bakerstown is pleasantly situated in a healthy agricultural neighbor- 
hood, 16 miles from Pittsburg, and about 15 miles from Butler, on the 
turnpike. A good many old farmers live around it, who annually bring 
a considerable surplus of all kinds of produce to the Pittsburg market. 

Tarentum is a well-built village, on the Pennsylvania canal, 21 miles 
from Pittsburg, near the right bank of the Allegheny river. The locks 
of the canal aftbrd an excellent water power. There are several mills 
here propelled both by water and steam. In the township are six salt 
works and several coal mines. The village has two churches, Presbyte- 
rian and Union. Near this place, on the immediate bank of the river, is 
the mansion and farm of Hon. H. M. Breckenridge, lately district judge 
in Florida, member of congress, &c., and distinguished also as the author 
of several interesting volumes, from one of which we have been kindly 
permitted to make several extracts in this work. Mr. Breckenridge 
thinks that his farm was once the site of aU' ancient Indian village. His 
son has found upon the place many curious Indian relics, such as axes, 
hatchets, pipe, &c. 

There are several other villages in Allegheny co., of which our limits 
will not permit an extended notice, such are Howardsville, Perritsport, 
Perrysville, Middleton, JeffriestoMm, &c. &c. For many of the short sta- 
tistical notices inserted above, we are indebted to Mr. Harris's Pittsburg 
Directory for 1837 and 1841. 



ARMSTRONG COUNTY. S3 



ARMSTRONG COUNTY. 



Armstrong county derived its name from Gen. John Armstrong, who 
commanded the expedition against the Indians at Kittanning, in 1756. 
The county was taken from Lycoming, Westmoreland, and Allegheny, 
by the act of 12th March, 1800. In 1802, commissioners were appointed 
to fix the county seat, and upon their report, in 1804, the present site was 
laid out ; in 1805, the county was fully organized for judicial purposes. 
James Sloan, James Matthews, and Alexander Walker, were appointed 
the first commissioners for locating the county seat and organizing the 
county ; but Alexander Walker declined serving. The county has re- 
cently been curtailed by the separation of Clarion. Average length, 25 
ms.; breadth, 25; area, about 625 sq. miles. The population, in 1800, 
2,399; in 1810, 6,143; in 1820, 10,324 ; in 1830, 17,625; in 1840, 28,365, 
of which about 9,500 should be deducted, being now in Clarion co. A 
great portion of the population is of German descent, having emigrated 
from Northampton and Lehigh counties. 

The most important feature in the county is that noble river, the Alle- 
gheny, which traverses its entire length. The general features of the 
Allegheny are peculiar, and in some respects remarkable, particularly 
as regards its connection with great channels of internal communication 
in other sections of the country. By means of French creek, and Le 
BoBuf lake, and Conewango creek, and Chatauque lake, on the northwest, 
it almost touches Lake Erie ; on the northeast it stretches out its long 
arms towards the Genesee river, in New York, and the west branch of 
the Susquehanna ; on the east, through its branches, the Kiskiniinetas 
and Conemaugh, it is chained by an iron tie over the Allegheny moun- 
tains to the sources of the Juniata ; while on the south it pours its waters 
into the Ohio. On all these routes great public improvements have been 
projected, and on several completed. For the greater part of its course 
this river flows, not through a broad valley, like most others, but through 
a great ravine, from 100 to 400 feet below the common level of the ad- 
jacent country. From about the middle of Armstrong county, down- 
wards, it is true, there are many fine bodies of alluvial land, (on one of 
which Kittanning is located,) but from that upwards precipitous hills, for 
the most part, jut close to the water's edge on both sides of the river. 
The scenery is in some places wild and rugged, but more generally pic- 
turesque and beautiful. The hills, though steep, are clothed with a 
dense forest, presenting the appearance of a vast verdant wall, washed 
at its base, on either hand, by the limped water of the river, alternately 
purling over ripples, or sleeping in deep intervening pools. This regular 
succession of alternate pebbly ripples and deep pools, is another peculi- 
arity of this river ; there are no rocks, strictly so called, in the channel. 
This circumstance renders the navigation in its natural state very safe at 
full water ; and on this account, also, no river is better adapted for im- 
provement by artificial means. Mineral wealth is scattered along its 
banks in great profusion. Bituminous coal in exhaustless quantities is 
found as far up as Franklin ; iron ore is also abundant, and limestone 



94 ARMSTRONG COUNTY. 

beds frequently alternate with the coal measures. Salt is obtained by 
boring from 400 to 700 feet. 

In addition to the Allegheny, the Kiskiminetas forms the southwestern 
boundary of the co., with the main line of the Pennsylvania canal along 
its margin. The other streams are Red Bank, the northern boundary, 
formerly called Sandy Lick cr., Mahoning, formerly called by the Indians 
Mohulbucteetam, Pine cr.. Crooked cr., and a few smaller streams, all 
tributary to the Allegheny. Red Bank and Mahoning drain a vast extent 
of pine lands, and annually bear upon their waters innumerable rafts of 
lumber. Water power is most abundant. 

The soil of the county, though various, averages well : much of it is 
very good. The whole face of the country, where unimproved, is covered 
with a very heavy growth of timber of every description known to this sec- 
tion of the Union. As an article of trade, the white pine, which abounds 
chiefly in the northeastern portion of the county, stands foremost. 

Salt- wells are numerous, both along the Allegheny and the Kiskimine- 
tas : there have been in operation between 25 and 30 in the whole coun- 
ty ; but many have ceased operations with the change in the times. To 
obtain a supply of salt water, the earth is perforated to the depth of from 
400 to 700 feet. In this operation the auger is driven by steam, horse, 
or hand power, at a price per foot varying with the depth, from -$2 to $3. 
The fuel used for evaporation is generally coal ; and in many cases it 
may be thrown from the mouth of the mine into the furnace. 

There are several iron furnaces in the county, of which the most prom- 
inent are the Bear Creek furnace on Bear creek, and the Great Western 
on the Allegheny, at the mouth of Sugar creek, both in the northwest 
corner of the county ; the Allegheny furnace, near Kittanning, on the west 
side of the river ; and one on the Kiskiminetas. 

The Great Western Iron Works is one of the most extensive establish- 
ments in Pennsylvania. It was commenced some four or five years since, 
under the management of Philander Raymond, Esq., in connection with 
several wealthy gentlemen of New York city. The lands of the com- 
pany, which before selection were carefully explored by Mr. Raymond, 
comprise every material and facility for prosecuting the iron business. 
There are rich deposits of ore, bituminous coal of the finest quality, lime- 
stone, forests of timber, water power, and sufficient land for agricultural 
purposes. The whole process of making the iron is carried on with bitu- 
minous coal and coke, in the manner practised in Wales ; and although 
the article resulting from this process possesses some peculiar qualities 
in working with which our western blacksmiths are not yet familiarized, 
yet it is growing in favor with them as they learn how to manage it. 
The company has in operation one or more furnaces, a rolling-mill, nail 
factory, foundry, store, &c. ; and a beautiful busy little village has sprung 
up around the works, as if by the effect of magic. A large quantity of 
railroad iron has been made by this establishment. 

Kittanning, the seat of justice, is situated upon a broad flat of alluvial 
soil, on the left bank* of the Allegheny river, near the centre of the county, 

* In the topographical descriptions in this work, the terms right and left bank of a river, in 
common use among civil and military engineers, are used in preference to north, south, east, or 
west bank. It is understood when these terms are used, that a person is going down the river 
This method defines the position of a town far more correctly than the other j — for instance, 



ARMSTRONG COLNTY. 



95 







^=^^ *- ^ 

a^^^-^^ 



L X 







Kittanning. 
It was formerly the site of an old Indian town of the same name ; and a 
great trail called the Kittanning path went over the mountains to Black 
Log valley, Standing-stone, (now Huntingdon,) &c. &c., by which the In- 
dians communicated with the Susquehanna country. There was also 
another Indian town at the mouth of Mohulbucteetam, or Mahoning 
creek. Kittanning was a prominent point in the northwestern boundary 
of the last great purchase made by the Proprietary government, in 1768, 
at Fort Stanwix. The line stretched across from Kittanning to the south- 
western source, or " the canoe place," of the West Branch of Susquehan- 
na, thence by that branch to the mouth of Pine creek, &c. The country 
north and west of the Ohio and Allegheny rivers was purchased by the 
commonwealth, at Fort Stanwix, in 1784. 

The present town was laid out in 1804, and incorporated as a borough 
in 1821. Four streets run parallel with the river, crossed at right angles 
by eight others. Population in 1840, 702. It contains the usual county 
buildings, an academy, a very flourishing female seminary, and Metho- 
dist, Presbyterian, and Episcopal churches. The Lutherans and Asso- 
ciate Presbyterians have no edifice of their own, although they worship 
regularly in the town. Kittanning is said to be very healthy, and the 
water pure and wholesome. 

The place is well situated for manufacturing purposes. The hills which 
environ the town are rich in coal — one bed of which is 4 1-2 feet 
thick — and some of them in iron ore : a fine productive country surrounds 
it. The Allegheny affords ready access to market at all times by keel- 
boats, and often by steam. A turnpike road leads 16 miles west, to But- 
ler, and another 24 miles southeast, to Indiana. The river is crossed here 
by a ferry-boat driven by the force of the current. It is said to have 
been invented by Mr. Cunningham, the ferryman of the opposite shore, 
in 1834; though (as the writer thinks) the plan has long been known to 
French military engineers, under the name of Pont Volant, or flying 

Wheeling, Va., is on the east side of the Ohio ; so is Economy, Pa. Yet they are not on the 
same side; Wheehng being on the left bank, and Economy on the right bank, to a person going 
down the river. 



96 ARMSTRONG COUNTY, 

bridge. About 400 yards above the landing on the west side, a strong 
wire is attached to a tree on the bank of the river ; the other end is at- 
tached to the boat by means of stay-ropes, with which it can be brought 
to any desired angle with the current. By bringing that end of the boat 
intended to go foremost a little up the stream, it immediately sets off like 
a thing of life, impelled solely by the oblique action of the water against 
its side. The trip is performed in about five minutes. The wire is kept 
out of the water by means of several small boats of peculiar construc- 
tion, which cross simultaneously with the large boat, like so many gos- 
lings swimming with their mother. 

The following account of the destruction of the old Indian town of 
Kittanning, is from the Pennsylvania Gazette of Sept. 23, 1756. Dr. 
Maese, in a note in the N. Y. Hist. Soc. Coll., endorses the accuracy of 
this statement, which he had compared with the original letter of Col. 
Armstrong to the governor of Pennsylvania. The letter alluded to is 
among the archives of the state at Harrisburg, and is said to be very 
long and minute in detailing the occurrences of the expedition. 

Saturday last, (Sept. 1756,) arrived an express from Col. Armstrong, of Cumberland county, 
with advice that he marched from Fort Shirley on the 30th past, with about 300 of our provin- 
cial forces, on an expedition against Kittanning, a town of our Indian enemies on the Ohio, about 
25 miles above Fort Duquesne, (Pittsburg.) On the 3d instant, he joined the advanced party at 
the Beaver dams, near Frankstown ; and on the 7th, in the evening, being within six miles of 
Kittanning, the scouts discovered a fire in the road, and reported that there were but three, or at 
most four Indians at it. It was not thought proper to attempt surprising those Indians at that 
time, lest if one should escape the town might be alarmed ; so Lieut. Hogg with twelve men was 
left to watch them, with orders not to fall upon them till daybreak, and our forces turned out of 
the path, to pass by their fire without disturbing them. About three in the morning, having been 
guided by the whooping of the Indian warriors at a dance in the town, they reached the river, 100 
perches below the body of the town, near a corn-field, in which a number of the enemy lodged 
out of theii" cabins, as it was a warm night. As soon as day appeared and the town could be 
seen, the attack began in the corn-field, through which our people charged, killing several of the 
enemy, and entered the town. Captain Jacobs, the chief of the Indians, gave the warwhoop, and 
defended his house bravely through loop-holes in the logs, and the Indians generally refused quar- 
ters which were offered them, declaring they were men and would not be prisoners. Col. Arm- 
strong (who had received a wound in his shoulder by a musket ball) ordered their houses to be 
set on fire over their heads, which was immediately done. When the Indians were told that they 
would be burned to death if they did not surrender, one of them replied, " he did not care, as he 
could kill four or five before he died ;" and as the heat approached, some began to sing. 
Some, however, burst out of their houses, and attempted to reach the river, but were instantly shot 
down. Capt. Jacobs, in getting out of a window, was shot, as also his squaw, and a lad called 
the king's son. The Indians had a number of spare arms in their houses, loaded, which went off 
in quick succession as the fire came to them ; and quantities of gunpowder, which had been 
stored in every house, blew up from time to time, throwing some of their bodies a great height in 
the air. A body of the enemy on the opposite side of the river fired on our people, and were seen 
to cross the river at a distance, as if to surround our men : they collected some Indian horses that 
were near the town to carry off the wounded, and then retreated, without going back to the corn- 
field to pick up those killed there at the beginning of the action. 

Several of the enemy were killed in the river as they attempted to escape by fording it, and it 
was computed that in all between 30 and 40 were destroyed. Eleven English prisoners were 
released and brought away, who informed the colonel, that besides the powder, (of which the In- 
dians boasted they had enough for ten years' war with the English,) there was a great quantity 
of goods burnt, which the French had made them a present of but ten days before. The prison- 
ers also informed, that that very day two batteaux of French Indians were to join Capt. Jacobs, 
to march and take Fort Shirley ; and that 24 warriors had set out before them the preceding 
evening, — which proved to be the party that kindled the fire the night before — for our people re- 
turning, found Lieut. Hogg wounded in three places, and learned that he had in the morning at- 
tacked the supposed party of three or four, at the fire-place, according to orders, but found them 
too numerous for him. He killed three of them, however, at the first fire, and fought them an 
hour — when, having lost three of his best men, the rest, as he lay wounded, abandoned him and 



ARMSTRONG COUNTY. 97 

fled, the enemy pursuing. Captain Mercer* being wounded in the action, was carried off by his 
ensign and eleven men, who left the main body, in their return, to take another road. On the 
whole it is allowed to be the greatest blow the Indians have received since the war began. The 
conduct of Col. Armstrong in marching so large a body through the enemy's country and coming 
so close to the town without being discovered, is deservedly admired and applauded — as well as 
the bravery of both officers and men in the action 

It is proper to observe that the current tradition among the aged men 
of the town now is, that no one but old Jacobs was burned in the house ; 
that all the other Indians had gone off. Yet it would seem that Col. 
Armstrong's official report ought to be true. The site of this house was 
near where Dr. John Gilpin's now stands ; and in excavating his cellar, 
the bones of old Jacobs were dug up. 

Armstrong's men had quite a skirmish with the Indians out at Blanket 
hill, 5 miles east of Kittanning, the place at which the detachment of 14 
remained. A silver medal was presented to Col. Armstrong by the city 
of Philadelphia, for his conduct in this expedition — a representation of 
which is given in the memoirs of the Penn. Hist. Society, vol. 2. 

After the destruction of the Indian town, the location remained unimproved by white people 
until near the close of the last century. The land remained in possession of the Armstrong 
family ; and when the establishment of the county was proposed, Dr. Armstrong of Carlisle, a son 
of the general, made a donation of the site of the town to the county, on condition of receiving 
one half the proceeds of tlie sales of lots. 

Mr. Robert Brown, still residing near town, and David Reynolds, were among the first who 
erected dwellings in the place. Mr. Brown came here first in 1798, with several hunters. He 
first settled on the opposite bank of the river. At that time there were very few settlers in the 
region. Jeremiah Loughery, an old frontier-man, who had been in Armstrong's expedition, lin- 
gered around the place for many years. He had no family, and wandered from house to house, 
staying all night with people, and repaying their hospitality with anecdotes of his adventures. 
The early settlers of that day found it necessary to be always prepared for Indian warfare, and 
for hunting the beasts of the forest : indeed, their character generally throughout the surrounding 
region, was a mixture of the frontier-man, the hunter, and the agriculturist. Not long after 
coming here, Mr. Brown remembers attending a military review at which there was neither a 
coat nor a shoe : all wore hunting shirts, and went barefoot, or wore moccasins. 

In the winter of 1837-8, a remarkable gorge occurred in the Allegheny river opposite Kittan- 
ning. The ice first gorged about 1^ miles above town, and caused considerable alarm. It broke, 
however, and passed the town freely, — but again gorged below. The water thus checked, in- 
stantly fell back upon the town, and deluged the whole fiat quite to the base of the hills. Many 
fears were expressed that the whole town would be swept away. The ferry-boat passed quite up 
to the high grounds, — and all the inhabitants had escaped to the hills. Providentially the gorge 
broke after about 20 or 30 minutes, and the frightened inhabitants returned with lightened hearts 
to their homes. 

The following biographical sketch is abridged from an article in the 
Kittanning Gazette of Sept. 1833 : 

Died, at his residence in this borough, on the 4th inst., in the 89th year of his age, the venera- 
ble Robert Orr, one of the associate judges of this county. Judge Orr was bom in the county 
of Derry, Ireland, and emigrated to the United States in the year 1766, and from that time until 
the year 1773, resided east of the mountains, in which year he married a young lady by the name 
of Culbertson, of respectable family, in the (then) county of Cumberland, (now Mifflin.) In the 
same year, he settled with his wife at Hannahstown, in Westmoreland co. Immediately on the 
declaration of Independence, Mr. Orr took a very active part in favor of his adopted country, 
and as the frontier was at that time unprotected from the excursions, depredations, and cruelties 
of the savages by any regular force, he was always found foremost in volunteering his services, 
and in encouraging others to do so. 

In the summer of 1781, Gen. Clarke, of Virginia, having determined to make an excursion 
against the hostile Indians, down the Ohio river, requested Archibald Laughrey to raise in West- 
moreland CO. 100 volunteers, and on communicating this request to Mr. Orr, he immediately 

* Believed to be Gen. Mercer of the United States army, who died near Princeton, of the ef- 
fects of the wounds received in the battle at that town in 1777, Jan. 12. 

13 



98 



ARMSTRONG COUNTY. 



raised a company of volunteers, principally at his own expense, furnishing to those who wers 
unable to do so, out of his own funds, all the necessaries for the intended expedition. 

Early in the engagement Capt. Orr received a shot which broke his left arm. Of the whole 
detachment not one escaped ; the wounded who were unable to travel, were all tomahawked on 
the ground ; the remaining few, (among whom was Capt. Orr,) were brutally dragged through 
the wilderness to Lower Sandusky, regardless of their wounds and sufferings, where he was 
kept for several months ; and the Indians finding that they could not effect a cure, took him to 
Detroit, where he remained in the hospital until tlie ensuing spring, when he was transferred to 
Montreal, and was exchanged early in the spring of 1783, when the few that remained of Col. 
Laughrey's regiment returned to their homes. On the 13th July, 1782, (during the iinprisonment 
of the deceased,) Hannahstown was attacked and burnt down by the Indians, and Capt. Orr's 
house and all his property destroyed. On his return to Westmoreland co., in the summer of 
1783, Capt. Orr raised another company for the defence of the frontier, to serve two months ; 
marched them to the mouth of Bull cr., N. W. of the Allegheny river, built a block-house there, 
and served out the necessary tour. 

In the fall of the same year, 1783, he was elected sheriff of Westmoreland co. 

In 1805, when Armstrong co. was organized for judicial purposes, Capt. Orr was appointed 
one of the associate judges of tiie co., which situation he continued to fill with honor to himself, 
and satisfaction to the community, until his death. 

Freeport, a flourishing village on the right bank of the Allegheny river 
and Pa. canal, at the lower corner of the county, was laid out by David 
Todd about the year 1800. A few settlers had already occupied the 
ground previous to that time. The mouth of Buffalo creek, and the isl- 
and, created a fine eddy opposite the village ; and it was probably antici- 




Distant view of Freeport, fxom a point below Buffalo creek. 

pated that it would become a popular rendezvous for boatmen and lum- 
bermen during the season of floods. This circumstance raised great, 
expectations in the minds of the proprietors. The lots were eagerly pur- 
chased, but before long became of little or no value : many were aban- 
doned or sold for taxes ; and the village made but slow progress, until 
the construction of the canal. This work crosses the Allegheny about a 
mile above, passes through the centre of the village, and then crosses 
Buffalo creek on an aqueduct a short distance below. The erection of 
two aqueducts and a lock, and the facilities offered by the canal, gave an 
impetus to enterprise ; and the resources of the surrounding country be- 
gan to be developed. Many salt wells were bored at the base of the 



ARMSTRONG COUNTY. 99 

river hills south of the village, which are now in active operation. There 
is a steam saw-mill, a steam grist-mill, and the usual branches of manu- 
facture for the supply of the contiguous agricultural population. The 
population of Freeport in 1840, was 727. 

Warren is a small village in Kiskiminetas township on the river of that 
name, about 20 miles south of Kittanning. It contains some 20 or 30 
dwellings. The Pennsylvania canal passes the village. 

Leechburg is a flourishing village on the canal at dam No. 1 on the 
Kiskiminetas, about 13 miles south of Kittanning. It was started at the 
time of the construction of the canal, under the auspices of Mr. Leech, a 
distinguished forwarding merchant. The business of building canal 
boats has been extensively carried on here. It contains some 30 or 40 
dwellings. 

Lawrenceburg is a small village in the northwest corner of the county, 
in Perry township, about 20 miles from Kittanning, containing about 20 
houses, stores, &c. 

Several of the exploits of Capt. Samuel Brady, the captain of the spies, 
occurred within the limits of Armstrong county. The extract given below 
is from the sketches of Brady's adventures published in the Blairsville 
Record in 1832, These sketches were written by Mr. M'Cabe, of Indiana, 
and the facts were principally derived from the brother of Capt. Brady, 
who still lives in Indiana county. 

Capt. Samuel Brady was born in Shippensburg, in Cumberland co., in 
1758, but soon after removed with his father to the West Branch of Sus- 
quehanna, a few miles above Northumberland. Cradled amid the alarms 
and excitements of a frontier exposed to savage warfare, Brady's military 
propensities were very early developed. He eagerly sought a post in the 
revolutionary army ; was at the siege of Boston ; a lieutenant at the 
massacre of the Paoli ; and in 1779 was ordered to Fort Pitt with the 
regiment under Gen. Broadhead. A short time previous to this, both his 
father and brother had fallen by the hands of Indians ; and from that mo- 
ment Brady took a solemn oath of vengeance against all Indians. And 
his future life was devoted to the fulfilment of his vow. While Gen. 
Broadhead held command at Fort Pitt, (1780-81,) Brady was often se- 
lected to command small scouting parties sent into the Indian country 
north and west of the fort, to watch the movements of the savages ; a 
charge which Brady always fulfilled with his characteristic courage and 
sagacity. 

Brady's success as a partisan had acquired for him its usual results — approbation with some, 
and envy with others. Some of his brother officers censured the commandant for affording him 
such frequent opportunities for honorable distinction. At length open complaint was made, ac- 
companied by a request, in the nature of a demand, that others should be permitted to share with 
Brady the perils and honors of the service, abroad from the fort. The general apprised Brady 
of what had passed, who readily acquiesced in the propriety of the proposed arrangements ; and 
an opportunity was not long wanting for testing its efficiency. 

The Indians made an inroad into the Sewickly settlement, committing the most barbarous 
murders, of men, women, and children ; stealing such property as was portable, und destroying 
all else. The alarm was brought to Pittsburg, and a party of soldiers, mider the command of 
the emulous officers, despatched for the protection of the settlements, and chastisement of the foe. 
From this expedition Brady was of coiu-se excluded ; but the restraint was irksome to his feelings. 

The day after the detachment had marched, Brady solicited permission from his commander 
to take a small party for the purpose of " catching the Indians ;" but was refused. By dint of 
importunity, however, he at length wrung from him a reluctant consent, and the command of /ice 
men; to this he added his^e< Indian, and made hasty preparation. 



100 ARMSTRONG COUNTY. 

Instead of moving towards Sewickly, as the first detachment had done, he crossed the AII« 
gheny at Pittsburg, and proceeded up the river. Conjecturing that the Indians had descended 
Jiat stream in canoes, till near the settlement, he was careful to examine the mouths of all 
creeks coming into it, particularly from the southeast. At the mouth of Big Mahoning, about 
six miles above Kittanning, the canoes were seen drawn up to its western bank. He instantly 
retreated down the river, and waited for night. As soon as it was dark, he made a raft, and 
crossed to tiie Kittanning side. He then proceeded up to the creek, and found that the Indians 
had, in the mean time, crossed the creek, as their canoes were now drawn to its upper or north- 
eastern bank. 

The country on both sides of Mahoning, at its mouth, is rough and mountainous ; and the 
stream, which was then high, very rapid. Several ineffectual attempts were made to wade it, 
which they at length succeeded in doing, three or four miles above the canoes. Next a fire was 
made, their clothing dried, and arms inspected ; and the party moved towards the Indian camp, 
which was pitched on the second bank of the river. Brady placed his men at some distance, Cfa 
the lower or first bank. 

The Indians had brought from Sewickly a stallion, which they had fettered and tnmed to pag- 
ture on the lower bank. An Indian, probably the owner, under the IniD of arms, came frequently 
down to him, and occasioned the party no little trouble. The horse, too, seemed wiiling to keep 
their company, and it required considerable circumspection to avoid all intercourse with either. 
Brady became so provoked that he had a strong inclination to tomahawk the Indian, but hia 
calmer judgment repudiated the act, as likely to put to hazard a more decisive and important 
achievement. 

At length the Indians seemed quiet, and the captain determined to pay them a closer visit. 
He had got quite near their fires ; his pet Indian had caught him by the hair and gave it a pluck, 
intimating the advice to retire, which he would not venture to whisper ; but finding Brady regard- 
less of it, had crawled off — when the captain, who was scanning their numbers, and the position 
of their gmis, observed one throw off his blanket and rise to his feet. It was altogether imprac- 
ticable for Brady to move without being seen. He instantly decided to remain where he was, 
and risk what might happen. He drew his head slowly beneath the brow of the bank, putting 
his forehead to the earth for concealment. His next sensation was that of warm water poured 
into the hollow of his neck, as from the spout of a teapot, which, trickling down his back over 
the chilled skin, produced a feeling that even his iron nerves could scarce master. He felt quietly 
for his tomahawk, and had it been about him he probably would have used it ; but he had divested 
himself even of that when preparing to approach the fires, lest by striking against the stones or 
gravel, it might give alarm. He was compelled, therefore, "nolens volens," to submit to this 
very unpleasant operation, until it should please his warriorship to refrain ; which he soon did, 
and returning to his place wrapped himself up in his blanket, and composed himself for sleep as 
if nothing had happened. 

Brady returned to and posted his men, and in the deepest silence all awaited the break of day. 
When it appeared, the Indians arose and stood around their fires ; exulting, doubtless, in the 
scalps they had taken, the plunder they had acquired, and the injury they had inflicted on their 
enemies. Precarious joy — short-lived triumph ! The avenger of blood was beside them ! At a 
signal given, seven rifles cracked, and five Indians were dead ere they fell. Brady's well-known 
war-cry was heard, his party was among them, and their guns (mostly empty) were all secured. 
The remaining Indians instantly fled and disappeared. One was pursued by the trace of his 
blood, which he seems to have succeeded in stanching. The pet Indian then imitated the cry 
of a young wolf, which was answered by the wounded man, and the pursuit again renewed. A 
second time the wolf-cry was given and answered, and the pursuit continued into a windfall. 
Here he must have espied his pursuers, for he answered no more. Brady found his remains 
there three weeks afterwards, being led to the place by ravens that were preying on the carcass. 
The horse was unfettered, the plunder gathered, and the party commenced their return to Pitts. 
burg, most of them descending in the Indian canoes. Three days after their return, the first de- 
tachment came in. They reported that they had followed the Indians closely, but that the lat- 
ter had got into their canoes and made their escape. 

Brady's affair at Brady' .s Bend is given under the head of Clarion eo. 

The honor of having invented the "Independent Treasury'^ is generally 
awarded to Martin Van Buren, Amos Kendall, or some other statesman 
of Washington city ; and yet, according to the annexed extract from the 
Pittsburg Daily American, of Sept. 16, 1842, the plan would seem to 
have been carried into successful operation in Armstrong co. long before 
it was ever thought of at Washington : — 

The Widow S********. — If not among the most extraordinary, tliis lady was, or we may say 
is, among the most original within the range of our acquaintance, excepting perhaps the more 



ARMSTRONG COUNTY. 101 

lofty and renowned Madame Mitchell of Mackinaw, of whom we have spoken on several occa- 
sions. The widow S , at the time of our first acquaintance with tliat lady, owned and re- 
sided on one of the best farms on creek, in cc, Pa. In person she was large and 

masculine, and being of German descent, spoke English but badly. Her farm was in the finest 
order ; no one had better crops, or more generally had sure ones. The labor was pcrfoimcd prin- 
cipally by her sons, herself, and her daughters, with occasional assistance which she hired. But 
this conducting of farms is common witli many other Pennsylvania widows. Some little time after our 

first acquaintance commenced with Mrs. S , she married [in 1825] a man named D . 

But notwithstanding this event, she neither took his name, nor did they reside together. D ■ 

owned and lived upon a farm some few miles distant ; each occupied their separate premises and 
farmed their own land — sold their own produce in tiieir own name, and enjoyed their separate 

profits. To be sure D would sometimes act as his wife's agent, and in making a market 

for his own produce would bargain at the same time for that of his wife ; but always, in this 

case, in the name of the widow S . It was the habit of D to visit his wife every 

Saturday evening, and remain at her house until Monday morning. This separation during the 
week was from no disagreement, but formally arranged for in their marriage settlement, which 
provided for this ; with an addition deemed necessary by the frugal and thrifty bride, which was 

that D should pay annually so many hundred weight of flour for his own board and the 

keeping of his horse for the one day and two nights of every week which brought him to the 
comfortable mansion (a large brick house with double bank barn to match) of the loving widow 

S . The parties continued in this conjugal state for several years, when D died. 

Her family had now grown up — her sons and daughters had become husbands and wives ; but all 

resided upon and worked the same farm. She was still the widow, not D , but S , 

and by this name still announced herself, and made all her contracts and kept all her accounts. 

About a year after the death of D , she repaired to her factor and confidential merchant in 

the county town of , to take his counsel. An audience being granted, she stated to him 

tlaat she had some intention to marry again, and advised with him on the subject, as an ordinary 
matter of business. " I should suppose that one so happily situated as you are, with every thing 
rich and comfortable about you, and your sons and daughters grown up, would not think of such 
a thing at your time of life. I would advise you by no means to entangle yourself again in 

any marriage alliance." " You tink not, Mr. H ." " Why, it is very sincerely the advice 

I would give you, if that is what you want," said Mr. H . " Well, dat may be all very 

well and very goot ; but see here — a man I want, and a man I will have." "O, that is a very 
different thing altogether, and in that case I would advise you by all means to marry," said Mr. 

H . The ice being now broken, she stated to him that she had made up her mind to marry 

J, K , a substantial widower and farmer in the neighborhood — German like herself, and 

nearly of the same rotundity of form and feature. The same bargain was made, and the same 

arrangement as with D , and wliich exists, we believe, to this day. She still resides on 

her own place, enjoying undisturbed its control and its profits ; and though the wife of K , 

retains her name of widow S . K makes his appearance, with his well-known light 

wagon, every Saturday evening, and takes his departure every Monday morning, and knows no 

more of what is doing at the farm of the widow S during the week, than on that of any other 

in the neighborhood. No two in the settlement have better horses, houses, or farms, or have them 

in better order, than K and the widow S , and no two enjoy more of the good things 

of this world ; to which they both add that perfect contentment of mind arising from having all 
that they wish and paying all that they owe, even to the annual stipend of floiu', which is regu- 
larly put in the mill to the credit of widow S , by her affectionate and punctual spouse. 

It may be added, as a remarkable fact, that this happy couple have no worldly property which 

they regard as being owned between them in common. We believe the widow S has had 

no children by either of her two last husbands. It is a singular instance of conjugal life, and 
without its parallel within the range of our knowledge. The facts are well known to many re- 
siding Ln the county of , by whom the originals of this story will be readily recognised.* 

* The article above is copied precisely as it appeared in the paper, but in reply to our inquiries 
the editor has obligingly given us in full all the names left in blank above (for an obvious reason,) 
and has stated a number of other particulars concerning the family and characters of the parties 
concerned. Among other things he says : "All the particulars may be relied on as true to the 
letter, not having drawn upon fancy for a single fact there stated. The parties living all reside, 
and have done for many years, on Crooked creek, in Armstrong county ; are wealthy and highly 

respected among their acquaintances. I certainly regarded Mrs. S as no common woman, 

and her presence indicates this. She is large and her bearing lofty, bold, and confident, (though 
no way immodest ;) but rather as one imconscious of error, and competent to the management 
of her own affairs, and unconscious of any impropriety in their details. No one ever imputed 
ought against her honor, or fairness in dealing. She has little or no disguise, and what she wants 
she asks for." In a more recent letter he informs us that her last husband died this spring, 
(1843.) It remains to be seen whether she will marry again — and why not ? 



102 BEAVER COUNTY 



BEAVER COUNTY. 



Beaver county comprehends the region on both sides of the Ohio ad- 
joining the mouth of Beaver. Length 34 miles, breadth 19 — contain- 
ing 646 square miles. The population in 1800 w^as 5,776, in 1820, 15,340, 
in 1830, 24,206, and in 1840, 29,368. The co- was separated from Alle- 
gheny and Washington by the act of 12th March, 1800. In 1803 it was 
fully organized for judicial purposes. The Ohio river enters the south- 
west corner of the co., and flows northwest of the centre, where it re- 
ceives the Big Beaver, and immediately turns to its great southwestern 
course towards the Mississippi. Slippery Rock, a branch of Beaver, Ra- 
coon cr., and Little Beaver, small tributaries to the Ohio, are also in this 
CO. The southern and southeastern parts of the co. are hilly and broken, 
being much indented by the great streams ; the soil upon the hills is of 
middling quality, but the region is interspersed with fine bottom lands, 
and level, or rolling lands, admirably adapted for grain and pasture. The 
mulberry and the vine have been successfully cultivated. The northern 
part has a gently undulating surface, with a soil well adapted for every 
variety of agriculture. The bituminous coal, limestone, and iron of the 
" great Pittsburg coal basin," are nearly everywhere accessible. A min- 
eral spring, near Frankford, in the S. W. corner of the co., has been con- 
siderably frequented by invalids. It contains carbonic acid gas, carbonate 
of iron, carbonate of magnesia, muriate of soda, and sulphureted hydro- 
gen gas. 

Nothing in the co. challenges the attention of a stranger so much as 
its extraordinary capacity for manufacturing and commercial industry. 
To the south and east the Ohio opens a communication with all parts of 
the United States. To the north and northwest, the Sandy and Beaver 
canal, completed, effects a junction with the great Ohio canal ; while the 
Erie extension canal, now nearly pierced through to the lake, opens a 
communication to all the markets of that vast region. An almost incal- 
culable amount of water power is afforded by the streams, but more 
particularly at the lower end of the Beaver river, and at the several 
dams erected for supplying the canals. The Falls of the Beaver alone, 
within six miles of its mouth, even in dry seasons, are said to afford 
power sufficient to drive 168 pairs of five feet burr millstones. A small 
proportion only of this power is yet put into operation. Added to these 
facilities for manufacturing, are the rich mines of coal, itself a driving 
power, and of iron, contiguous to all the important streams. 

The first white men who ever made a settlement in what is now Beaver 
CO., were probably the Moravian brethren, Zeisberger and others, in the 
year 1770. They had been laboring some time previously among the 
Monseys and Senecas, at Goshgoshunk and Lawenakanuck, on the Alle- 
gheny, above French cr., (see Venango and Bradford counties,) but vari- 
ous discouragements had induced them to leave there, and accept an in- 
vitation tendered them from Pakanke and Glikkikan, Delaware chiefs 
living at Kaskaskunk, in what is now Butler co. The following account 
of their settlement is abridged from Loskiel's history of the Moravian 



BEAVER COUNTY. 103 

missions. The settlement appears to have been near where Darlington 
now is. 

" April 17, 1770, the congregation of Lawenakanuck broke up, and set out in 16 canoes, 
passing down the river Ohio by Pittsburg to Beaver co., which they entered, and proceeded up to 
the Falls, where they had to unload and transport their goods and canoes by land. One of these 
carrying places detained them two days. The frequent repetition of this troublesome work, 
caused them to be very thankful when tliey met Glikkikan, with some horses from Kaskaskunk, 
for their use." After a tedious journey they arrived, on 3d May, at their destination, a well- 
chosen spot, " with good land sufficient to supply an hundred families." They gave formal an- 
nouncement of their arrival to the neighboring chiefs, with the usual interchange of speeches 
and Indian ceremony. Glikkikan, like Moses, relinquished the honors of his station to come 
and dwell among the people of God. The Indians were astonished, or rather alarmed, to see a 
people settle among them, so much differing in manners and customs from the heathen, and to 
hear a doctrine preached of which they had never before any idea. In some, this astonishment 
was soon changed into displeasure. Glikkikan's retirement from Kaskaskmik occasioned uni- 
versal dissatisfaction, and his former friends accused him of wishing to become a sorcerer. The 
old chief, Pakanke, altered his friendly behavior towards the brethren, and denied his having in- 
vited them, charging Glikkikan with it. He reproached him ))ublicly, thus, " and even you have 
gone over to them. I suppose you intend to get a white skin I but I tell you not even one of 
your feet will turn white, much less your body. Was you not a brave and honored man, sitting 
next to me in council, when we spread the blanket and considered the belts of wampum lying 
before us ? Now you pretend to despise all this, and to have found something better." Glikki- 
kan briefly replied, " It is very true I have gone over to them, and with them I will live and die." 
Pakanke continued mifriendly and cool towards the settlement for some time, notwithstanding 
the friendly endeavors of Col. Croghan to effect a reconciliation, until after the lapse of a year 
or so, when he resolved to visit Friedenstadt. " He then heard the gospel with great attention, 
changed his sentiments, and even exhorted his children to go to the brethren, hearken to their 
words, and believe on Jesus." 

" On the 23d July, 1770, our Indians began to build a regular settlement on the west side of 
Beaver cr., erecting blockhouses, and before winter they and their teachers were conveniently 
housed. Then the statutes of the congregation were made known to the inhabitants, and every 
thing regulated as at Friedenshutten. In Oct., John George Yungman and his wife arrived from 
Bethlehem, to take charge of this congregation, bringing a belt of wampum from Col. Croghan 
to Pakanke, entreating his kindness towards the missionaries. Brother Senseman, who had 
shared with Br. Zeisberger his toils and duties, returned to Bethlehem." 

The missionaries were greatly annoyed, and their lives even endangered by the jealousies 
stirred up against them by the sorcerers and medicine men among the Indians of the neighbor- 
ing tribes, particularly tiiose near Gekele-mukpechuenk, on the Muskingum. " This opposition 
arose chiefly from the insinuations of the above mentioned Indian preachers who had so strenu- 
ously recommended emetics as a sure mode of cleansing from sin, that in this town the practice 
was general. The missionary endeavored to convince the people that though an emetic might 
benefit their stomachs, yet it could never cleanse their hearts, but that the blood of Jesus Christ 
was alone able to change them. The work of God prevailed and increased at Friedenstadt, and 
in May, 1771, the foundation stone of the chapel was laid. 

In 1773, the state of the frontier had become so alarming, and the opposition and jealousy of 
Pakanke's tribe so great, that it was not thought safe for the brethren to remain longer at Fried- 
enstadt. They accordingly broke up the station and departed for the new stations on the Mus- 
kingmn, under the charge of Rev. John Heckwelder and Br. John Roth. 

The historian willingly drops the curtain upon the scenes which they 
encountered in their new residence. 

Until the passage of the celebrated land law of 1792, by the legisla- 
ture of Pennsylvania, the whole territory northwest of the Ohio and Al- 
legheny rivers, was an uninhabited wilderness, and had been in possession 
of the Indians : even for three years after that date, and up to the time 
of Gen. Wayne's treaty at Greenville on 3d Aug. 1795, it was unsafe for 
families to settle on that side of the river. Previous to this time few 
transactions of importance are recorded in history as having occurred 
within the bounds of what is now Beaver co. In Nov. 1753, Maj. George 
Washington arrived at Logstown, a little French and Indian village about 
14 miles below Pittsburg on the right bank of the Ohio, on an errand to 
inquire into the movements of the French on these rivers. By his pub- 



104 BEAVER COUNTY. 

lished journal it appears that this region was occupied by the Mingoes, 
Shawanees and Delaware Indians, — the Mingoes being only another name 
for the Iroquois or Six Nations. He also casually remarks that Tanacha- 
rison, or the Half King, a Mingo chief, had his hunting cabin on Little 
Beaver creek. Tanacharison was the principal chief and speaker of his 
tribe, and was friendly to the English, or rather was unfriendly to the 
French : not that he loved one more than the other, but that he valued 
his own rights to the soil, and was more jealous of the French with their 
arms and forts, than of the English with their articles of traffic. Several 
years afterward, when he became better acquainted with the real designs 
of both, he put to old Mr. Gest of Fayette co., the significant question, 
" where the Indians' land lay ? — for the French claimed all the laild on 
one side of the Ohio river, and the English on the other." 

In 1770, Washington again visited the country on the Ohio for the pur- 
pose of viewing lands to be apportioned among the officers and soldiers 
who had served in the French war. He was accompanied by Dr. Craik, 
Col. Crawford, Col. Croghan, and other friends. 

A short paragraph only of his journal relates to Beaver co., which is 
here extracted. 

" Oct. 20, 1770. Col. Croghan, Lieut. Hamilton, and Mr. Magee set out with us. At two we 
dined at Mr. Magee's, and encamped ten miles below and four above Logstown. 21st. Left our 
encapment and breakfasted at Logstown, where we parted with Col. Croghan and company. At 
eleven we came to the mouth of the Big Beaver creek, opposite to which [now Phillipsburg] is a 
good situation for a house ; and above it, on the same side, that is the west, there appears to be a 
body of fine land. About five miles lower down, on the east side, comes in Racoon creek, at 
the mouth of which, and up it, appears to be a body of good land also. All the land between 
this creek and the Monongahela, and for 15 miles back, is claimed by Col. Croghan under a pur- 
chase from the Indians, which sale he says is confirmed by his majesty. On this creek, where 
the branches thereof interlock with the waters of Shurtees cr. (Chartier cr.) there is, according 
to Col. Croghan's account, a body of fine, rich, level land. This tract he wants to sell, and 
offers it at £5 sterling per 100 acres, with an exemption of quit-rents for 20 years ; after which 
to be subject to the payment of four shillings and two pence sterling per 100 acres ; provided he 
can sell it in ten-thousand-acre lots. At present the imsettled state of this country renders any 
purchase dangerous." 

Washington mentions calling at the Mingo town, about 75 miles below 
Pittsburg, on the right bank of the Ohio, a little above the Cross creeks. 
The place contained about 20 cabins and 70 inhabitants of the Six Na- 
tions. 

The next event of interest in this county was the erection of fort M'ln- 
tosh in the spring of 1 778, near the present site of Beaver. It was built 
of strong stockades, furnished with bastions, and mounted one 6 pounder. 
From here Gen. M'Intosh went on an expedition against the Sandusky 
towns with 1000 men, and erected fort Laurens on the Tuscarawa. 
There was also a blockhouse on the site of New Brighton, probably 
erected some time during the revolution. 

A mile or two above the mouth of Beaver a small run, called Brady's 
run, comes dashing down a wild glen on the west side : and a road which 
winds up the hill behind Fallston retains the name of Brady's road. 
These names originated no doubt from the following adventures related 
by " Kiskiminetas," in the Blairsville Record : 

In 1 780 Gen. Washington wrote to Gen. Broadhead to select a suitable officer and despatch 
him to Sandusky, for the purpose of examining the place and ascertaining the force of British 
and Indians assembled there. Gen. Broadhead had no hesitation in making the selection. He 
sent for Capt. Brady, showed him Washington's letter, and a draft or map of the country he 
must traverse ; very defective, as Brady afterwards discovered, but the best no doubt, that could 



BEAVER COUNTY. 105 

be obtained at tliat time. The appointment was accepted, and selecting a few soldiers, and four 
Chickasaw Indians as guides, he crossed the Allegheny river and was at once in the enemy's 
country. Brady was versed in all tiie wiles of Indian *' strategic," and, dressed in the full war 
dress of an Indian warrior, and well acquainted with their languages, he led his band in safety 
near to the Sandusky towns, without seeing a hostile Indian. But his Chickasaws now deserted. 
This was alarming, lor it was probable they had gone over to tiie enemy. However, he deter- 
muied to proceed. With a full knowledge of the horrible death that awaited him if taken pris- 
oner, he passed on, until he stood beside the town on the bank of the river. His first care was 
to provide a secure place of concealment for his men. When this was effected, having selected 
one man as the companion of his future adventures, he waded the river to an island partially 
covered with drift-wood, opposite the town, where he concealed himself and comrade for the 
night. The next morning a dense fog spread over the hill and dale, town and river. All was 
hid from Brady's eyes, save the logs and brush around him. About 11 o'clock it cleared off", and 
a,ftbrded him a view of about three thousand Indians engaged in the amusement of the race- 
ground. Tlicy had just returned from Virginia or Kentucky, with some very fine horses. One 
gray horse in particular attracted his notice. He won every race until near evening, when, as 
if envious of his speed, two riders were placed on him, and thus he was beaten. The starting 
post was only a few rods above where Brady lay, and he had a pretty fair chance of enjoying' 
the amusement, without the risk of losing any thing by betting on the race. He made such ob- 
servation through the day as was in his power, waded out from the island at night, collected his 
men, went to the Indian camp he had seen as he came out ; the squaws were still there, took 
tiiem prisoners, and continued his march homeward. The map furnished by Gen. Broadhead, 
was found to be defective. The distance was represented to be much less than it really was. 
The provisions and ammunition of the men were cxliausted by the time they had reached the 
Big Beaver, on their return. Brady shot an otter, but could not eat it. The last load was in 
his rifle. They arrived at an old encampment, and found plenty of strawberries, which they 
stopped to appease their hunger with. Having discovered a deer track, Brady followed it, telling 
the men he would perhaps get a shot at it. He had gone but a few rods when he saw the deer 
standing broadside to him. He raised his rifle and attempted to fire, but it flashed in the pan ; 
and he had not a priming of powder. He sat down, picked the touch-hole, and then started on. 
After going a short distance the path made a bend, and he saw before him a large Indian on 
horseback, with a white child before and its mother behind him on the horse, and a number of 
warriors marching in the rear. His first impulse was to shoot the Indian on horseback, but as 
he raised the rifle he observed the child's head to roll with the motion of the horse. It was fast 
asleep, and tied to the Indian. He stepped behind the root of a trt^e and waited until he could 
shoot tlie Indian, without danger to the child or its mother. When he considered the chance 
certain, he shot the Indian, who fell from the horse, and the child and its mother fell with him. 
Brady called to his men with a voice that made the forest ring, to surround the Indians and give 
them a general fire. He sprung to the fallen Indian's powder horn, but could not get it off. Be- 
ing dressed like an Indian, the woman thought he was one, and said, " Why did you shoot your 
brother ?" He caught up the child, saying, "Jenny Stupes, I am Capt. Brady, follow me and I 
will save you and your child." He caught her hand in Iiis, carrpng the child under the other 
arm, and dashed into the brush. Many guns were fired at him by this time, but no ball harmed him, 
and the Indians dreading an ambuscade, were glad to make off. The next day he arrived at 
Fort Mcintosh with the woman and her child. His men had got there before him. They had 
heard his warwhoop and knew it was Indians they had encountered, but having no ammunition, 
they had taken to their heels and ran off. The squaws he had taken at Sandusky, availing 
themselves of the panic, had also made their escape. 

In those days Indian fashions prevailed in some measure with the whites, at least with Ran- 
gers. Brady was desirous of seeing the Indian he had shot, and the officer in command of Fort 
Mcintosh gave him some men in addition to his own, and he returned to search for the body. 
The place where he had fallen was discovered, but nothing more. They were about to quit the 
place, when the yell of a pet Indian that came with them from the fort, called them to a little 
glade, where the grave was discovered. The Indians had interred their dead brother, carefully 
replacing the sod in the neatest manner. They had also cut brushes and stuck them into the 
ground ; but the brushes had withered, and instead of concealing the grave, they had led to the 
discovery. 

He was buried about two feet deep, with all his implements of war about him. All his savage 
jewelry, his arms and ammunition were taken from him, and the scalp from the head, and then 
they left him thus stripped alone in his grave. It is painful to think of such things being done 
by American soldiers, but we cannot now know all the excusing circumstances that may have 
existed at the time. Perhaps the husband of this woman, the father of this child, was thus 
butchered before his wife and children ; and the younger members of the family, unable to bear 
the fatigues of travelling, had their brains dashed out on the threshhold. Such things were 
common, and a spirit of revenge was deeply seated in the breasts of the people of the frontiers. 
Capt. Brady's own family had lieavily felt the merciless tomahawk. His brave and honored fa- 

14 



106 



BEAVER COUNTY. 



ther and a beloved brother had been treacherously slain by the Indians, and he had vowed ven 
geanee. After refreshingj himself and men, they went up to Pittsburg by water, where they were 
received with military honor. Minute guns wore fired from the time Brady came in sigflit until 
he landed. Tlie Chickasaw Indians had returned to Pittsburg, and reported that the captain and 
his party had been cut olF near Sandusky town by the Indians. 

After Gen. Wayne's treaty, in 1795, the country north and west of the 
Ohio and Allegheny could be safely inhabited, and speculators, companies, 
and individuals flocked thither to secure a title to lands to which they 
had previously acquired a color of title under the various land laws of 
1783 and 1792, and others. Many of the large companies came in con- 
flict with individual claimants, and long, vexatious suits were the conse- 
quence. Beaver co. was in the " Depreciation District." A more ex- 
tended notice of this subject will be found under the head of Crawford 
CO. The Population Company was extensively interested in the lands of 
Beaver co. 

Beaver. — The place known by this name to travellers and others at 
Pittsburg, whence so many little steamers are seen plying for this desti- 
nation, is not, properly, one town, but a little cluster of towns — a sort of 
United States in miniature, situated around the mouth of Beaver river, 
and for four or five miles up that stream. And it is a singular fact, that 
to a traveller passing on the Ohio scarcely any village at ail can be 
descried at the place, although there is here a population of some six 
thousand. The annexed plan will illustrate the position of the towns. 




Towns about the mouth of Beaver river. 
First, there is Beaver borough, the seat of justice, a quiet, orderly, old- 
fashioned county town, with its respectable society, and the usual number 
of stores and taverns. It is built principally upon a long street, running 
parallel with the Ohio river, upon an elevated plateau, some forty rods 
back from the river. A dangerous gravel shoal, formed by the conflu- 
ence of the Beaver with the Ohio, lies directly abreast of the town, which 
accounts for the fact of there being no business street along the river. 
The courthouse, jail, and three churches, all substantial buildings, stand 
around an open square, through which runs the main street. Population 
in 1840, 551. The borough was incorporated 29th March, 1802. 



BEAVER COUNTY. 



107 




Beaver. 

The annexed view shows the courthouse, jail, &c., on the left, and the 
churches on the right, with the main street beyond. 

By the act of 28th Sept. 1791, the gfovernor of the state was instructed to cause to be surveyed 
200 acres of land in town lots, near the mouth of Beaver cr., " on or near thp ground where the 
old French town stood," and also 1,000 acres adjoining, on the upper side thereof, as nearly 
square as might be, in out-lots, not less than five, nor more than ten acres each. By the same 
act, 500 acres, near the town, were granted for an academy. Daniel Leet surveyed the town 
plot The probable motive at that day for locating the county seat at a distance from the great 
manufacturing advantages at the Falls, was the existence of the well-known shoal just below the 
mouth of Beaver, a difficult and dangerous passage to the keel-boats and other craft in Use at 
tliat day. By the location here, the town was accessible alike to the lower and upper trade, and 
the obstructions themselves would probably throw considerable business into the place. The 
idea of erecting Lowcls and Rochesters, had not as yet entered the heads of speculators in land. 
Samuel Johnston first settled at Beaver in 1796. He kept an inn on the bank of the river, near 
Fort Mcintosh. Some traces of the old fort are still to be seen near his house. Jonathan Porter, 
Abraham Laycock, David Townsend, Joseph Hemphill, John Lawrence, Mr. Small, Mr. Alison, 
were also early and prominent settlers. Judge Laycock filled many important offices in the 
county and state, and held a seat in the senate of the United States. On the present site of New 
Brighton, there existed an ancient " blockhouse," at which Sergeant-major Toomey commanded 
when Mr. Alison first came here, on a visit, in 1793. Gen. Wayne was encamped at Legion- 
ville, on the river, below Economy. The only road in those days was " Broadhead's," which led 
across the country from where Phillipsburg now is. 

Hoopcs, Townsend & Co. first erected a furnace at the Falls near Brighton in 1803. In 1806, 
the second paper-mill west of the mountains was erected on Little Beaver or., just within the 
Ohio line, by John Bener, Jacob Bowman, and John Coulter, called the Ohio Paper-mill. The 
principal topics of interest to the early settlers of Beaver, after the pacification of the frontier in 
'95, were the conflicting claims to land growing out of the act of '92. The place was one of 
considerable river trade, and the usual business of a county town, until about the year 1830, 
when the vast natural advantages of the Falls began to attract attention from various quarters. 
Previous to this time, in addition to the old furnace, several mills and warehouses, had been, 
erected about the Fails, as the natural wants of the country had prompted from time to time. 

The astonishingly rapid growth of Buffalo, Rochester, Lockport, S3'racuse, and other towns 
along the great New York canal, had insensibly created a vast school of speculation, the pupUs 
of which subsequently spread themselves over all the other states, particularly those contiguous 
to the lakes. The great natural resources at the mouth of Beaver did not escape their notice nor 
their grasp. Enlisting in their visionary plans some of the original holders of the property, who 
too soon became apt scholars in the new science, they proceeded to purchase up the real estate 
and mill sites along the banks of the river, and on the Ohio near it, and to lay out towns and 
cities, and great lines of public improvement. Better adepts with the pen and the drawing in- 
struments, than with the apparatus of the mill, these gentlemen preferred laying out paper cities, 
and trumpeting the value of their lots in overwrought puffs, to erecting manufactories themselvea. 



108 BE AVER COUNTY, 

and developing in a legitimate way the real resoui-ces of the country. The usual symptoms of 
the speculative epidemic were soon exhibited in a high degree. Lots were sold and resold at 
high profits — several manufactories were built — beautiful dwellings, banks, and hotels were 
erected — morus multicaulis plantations were started, " and all went merry as a marriage bell." The 
fever subsided, and the ague succeeded — the bubble burst with the U. S. Bank, and the universal 
" want of confidence," and the speculators i-eturned to more useful employments. The scathing 
influence of these operations will not soon be forgotten by the people of Beaver and New 
Brighton. 

The great natural advantages, however, of the region, still exist, and 
much has actually been done to improve and develop them : the exag- 
geration has principally been shown in overrating the growth of the 
place, without making suitable allowance for the competition and claims 
of a hundred other places, each of which, if they had not the same ad- 
vantages, were equally the darling objects of their owners' enterprise. 
With an enterprise tempered with prudence in adapting the rapidity of 
development to the real and natural wants of the country, few places 
promise better results than the little towns around the Falls of Beaver, 
The Beaver river, within five miles from its mouth, falls 69 feet. " The 
Falls" originally consisted of a succession of rapids for about two thirds 
of that distance. By individual and state enterprise the stream has been 
made to assume a succession of pools and dams. Five miles from the 
mouth is a dam of 15 feet ; a mile below, another of 20 feet ; a mile below 
that, two others, giving together a fall of 19 feet; and near the mouth 
another, with A fall of is feet at low water. It was estimated by the U. 
S. engineers, who examined the site in 1822, with a view to the establish- 
ment of a national armory, that the water power here at low water was 
sufficient to propel 168 pair of 5 feet burr-millstones ; and since the state 
dams have been erected, it is said that this estimate is far below the real 
amount. 

Brighton is a delightful and promising village, situated on the west 
side of Beaver river, four miles from its mouth. It was at an early period 
distinguished for its iron works, Messrs. Iloopes, Townsend & Co. having 
erected a furnace here in 1803. The place owes most of its present im- 
portance to the enterprise of Mr. J. Patterson, formerly of Philadelphia, 
a capitalist, merchant, and manufacturer of cotton, flour, &c., who pur- 
chased the mill privileges opposite the village. He has here an uninter- 
rupted head and fall of 20 feet. Mr. Patterson has a large cotton factory, 
and flouring-mill, and store, and gives employment to many of the in- 
habitants of the village. He has recently constructed a canal leading to 
his mills, the Pennsylvania and Ohio canal passing along the opposite 
bank. There is also a steam paper-mill, owned by Mr. A. Robertson, 
having a staining establishment connected with it, and giving employ- 
ment to many families. A very neat and commodious meeting-house and 
school-room accommodates a population of about 300. A fine bridge of 
600 feet in length, built for a company, by Mr. Le Barron, connects Brighton 
with 

New Brightox, which is situated below Brighton, opposite to the middle 
and lower Falls, at the head of steamboat navigation. This place has 
grown up entirely since 1830. In 1793, a military blockhouse stood 
here, with a garrison commanded by Major Toomey. The village is well 
laid out in broad streets, crossing at right angles, and many of the private' 
residences are neatly built and tastefully adorned with shrubbery and 



BEAVER COUNTY. 



109 



shade trees. The water privileges of this place are hardly surpassed in 
the west. The annexed view was taken iVom the hill behind Fallston. 
Some of the factories of Fallston are seen in the foreground. There 
are at present in the place several manufactories of various kinds, among 




New Brighton and part of Fallston. 
which is one for making carpets. There are Presbyterian, Methodist, 
Seceder, Unionist, and 2 Friends' places of worship. The office of the Bea- 
ver Co. Insurance Co. is located here. The U. S. Bank had a branch 
stablished here. The Female Seminary is an excellent school of the 
higher class. The New Brighton Institute, a society for literary and sci- 
entific purposes, has done much to promote the march of intelligence. It 
has a library and cabinet of curiosities. Pop. 981. Another beautiful 
bridge, erected by Messrs. Lathrop 6^ Le Barron, connects the lower end 
of New Brighton with 

Fallston. — This place is situated along one or two streets, at the foot 
of a high bluff*, and is famous for its manufactures, which consist of wool- 
lens, cottons, paperj linseed oil, wire, scythes, baskets, window-sash, 
ploughs, carpets, lasts, carding-machines, steam-engines, &c. The water 
power here is imnlense : a race is permanently constructed, a mile and a 
half in length, which conducts the water upon which a long row of man- 
ufacturing establishments is erected. There is a respectable building of 
brick for schools and for public worship. In the hill behind the village 
is an abundance of excellent coal, which may be slid from the mouth of 
the pits into the yards of many of the houses. Pop. 865. One and a 
half miles below is 

Sharon, a flourishing village, containing a patent bucket manufactory, 
a foundry, various other manufacturing establishments, and two keel and 
canal boat yards. There is a Methodist church here. Population about 
300. Between Fallston and Sharon, on the high grounds overlooking the 
river, a new brick church in the Gothic style has been recently erected. 

Bridgevvater is situated about half a mile above the junction of the 
Ohio and Beaver rivers, on the western shore of Beaver. It is regularly 
laid out upon a level flat, and contains a number of fine buildings, manu- 
factories, hotels, commission-houses, &c. It is the usual landing-place 



no BEAVER COUNTY. 

of the Pittsburg steamboats, and the termination of the stage and packet 
routes for Cleveland. A fine bridge connects it with Rochester, and im- 
mediately beneath the bridge is a dam across the Beaver, forming the 
slackwater steamboat navigation to Fallston ; and also creating an im- 
mense water power, at an ordinary stage of water in the Ohio river. 
Pop. 634. 

Rochester, formerly known as Bolesville, is directly opposite Bridgewa- 
ter. The Pennsylvania and Ohio canal, connecting at Akron with the 
Ohio canal, and also the Pennsylvania canal to Erie, both have a com- 
mon termination at this point. There is a depot of canal boats and steam- 
boats here, many of which are owned here. The location is healthy and 
elevated, presenting a fine view of the surrounding villages and rivers. 
Population from 300 to 400. A considerable forwarding business is done 
here between Pittsburg and Ohio. 

Phillipsburg, directly opposite the mouth of Beaver, on the left bank 
of the Ohio river, was formerly owned by Messrs. Phillips and Graham, 
and connected with an extensive steainhoat yard; but in April, 1832, 
Count De Leon and his associates, having seceded from the society at 
Economy, purchased the place, and occupied it with a German popula- 
tion, calling it New Philadelphia. They held it in common for a short 
time ; but since the dissolution of their society, they live in families, with 
separate interests, pursuing the industrious and frugal course by which 
that people are generally characterized. Pop. 338. After thus dispos- 
ing of Phillipsburg, Messrs. Phillips and Graham removed their steamboat 
yards to the opposite side of the Ohio, about two miles above, and started 
the village of 

Freedom — the first beginnings of which are thus chronicled in the 
Beaver Argus, of May, 1832 : — 

Rapid Work. — Messrs. Phillips and Graham purchased a tract of land from Gen. Lacock, on 
the Ohio river, on Monday of last week, laid out a town on Tuesday, and built fourteen houses 
in four succeeding days. At this place they intend establishing their shfp-yard." 

The place thus commenced now contains several manufactories ; one 
for steam-engines and boilers ; a boat-yard, where some of the largest 
and finest of steamboats were built, such as the St. Louis, Meteor, Gen. 
Pratt, and many others. There is a bend of the Ohio just at this place, 
and the village being built upon a hill gently sloping up from the river 
bank, presents a very lively appearance to the passengers coming down 
the river. Pop. 384. 

Economy is a German settlement on the right bank of the Ohio, 18 
miles below Pittsburg, belonging to the Harmony Society. The village is 
arranged with broad rectangular streets, two parallel with the Ohio, and 
four crossing them. The log houses originally constructed have been re- 
placed with neat frame or brick houses, of uniform size and at proper 
distances from each other. Each house has its garden, with shade trees 
and a pretty bower of vines around the door. A stranger is struck with 
the air of neatness without show which pervades every street. 

The annexed view exhibits, on the right, one end of the large hall used 
for a museum, cabinet, &c. The upper story consists of one room called 
the Social Hall, where the whole society dine together in celebration 
of their yearly harvest-home, and other great occasions- A little beyond 
the hall on the same side is the residence of the venerable founder, 



BEAVER COUNTY. 



Ill 




Economy. 

George Rapp. On the other side are seen the tower of the church, and 
several of the dwelling-houses. At the church the members meet twice 
on Sunday, and once on an evening during the week. Mr. Rapp delivers 
the discourse in the German language, which is generally spoken, although 
many members are acquainted with the English. A fine band of music, 
composed of many members, occasionally entertains the community with 
a concert. 

Their large flocks of sheep, cattle, horses, hogs, &c., all of good stock, 
are regularly taken care of, and stabled in winter, and are said to com- 
pare favorably with any in the west. In agriculture they are not sur- 
passed, and their immense fields of grain, meadows, orchards, vineyards, 
nurseries of mulberry and fruit trees, elicit the admiration of all visiters. 
Each department of business is headed by a foreman, who is responsible 
to uphold the standing regulations, and act impartially to all members in 
the distribution of the necessaries of life. 

The following history of the society is derived from various articles in 
Hazard's Register, and from verbal communications to the compiler : 

" Mr. George Rapp and his followers, who now constitute the society at Economy, emigrated to 
this country from Wirtemburg in the province of Swabia ; having left there, as tJiey assert, on 
account of persecution for their religious opinions. Mr. Rapp arrived in this country in the year 
1803, a year in advance of his followers, to look out a body of land on which to settle them. 
Accordingly he purchased a quantity of land in Butler co., and in a short time afterwards the 
company settled and improved it, and built a town which they called Harmony. They laid out 
a vineyard, built mills, raised sheejj, and erected a large cloth manufactory, with which they 
succeeded well. But having the cultivation of the grape very much at heart, which appeared 
not to do so well as they wislied, their merino sheep likewise not thriving so well, they transfer- 
red themselves to the state of Indiana, near the Wabash, where the climate was supposed to be 
more congenial to these leading objects of their wishes. Governed by these considerations, they 
bought a large body of land, sold their establishment at Harmony, and went down the river to 
the new purchase. There they cleared the land, built a beautiful village, erected a cotton and 
woollen manufactory, a brewhouse, a distillery and steam-mill. After remaining there some 
time, it was discovered that the change of climate and imhealthiness of the country called for a 
speedy retreat. 

" The society therefore determined to return to Pennsylvania, and pursuant to that resolution 
purchased a large body of land on the Ohio, in Beaver co.. about 18 miles below Pittsburg ; here 
they commenced their operations about three years ago, (1825.) They cleared a spot of ground, on 
which they have built a handsome town, now consisting of about 130 houses ; among these are 



112 BEAVER COUNTY. 

an elegant church, a large woollen and cotton manufactory, a store, a tavern, a large steam-mill, 
a brewery, distillery, tanyard, and various other workshops. Besides this they have a large and 
commodious house built for a concert-hall, of 120 ft. by 54 ft., arched underneath, in which ihey 
have a museum of natural curiosities, a collection of minerals, a mathematical school, a library, 
and a drawing school. They purchase from 60 to ,$70,000 worth of wool, and about 20 or 
$30,000 worth of other articles from the surrounding country, for manufacture and consumption." 
The Duke of Saxe Weimar, who visited the colony about the year 1826, says — 

" At the inn, a fine large frame house, we were received by Mr. Rapp, the principal, at the 
liead of the community. He is a gray-headed and venerable old man ; most of the members 
emigrated 21 years ago from Wirtemburg along with him. 

" The elder Rapp is a large man of 70 years old, whose powers age seems not to have dimin- 
ished ; his hair is gray, but his blue eyes, overshadowed by strong brows, are full of life and fire. 
Rapp's system is nearly the same as Owen's community of goods, and all members of the so- 
ciety work together for the common interest, by which the welfare of each individual is secured. 
Rapp does not hold his society together by these hopes alone, but also by the tie of religion, 
which is entirely wanting in Owen's community ; and results declare that Rapp's system is the 
better. No great results can be expected from Owen's plan ; and a sight of it is very little in 
its favor. What is most striking and wonderful of all is, that so plain a man as Rapp can so 
successfully bring and keej) together a society of nearly 700 persons, who, in a manner, honor 
him as a prophet. Equally so for example is his power of government, which can suspend the 
intercourse of the sexes. He found that the society was becoming too numerous, wherefore the 
members agreed to live with their wives as sisters. All nearer intercourse is forbidden, as well 
as marriage; both are discouraged.* However, some marriages constantly occur, and children 
are born every year, for whom there is provided a school and a teacher. The members of the 
community manifest the very highest degree of veneration for the elder Rapp, whom they ad- 
dress and treat as a father. Mr. Frederick Rapp is a large good-looking personage, of 40 years 
of age. He possesses profound mercantile knowledge, and is the temporal, as his father is the 
spiritual chief of the community. All business passes through his hands ; he represents the so- 
ciety, which, notwithstanding the change in the name of residence, is called the Harmony Soci- 
ety, in all their dealings with the world. They found that the farming and cattle raising, to 
which the society exclusively attended in both their former places of residence, were not aaffi. 
ciently productive for their industry, they therefore have established factories. 

" The warehouse was shown to us, where the articles made here for sale or use are preserved, 
and I admired the excellence of all. The articles for the use of the society are kept by them- 
selves, as the members have no private possessions, and every thing is in common ; so must they 
in relation to all their personal wants be supplied from the common stock. The clothing and 
food they make use of is of the best quality. Of the latter, flour, salt meat, and all long keeping 
articles are served out monthly ; fresh meat, on the contrary, and whatever spoils readily, is dis- 
tributed whenever it is killed, according to the size of the family, &c. As every house has a gar- 
den, each family raises its own vegetables, and some poultry, and each family has its own bake 
oven. For such things as are not raised in Economy, there is a store provided, from which the 
members, with the kftowledge of the directors, may purchase what is necessary, and the people 
of the vicinity may also do the same. 

" Mr. Rapp finally conducted us into the factory again, and said that the girls had especially 
requested this visit, that I might hear them sing. When their work is done they collect in one 
of the factory rooms, to the number of 60 or 70, to sing spiritual and other songs. They have 
a peculiar hymn-book, containing hymns from the Wirtemburg psalm-book, and others written by 
the elder Rapp. A chair was placed for the old patriarch, who sat amidst the girls, and they 
commenced a hymn in a very delightful manner. It was naturally symphonious and exceeding- 
ly well arranged. The girls sang four pieces, at first sacred, but afterwards, by Mr. Rapp's de- 
sire, of a gay character. With real emotion did I witness this interesting scene. The factories 
and workshops are warmed during winter by means of pipes connected with the steam-engine. 
All the workmen, and especially the females, had very healthy complexions, and moved me deeply 
by the warm-hearted friendliness with which they saluted the elder Rapp. I was also much 
gratified to see vessels containing fresh sweet-smelling flowers standing on all the machines. 
The neatness which universally reigns here, is in every respect worthy of praise." 

Since the visit of Saxe Weimar Mr. Frederick Rapp has died ; the venerable father still gov- 
erns the society. 

In every thing useful the Economists are ready to adopt the most modern inventions ; while 
in clothing their persons they eschew all modern fashions, and still adhere to the quaint patterns 
used among the German peasantry of the last century. The latter remark applies, perhaps, with 

* Visiters at Economy are cautioned against making any inquiries upon this particular sub- 
ject, even in the most courteous manner, as they will probably be repulsed with an indignant an- 
swer. On all other subjects they will probably be gratified by the courtesy and readiness of the 
members to impart information. — D. 



BEAVER COUNTY. 1]3 

more force to the females ; the men generally wearing a plain uniform dress, of dark gray round ■ 
about and pantaloons, with a hat of wool or straw, suited to the weather. Their manufacturing 
machinery is all propelled by steam. They commenced the culture of the mulberry and the 
manufacture of silk in 1828, witii no other instruction or experience than what they could gathei 
from the publications of that day. The white Italian mulberry and morus multicaulis were both 
used with success. They have now brought this manufacture to a point not surpassed jn this 
country. In 1840 the product of silk was 2,389 lbs. cocoons, yielding 218 lbs. reeled silk ; which 
they wrought into beautiful handkerchiefs, vestings, and a variety of other fabrics. They have 
spared neither trouble nor expense in importing the best machinery from England and France, 
and in obtaining instruction from foreign artisans. 

About the year 1831, an adventurer from Germany, calling himself Count De Leon, insinuated 
himself into the good graces of the society so far as to become a member, with his family. He 
made various pretensions to special favors from heaven, and thought himself inspired and sent 
on a special mission to regenerate the Germans at Economy. He made large professions, and 
backed them up with larger promises. Taking advantage of the restraint upon the intercourse 
between the sexes, and certain jealousies that existed of the growing influence of the Rapp fami- 
ly, the count produced a lamentable schism. After much ill feeling, and bitter controversy re- 
lating to the subjects in dispute, the most important of which to the count was the property in- 
volved, the matter was amicably compromised in March, 1832, and articles were signed by 
which the society agreed to pay to the seceders ^105,000, deducting ,$1,800 due the society by 
the count and his family. The count and his family were to move off in six weeks — the dis. 
senters within three months. 

The adherents to the count, who formed a considerable body, some 300 or 400, purchased 
PhUlipsburg, and established a colony there under the name of New Philadelphia, to be governed 
somewhat upon the plan of the Harmonites, modified by the count. Time, however, unfolded 
the real nature of the count's designs, as well as the visionary credulity of his adherents ; and 
the new colony as a joint-stock society was soon resolved into its original elements. The count 
with a few adherentis fled down the river, leaving those who had been duped by his schemes, to 
make their way in life for the future upon the good old-fashioned plan of letting " each tub stand 
on its own bottom." Under this system Phillipsburg has become a thriving German town. 

The society has had several written constitutions or articles of agreement between the indi. 
vidual members and Mr. Rapp, modified by the several removals and secessions which have oc- 
curred among them. On drawing up and digesting their present constitution, two eminent law 
yers from Allegheny and Beaver counties were called in to advise and assist. A strenuous effort 
was then made to break down the monkish restraint previously imposed, and to re-establish 
among them the institution of marriage ; but the effort was decidedly voted down ; and it is said 
the opposition to it came not from the aged, but principally from those members still in the vigor 
of life. The prohibition was even carried so far as again to separate those who had been mar- 
ried during Count Leon's secession, and who had rejoined the society. 

It is not easy, without more accurate data, to estimate the result of the 
operations of the Harmony Society, as an experiment in social organiza- 
tion. Setting aside entirely the religious aspect of the ca.se, and estima- 
ting only the worldly comforts and wealth now enjoyed, and comparing 
these with their numbers, it is probable that the result would not show 
any increase over that attending the orderly and industrious management 
of a similar number of emigrant families on the plan of individual inter- 
est, and the relations resulting from marriage. They brought over with 
them, it will be remembered, from Germany, a considerable amount of 
money, and made their original purchases of land in Butler co. at the 
low rates of that day. Their numbers have been diminished by seces- 
sion, the seceders taking away also a proportion of the property ; and the 
increase by the ordinary mode of conversion to their peculiar plan has not 
been great. They now number about 400 or 500 individuals, principally 
middle aged and old people — equal to about 100 families. Each of these 
families has a comfortable brick or frame house and garden to dwell in ; 
and since the secession there are some fifty or sixty dwellings standing 
idle — as others than members of the society cannot occupy them. Their 
territory consists of a strip of very good land extending along the river 
about five miles, by about three fourths to one mile wide, embracing both 
bottom, rolling, and hill land, in all about 3,500 acres. Of this about one 

15 



J 14 BEDFORD COUNTY. 

half onJy is cleared ; and this, it is said, is as much as the occupants can 
conveniently manage. This gives to each individual about three and a 
half to four acres of cleared land, and as much of woodland, or, a little 
farm of 35 to 40 acres, half of which is woodland. The family has then 
a comfortable dwelling-house and garden in town, a small farm of 40 
acres, the privilege of a coal bank, a sufficient stock of cattle and tools, 
and an undivided share or 500th part of the commercial, manufacturing, 
mechanical, and scientific, and religious property in the village — together 
with more or less of loose change or money at interest. This is comfort- 
able, to be sure ; but is it any more, is it as much, as might have been 
expected for a hard-working, sober, and pious German family, who might 
have removed to Butler or Beaver co. in 1803, without any property to 
commence with ?— to say nothing of the happy circle of children and 
children's children that would be grown up and settled around them in 
40 years. 

Darlington, formerly called Greersburg, a flourishing village on Little 
Beaver cr., nine miles northwest of Beaver, contains an academy, Pres- 
byterian church, and 60 or 70 dwellings. It was incorporated in March 
1820, under the name of Greersburg, and its name changed to Darling- 
ton in 1830. The coal found near this place resembles the celebrated 
Kennel coal of England, 

Frankfort is a small village on the southern edge of the county, near 
which there is a mineral spring, much frequented by invalids. The spring 
is situated in a cool romantic glen, thickly studded with forest trees. 

HooKSTOWN, Georgetown, Petersburg and Mt. Jackson, are also small 
villages in Beaver. Their relative position may be perceived by refer- 
ence to the map. 



BEDFORD COUNTY. 

Bedford county, originally part of Cumberland co., was established 9th 
March, 1771. It then included the whole southwestern part of the state. 
The establishment of Westmoreland in 1773, of Huntingdon in '87, and 
Somerset in '95, reduced it to its present limits. Length, 44 m., breadth, 
34; area, 1,520 sq. miles. The population in 1790 was 13,124, then in- 
cluding Somerset ; in 1800, 12,039 ; in 1810, 15,746 ; in 1820, 20,248 in 
1830, 24,502 ; in 1840, 29,335. 

The following very correct description of this county was given by a 
writer in the Democratic Enquirer, in 1829. 

The cotinty of Bedford ia mountainous and liilly, much of the land stony and broken, and in 
some places the soil yields but a niggardly return for the labor bestowed on it. Yet the rich 
burgher from the city who .O'jnges in his carriage along the turnpike, or is transported with 
rapidity in one of our public ?tages, makes a thousand mistakes in his calculations about the 
sterility of our soil, and the aiortness of our crops. While he is dreaming in his carriage of 
famine and cold water, could he be translated in a moment to some of our delightful valleys, he 
would there find large and eiteusivc farms, abundant crops, comfortable houses, prolific and 
healthy families, and a greater loundance of every thing, than, perhaps, he himself is in the habit 
of enjo3ang at liome. In man ' jf our valleys there is fine limestone land, which is well culti- 
vated, which affords our farme i an opportunity every year of taking a great quantity of surplus 
produce to market. Tiie vallff '. near McConnellstown, Friend's Cove, and Morrison's Cove, are 



BEDFORD COUNTY. 



115 



particularly rich and fertile. The latter place, more especially in the vicinity of Martinsburg, I 
hesitate not to say, is one of the richest districts of country in the state of Pennsylvania. 

Iron, ore is found of the best quality in many places, particularly in. 
Morrison's Cove, and its vicinity. Several extensive iron vv^orks have 
been carried on for some years past. Near the northeastern boundary of 
the county, on Broad-top mountain, is situated a small isolated coal basin, 
affording several seams of bituminous coal, from one to four feet thick ; 
the only deposit of bituminous coal, it is thought, east of the Allegheny 
mountains, in Pennsylvania. It is said that some of the specimens of 
this coal possess an intermediate quality between the bituminous and an- 
thracite. 

The manufacture of maple sugar was formerly a prominent branch of 
family industry in this county. 

The Chambersburg and Pittsburg turnpike passes across the centre of 
the county. In going westward on this road, the traveller passes succes- 
sively Cove mountain, Scrub ridge. Sideling hill, Ray's hill, Clear ridge, 
Tussey's mountain, Evitt's or Dunning's mountain, Will's mountain, 
Chestnut ridge, and the great Allegheny mountain. 

The Raystown branch of the Juniata is the large central stream of the 
CO. The sources of the Aughwick and Frankstown branches also rise in 
this CO. On the south are Licking or., Conolloway's cr.. Will's cr., and a 
few smaller streams. 

The original population of the co. was composed of the Scotch-Irish 
traders and frontier-men from the Kittatinny valley ; but of late years 
the German farmers have purchased the rich limestone lands, and now 
form an important proportion of the population. 




Public Square in Bedford. 

Annexed is a view of the public square in Bedford. The courthouse 
is seen on the right, and a part of the Presbj^terian church on the left. 

Bedford, the county seat, is a flourishing borough, on the Chambersburg 
and Pittsburg turnpike, 200 miles from Philadelphia, and 100 from Pitts- 
burg. The population in 1840 was 1,022. The buildings are mostly 
either stone or brick : the streets are spacious and airy, and generally 



116 



BEDFORD COUNTY. 



present the appearance of activity and business. Its liberal-minded and 
intelligent citizens have done much to beautify the town by erecting 
several elegant public structures. The Catholic, the German Reformed 
and Lutheran, and the Presbyterian and Methodist churches, combine 
neatness with comfort. The new courthouse, fronting the public square, 
is a splendid edifice of the Tuscan order. The town is situated in a luxu- 
riant limestone valley, and enjoys every advantage that pure mountain 
air and water, and picturesque scenery can impart. The Raystown 
branch of the Juniata flows along the northern border of the town* 
There is an excellent classical and mathematical school here, under the 
charge of Professor Ramsay ; and the Bedford Female Collegiate Ins.ti- 
tution, an excellent school for young ladies, superintended by Rev. B. R. 
Hall. 

Bedford Springs. — This celebrated watering-place is situated about one 
and a half miles S. of Bedford, in the narrow, romantic valley of Shover's 
creek, between Constitution hill, on the east, and Federal hill, on the we^t. 




Bedford Springs. 

The annexed view shows the magnificent hotel, recently constructed, 
on the right, and the spring-house beyond the bridge, on the left. In the 
centre of the yard stands the goddess of health. Anderson's, or the prin- 
cipal spring, issues from a limestone rock on the left of the spring-house, 
as seen in the view. The water is clear, lively and sparkling. When 
analyzed by Dr. Church, of Pittsburg, in 1825, the temperature was 58° 
of Fahreilheit, while the surrounding atmosphere was 70° — specific 
gravity 1029. It has a peculiar saline taste, resembling a Aveak solution 
of Epsom salts in water, impregnated with carbonic acid, and is inodorous. 
A quart of it evaporated, contained eighteen and a half cub. in. carbonic 
acid gas ; the residuum gave of sulph, magnesia, or Epsom salts, 20 ^r., 
sulphate of lime 3.75, muriate of soda 2.50, muriate of lime 0.75, carbon- 
ate of iron 1.25, carbonate of lime 2; loss 0.75. Limestone, iron ore, 
calcareous and silicious substances abound about the spring. Another 
spring of the same general qualities issues, a little further south, from the 
same rock. On the west side of the creek is a sulphur spring, the water 
of which has a peculiarly unpleasant hepatic taste and exhales a strong 



BEDFORD COUNTY. 117 

odor of sulphureted hydrogen. Northeast of Bedford one and a half 
miles is a chalybeate spring, not very copious, surrounded with bog iron 
ore. A part of the skeleton of a mammoth was found when digging out 
this spring. 

Houses for cold, shower* and warm baths are erected at " the springs," 
with every appropriate accommodation. To describe the beautiful ser- 
pentine walks up Constitution hill, the artificial lake, on which small 
boats can pleasantly sail, and the other attractions of this romantic spot, 
would exceed our limits. 

The first settlements in Bedford co. appear to have been made by the 
traders and adventurers of the Conococheague and Conedoguinet settle- 
ments. Contrary to the treaties with the Six Nations and the Shawanees, 
and to the express injunctions of the governor, these men intruded upon 
the Indian lands beyond the Blue mountains ; and by this intrusion were 
continually exasperating the Indians, who, to expel the whites, resorted 
to sanguinary attacks, which in their turn aroused the pugnacity of the 
Cumberland valley people. 

On the 25th of May, 1750, Gov. Hamilton informed tlie council that Mr. Peters, the secretary, 
and Mr. Weiser, tlie Indian interpreter, were then in Cumberland county, in order to take proper 
measures with the magistrates to remove the settlers over the hills, who had presumed to stay 
there notwithstanding his proclamation ; and laid before them the minutes of a conference held 
at Mr. Croghan's, in Pennsborough township, as well as with Mr. Montour, and with some Sham- 
okin and Conestogoe Indians. The Indians expressed themselves pleased to see them on that 
occasion, and as the council at Onondaga had this matter exceedingly at heart, they desired to 
accompany them ; but, said they, notwithstanding the care of the governor, we are afraid that 
this may prove like many former attempts : the people will be put off now, and come next year 
again. And if so, the Six Nations will no longer bear it, but do themselves justice. Then fol- 
lows the report of Mr. Peters, entered at large, and also printed in the votes of assembly, (vol. iv., 
p. 137 :) by which it appears that, on the 22d of May, they proceeded to a place on Big Juniata, 
about 25 miles from its mouth, where there were five cabins, or log houses — one possessed by 
William White, another by George Gaboon, the others by men of the names of Hiddleston, Gal- 
loway, and Lycon. These men, except Lycon, were convicted by the magistrates upon view, 
in pursuance of the act of Feb. 14th, 1729-30, (chap. 312,) and tlie cabins were burnt. A num- 
ber of cabins were also burnt at Sherman's creek, and Little Juniata. On the 30th of May they 
proceeded into the Tuscarora path, or Path valley, and burnt eleven cabins. At Aughwick, they 
burnt the cabin of one Carlton, and another unfinished one ; and three were burnt in the Big 
Cove. The settlers, who were numerous, were recognised to appear at the following court. 

Col. James Smith, whose interesting narrative of his captivity among 
the Indians is well known, thus describes the first opening of a road 
through Bedford county. It would appear, however, from the proceedings 
of assembly, that one Ray had already built a few cabins where Bedford 
now is, since Raystown is mentioned in the proceedings as being a point 
in the road. 

In May, 1755, the province of Pennsylvania agreed to send out 300 men, in order to cut a 
wagon road from Fort Loudon, to join Braddock's road, near tlie Turkey-foot, or three forks of 
Youghiogheny. My brother-in-law, Wilham Smith, Esq., of Conococheague, was appointed com- 
missioner, to have the oversight of these road-cutters. Though I was at that time only eighteen 
years of age, I had fallen violently in love with a young lady, wliom I apprehended was possessed 
of a large share of both beauty and virtue ; but being born between Venus and Mars, I con- 
cluded I must also leave my dear fair one, and go out with this company of road-cutters, to see 
the event of this campaign — but still expecting that some time in the course of the summer, I 
should again return to the arms of my beloved. We went on with the road, without interruption, 
until near the Allegheny mountain ; when I was sent back, in order to hurry up some provision 
wagons that were on the way after us. I proceeded down the road as far as the crossings of Ju- 
niata, where, finding the wagons were coming on as fast as possible, I returned up the road again 
lo-wards the Allegheny mountain, in company with one Arnold Vigoras. About four or five miles 
above Bedford, three Indians had made a blind of bushes, stuck in the ground as though they grew 
naturally, where they concealed themselves, about fifteen yards from the road. When we came 



118 BEDFORD COUNTY. 

opposite to them, they fired upon us, at this short distance, and killed my fellow-traveller ; yet 
their bullets did not touch me. But my horse, making a violent start, threw me ; and the In- 
dians immediately ran up and took me prisoner. The one that laid hold on me was a Conestau- 
ga ; the other two were Dclawares. One of them could speak English, and asked me if there 
were any more white men coming after. I told them. Not any near, that I knew of. Two of 
these Indians stood by me while the other scalped my comrade. They then set off, and ran at a 
smart rate through the woods, for about fifteen miles ; and that night we slept on the Allegheny 
mountain, without fire. 

Smith was carried by the Indians to Fort Duquesne, where he was 
compelled to run the gauntlet through two long lines of Indians, beating 
him with clubs, throwing sand in his face, and scarcely leaving the breath 
in his body* He was there at the time of Braddock's defeat, and wit-* 
nessed the horrid cruelties inflicted by the Indians upon the prisoners 
taken at that time. He was afterwards taken into the Indian country 
west of the Ohio, and there, with a grand ceremony of painting, hair- 
pulling, and washing in the river by the hands of copper-colored nymphs 
more kind than gentle, he was adopted as one of the Caughnewago na- 
tion. He remained with them in all their wanderings for several years, 
until, by way of Montreal, he was exchanged with other prisoners, and 
returned home in 1760. He afterwards was conspicuous in the history 
of Bedford county, as will presently be seen. 

Three years after Braddock's defeat, under the vigorous administration 
of William Pitt, in 1758, it was determined to send a formidable force to ex- 
pel the French from the valley of the Ohio. Lord Amherst appointed Gen. 
John Forbes to the command of the forces from Pennsylvania, Maryland, 
and Virginia, against Fort Duquesne. There were brisk times that sum- 
mer along the Raystown valley. Washington was appointed to the com- 
mand of a regiment of Virginia troops, with the rank of colonel. He 
strenuously urged upon Gen. Forbes, through Col. Bouquet, the impor- 
tance of taking Braddock's road, which was already opened, and would 
save the delay and dangers attendant on cutting out a new road through the 
wilderness ; he feared that if they wasted the summer in making the 
road, the only laurels they might gather would be those that covered the 
mountain. The Pennsylvanians, however, jealous of the claims of Vir- 
ginia upon the region on the Monongahela, were determined not to lose 
this opportunity of opening a communication exclusively through their 
own province. Their counsels, backed by those of Bouquet, prevailed 
with Gen. Forbes. The whole force amounted to 7,850 men, of whom 
there were 350 royal Americans, 1,200 Highlanders, 2,600 Virginians, 
2,700 Pennsylvanians, 1,000 wagoners, sutlers, &c. &c. Col. Bouquet, 
with a part of the forces, was posted at Raystown for some time, waiting 
for the main body to arrive under Gen. Forbes, who had been detained 
by illness at Carlisle. On his arrival at Raystown, about the middle of 
September, Bouquet was advanced with a force of 2,500 men, to cut out 
the road. The main body of the army was detained at Raystown, until 
near the end of October, when it marched to Loyalhanna. Gen. Forbes, 
more wise than his predecessor, Braddock, better appreciated the talents 
and experience of Washington, and did not fail to seek his counsel, to- 
gether with that of the other colonels, in regard to the movements of the 
army. Washington, on the other hand, although he had been chagrined 
at the choice of a route, still took a lively interest in the campaign ; and 
drew up an able plan, illustrated with a diagram of his own drawing. 



BEDFORD COUNTY. 119 

for the proper disposition of the troops in line of march. Washington 
was also careful to solicit an advanced position for his own corps, in cut- 
ting out the road beyond the Loyalhanna ; which was assigned him, with 
the temporary rank of brigadier. 

The movements of the army were closely watched by the Indians, and 
two skirmishes occurred on the route. Col. Bouquet was attacked in his 
camp by the French and Indians, at Loyalhanna, but repulsed them af- 
ter a warm combat. The lessons learned at Braddock's defeat were suc- 
cessfully practised. The provincial practice of fighting Indians, when 
in the woods, from behind trees, was adhered to ; and from the testimony 
of Capt. Smith, there is good reason to believe that this practice not only 
foiled the enemy in their skirmishes, but also induced the Indians to aban- 
don all hopes of success, and quit their French allies. They could con- 
tend, they said, successfully with regular troops, but could not conquer 
the Long-knives, as they termed the Virginians. Thus deserted, the 
French could do no otherwise than abandon and destroy the fort, and es- 
cape down the river ; leaving to Gen. Forbes an almost bloodless con- 
quest. 

In 1763, Col. Bouquet again passed along the Raystown road, with two 
regiments of regulars and a large convoy of stores and provisions, to re- 
lieve the beleaguered garrison at Fort Pitt. It appears that the fort at 
Raystown had already received its name of Fort Bedford — probably soon 
after Gen. Forbes' expedition. This fort, then the principal deposit of 
military stores between Fort Pitt and Carlisle, was still in a ruinous con- 
dition, and weakly garrisoned, although the two small intermediate posts 
at the crossing of the Juniata and of Stoney creek had been abandoned to 
strengthen it. Capt. Ourry commanded the garrison here at that time. 

Here the distressed families, scattered for twelve or fifteen miles round, fled for protection, 
leaving most of their effects a prey to the savages. All the necessary precautions were taken by 
the commanding officer to prevent surprise, and repel open force, as also to render ineffectual the 
enemy's fire-arrows. He armed all the fighting men, who formed two companies of volunteers, 
and did duty with the garrison till the arrival of two companies of light infantry, detached as 
soon as possible from Col. Bouquet's little army. 

These two magazines being secured, the colonel advanced to the remotest verge of our settle, 
ments, where he could receive no sort of intelligence of the number, position, or motions of the 
enemy — not even at Fort Bedford, where he arrived with his whole convoy on the 25th of July ; 
for though the Indians did not attempt to attack the fort, they had by this time killed, scalped, 
and taken eighteen persons in that neighborhood — and their skulking parties were so spread, that 
at last no express could escape them. * * * In this uncertainty of inteUigence under which 
the colonel labored, he marched from Fort Bedford the 28th of July, and as soon as he reached 
Fort Ligonie' he determined, prudently, to leave his wagons at that post, and to proceed only with 
the pack-horses. 

(See the further details of this march under Westmoreland county.) 
In the ensuing year Col. Bouquet commanded another expedition 
against the Indians on the Muskingum, by which he concluded a treaty 
of peace, and restored a great number of prisoners, who had been carried 
away by the Indians, to their homes. Col. James Smith was in that ex- 
pedition, and after his return home, he says — 

Shortly after this the Indians stole horses, and killed some people on the frontiers. The king's 
proclamation was then circulating and set up in various public places, prohibiting any person 
from trading with the Indians until further orders. 

Notwithstanding all this, about the 1st of March, 1765, a number of wagons, loaded with In- 
dian goods and warlike stores, were sent from Philadelphia to Henry Pollens, Conococheague ; 
and from thence seventy pack-horses were loaded with these goods, in order to carry them to 



120 BEDFORD COUNTY. 

Fort Pitt. This alarmed the country, and Mr. William Duffield raised about fifty armed men, 
and met the pack-horses at the place where Mercersberg now stands. Mr. Duffield desired the 
employers to store up their goods and not proceed until further orders. They made light of this, 
and went over the North mountain, where they lodged in a small valley called the Great Cove. 
Mr. Duffield and his party followed after, and came to their lodging, and again urged them to 
store up their goods. He reasoned with them on the impropriety of their proceedings, and the 
great danger the frontier inhabitants would be exposed to if the Indians should now get a supply : 
he said, as it was well known that they had scarcely any amrnunition, and were almost naked, 
to supply them now would be a kind of murder, and would be illegally trading at the expense of 
the blood and treasure of the frontiers. Notwithstanding his powerful reasoning, these traders 
made game of what he said, and would only answer him by ludicrous burlesque. 

When I beheld this, and found that Mr. Duffield would not compel them to store up their goods, 
I collected ten of my old warriors, that I had formerly disciplined in the Indian way, went off 
privately after night, and encamped in the woods. The next day, as usual, we blacked and 
painted, and waylaid them near Sidelong hill. I scattered my men about forty rods along the 
side of the road, and ordered every two to take a tree, and about eight or ten rods between each 
couple, with orders to keep a reserved fire — one not to fire until his comrade had loaded his gun : 
by this means we kept up a constant slow fire upon them, from front to rear. We then heard 
nothing of tliese traders' merriment or burlesque. When they saw their pack-horses falling close 
by them, they called out, " Pray, gentlemen, what would you have us to do ?" The reply was, 
" Collect all your loads to the front, and unload them in one place ; take your private property, 
and immediately retire." When they were gone, we burnt what they left, which consisted of 
blankets, shirts, vermilion, lead, beads, wampum, tomahawks, scalping-knives, &c. 

The traders went back to Fort Loudon, and applied to the commanding officer there, and got 
a party of Highland soldiers, and went with them in quest of the robbers, as they called us ; and 
without applying to a magistrate, or obtaining any civil authority, but barely upon suspicion, 
they took a number of creditable persons, (who were chiefly not any way concerned in this ac- 
tion,) and confined them in the guard-house in Fort Loudon. I then raised three hundred rifle, 
men, marched to Fort Loudon, and encamped on a hill in sight of the fort. We were not long 
there, until we had more than double as many of the British troops prisoners in our camp, as they 
had of our people in the guard-house. Capt. Grant, a Highland officer, who commanded Fort 
Loudon, then sent a flag of truce to our camp, where we settled a cartel, and gave them above 
two for one, which enabled us to redeem all our men from the guard-house, without further diffi- 
culty. 

After this, Capt. Grant kept a number of rifle guns, which the Highlanders had taken from the 
country people, and refused to give them up. As he was riding out one day, we took him prison- 
er, and detained him until he delivered up the arms ; we also destroyed a large quantity of gun- 
powder that the traders had stored up, lest it might be conveyed privately to the Indians. The 
king's troops, and our party, had now got entirely out of the channel of the civil law, and many 
unjustifiable things were done by both parties. This convinced me more than ever I had been 
before, of the absolute necessity of the civil law in order to govern mankind. 

This is probably the affair that gave name to Bloody run. The ac- 
count of it published at the time in London, says, " the convoy of 80 
horses loaded with goods, chiefly on his majesty's account as presents to 
the Indians, and part on account of Indian traders, were surprised in a 
narrow and dangerous defile in the mountains by a body of armed men. 
A number of horses were killed, and the whole of the goods were carried 
away by the plunderers. The rivulet was dyed with blood, and ran into 
the settlement below carrying with it the stain of crime upon its surfaced 
The extract from Capt. Smith is a graphic picture of the lawless usages 
on the frontier at that period. Col. Smith says again — 

In the year 17G9, the Indians again made incursions on the frontiers; yet the traders con- 
tinued carrying goods and warlike stores to them. The frontiers took the alarm, and a number 
of persons collected, destroyed and plundered a quantity of their powder, lead, &.C., in Bedford 
county. Shortly after this some of these persons, with others, were apprehended and laid in irons 
in the guard-house in Fort Bedford, on suspicion of being the perpetrators of this crime. 

Though I did not altogether approve of the conduct of this new club of black boys, yet I con- 
cluded that they should not lie in irons in the guard-house, or remain in confinement, by arbitrary 
or military power. I resolved, therefore, if possible, to release them, if they even should be tried 
by the civil law afterwards. I collected eighteen of my old black boys, that I had seen tried in 
the Indian war, &c. I did not desire a large party, lest they should be too much alarmed at 
Bedford, and accordingly be prepared for us. We marched along the public road in daylight, 



BEDFORD COUNTY. 121 

and made no secret of our desij^n : we told those whom we met, that we were going to take Fort 
Bedford, which appeared to them a very unlikely story. Before tliis, I made it known to one 
William Thompson, a man whom I could trust, aud who lived there : him I employed as a spy, 
and sent him along on horseback before, with orders to meet me at a certain place near Bedford, 
one hour before day. The next day, a little before sunset, we encamped near the crossings of 
Juniata, about fourteen miles from Bedford, and erected tents, as though we intended staying ajl 
night ; and not a man in my company knew to the contrary, save myself. Knowing that they 
would hear this in Bedford, and wishing it to be the case, I thought to surprise them by stealing 
a march. 

As the moon rose about 11 o'clock, I ordered my boys to march, and we went on at the rate 
of five miles an hour, until we met Thompson at the place appointed. He told us that the com- 
manding officer had frequently heard of us by travellers, and had ordered thirty men upon guard. 
He said they knew om: number, and only made game of the notion of eighteen men coming to 
rescue the prisoners ; but they did not expect us until towards the middle of the day. I asked 
him if the gate was open ? He said it was then shut, but he expected tl^ey would open it, as 
usual, at daylight, as they apprehended no danger. I then moved my men privately up under 
the banks of the Juniata, where we lay concealed about one hundred yards from the fort gate. 
I had ordered the men to keep a profound silence until we got into it. I then sent off Thompson 
again to sp}'. At daylight he returned and told us that the gate was open, and three sentinels 
were standing upon the wall — that the guards were taking a morning dram, and the arms stand- 
ing together in one place. I then concluded to rush into the fort, and told Thompson to run be- 
fore me to the arms. We ran with all our might, and as it was a misty morning, the sentinels 
scarcely saw us, until we were within the gate, and took possession of the arms. Just as we 
were entering, two of them discharged their guns, though I do not believe they aimed at us. We 
then raised a shout, which surprised the town, though some of them were well pleased with the 
news. We compelled a blacksmith to take the irons off the prisoners, and then we left the place. 
This, I believe, was the first British fort in America that was taken by what the}' call American 
rebels. 

Smith was arrested for this affair ; and in the scuffle attending the ar- 
rest, a man was accidentally shot. Smith was charged with murder, and 
tried for his life at Carlisle, but very justly acquitted. He afterwards 
became a representative in the assembly, a colonel in the revolutionary 
army, and, after the peace, a commissioner of Westmoreland county. 
He emigrated to Kentucky, where he passed the later years of his life. 
His interesting narrative, originally published by himself or his friends, is 
copied at large in the " Incidents of Border Life." While connected with 
the army he fought in the Jerseys ; and was afterwards engaged with 
Gen. Mcintosh in 1778, against his old friends the Ohio Indians. He 
much preferred the adventurous career of a frontier ranger to the stricter 
discipline of the army. 

The following incidents in the history of Bedford county were kindly 
collected from traditionary sources, and transmitted to the compiler by 
the Hon. George Burd, and John Mower, Esq., of Bedford. 

The CO. contained within its present limits, at a very early day, a number of forts, erected by 
the inhabitants for their protection.. The first, and principal, was Fort Bedford, although that 
name was only given it when it began to assume the appearance of a settlement. The others 
were Fort Littleton, Martin's fort. Piper's fort, and Wingawn's, with several other unimportant 
ones. Bedford was the only one ever occupied by British troops ; and about 1770, the earliest 
period of which we have any traditionary account, the walls of the fort were nearly demolished, 
so that it must have been erected many years before. 

The first settlement, it is conjectured, must have been made prior to the year 1750, how long 
before, cannot be stated with any thing like accuracy ; but I not long since conversed with a very 
old man, named John Lane, who told me that he was born within the present limits of the co. 
His age fixed his birth about 1751, and from the account he gave, settlements must have been 
made several years previous to that. It was also before that time that the Indians had made 
complaints of the encroachments of the whites upon their hunting grounds, and particularly in 
the neighborhood of the Juniata. 

As early as 1770, the whites had made considerable settlements at a distance from the fort at 
Bedford, as far as twelve and fifteen miles, particularly on Dunning's cr., and on the Shawanee 
run, near the Allegheny mountains, where the tribe of Indians of that name once had a town. 

The principal building at Bedford, at that day, of which there is any account, was a two-storv 

IG 



122 BEDFORD COUNTY. 

log-house, called the " King's House." It was occupied by the ofEcers of the fort until tlie 
marching of the English troops at the breaking out of the revolution. It is still standing, and 
is now, with two additions, one of stone, the other brick, occupied as a public house. At the time 
Bedford co. was erected, the only building in which the court could sit was a one-storied rough 
log-house. It was for some time also occupied as a jail. It stood until a few years since. 

The town of Bedford was laid out, by order of the governor, in June, 1766, by the surveyor- 
general, John Lukens. The settlement was originally called Raystown, but at the time of laying 
it out, it was called Bedford. This, Mr. Vickroy says, was in consequence of some snnilarity in 
Its location to a place of the same name in England. [But more probably derived from the 
name of the fort, which was supposed to be named in honor of the Duke of Bedford. — D.] 

For a considerable time after the town was laid out, the inhabitants had to go upwards of 40 
miles to mill. It was then an midertaking that occupied sometimes two weeks, those taking 
grain having to wait until others before them were accommodated. The first mill was built near 
the town by an enterprisiug man named Frederick Naugle, a merchant, doing what was, at that 
day, called a large business. 

For many years Bedford was the principal stopping-place for all persons, and particularly 
packers going from the east to Fort Pitt. All government stores, as well as groceries and goods 
of every description, were for a long time carried west on pack-horses. One man would some- 
times have under his control as many as a hundred horses. For the protection of these, guards 
had always to be supplied, who accompanied them from one fort to another. Bedford always 
furnished its guards out of that class of the militia in service at the time they were required. 
These guards travelled with the packers, guarded their encampments at night, and conducted them 
safely across the Alleghenies to Fort Ligonier, west of Laurel hill. 

At the commencement of the revolution, the co. of Bedford furnished two companies, who 
marched to Boston ; and although but a frontier co., at a distance from the principal scenes of 
excitement and points of information, contained as much of the patriotic spirit of the day as 
could be found anywhere. A meeting was held, composed of farmers and the most substantial 
citizens, who, entering fully into the spirit of the revolution, passed a number of resolutions, pro- 
hibibiting the introduction and use of every article of foreign manufacture. 

The prominent men of that day who lived at and about Bedford, were Thomas Smith, who 
held several appointments under the govermnent, and was afterwards a judge of the supreme 
court, Gen. Arthur St. Clair, who was the first prothonotary of the county, George Woods, 
county surveyor, under whose instructions the city of Pittsburg was laid out, Thomas Coulter, 
Col. Davidson, and Thomas Vickroy, who afterwards, in 1783, laid out the city of Pittsburg. He 
is still living. 

Although the inhabitants were from the time of the first settlements constantly on their guard 
against the Indians, yet the principal troubles commenced at the brealdng out of the revolutiona- 
ry war. A frontier life at that time was one constant scene of strife and danger. Bedford co. 
was at that time the Allegheny frontier, and her inhabitants were, consequently, exposed to the 
full force of savage fury, and severely did it often fall upon them. The following incidents of 
those times are well authenticated. 

In the year 1777, a family named Tull resided about six miles west of Bedford, on a hill to 
which the name of the family was given. There were ten children, nine daughters and a son ; 
but at the time referred to, the son was absent, leaving at home his aged parents and nine sisters. 
At that time the Indians were particularly troublesome, and the inhabitants had to abandon their 
improvements and take refuge at the fort ; but Tull's family disregarded the danger and remain- 
ed on their improvement. One Williams, who had made a settlement about three miles west of 
Tull's, and near where the town of Schellsburg now stands, had returned to his farm to sow 
some flax. He had a son with him, and remained out about a week. The road to his improve- 
ment passed Tull's house. On their return, as they approached Tull's, they saw a smoke ; and 
coming nearer, discovered that it arose from the burning ruins of Tull's house. Upon a nearer 
approach, the son saw an object in the garden which by a slight movement had attracted his at- 
tention, and looking more closely, they found it was the old man just expiring. At the same 
moment the son discovered on the ground near him an Indian paint bag. They at once imderstood 
the whole matter, and knowing that the Indians were still near, fled at once to the fort. Next day 
a force went out from the fort to examine, and after some search found the mother with an infant 
in her arms, both scalped. A short distance further in the same direction, they found the eldest 
daughter, also scalped. A short distance from her the next daughter in the same situation, and 
scattered about at intervals the rest of the children but one, who, from some circumstances, they 
supposed had been burned. They all appeared to have been overtaken in flight, and murdered 
and scalped where they were found. It seems the family were surprised early in the morning 
when all were in the house, and thus became an easy prey to the savages. 

About Dec. of the same year, a number of families came into the fort from the neighborhood 
of Johnstown. Amongst them were Samuel Adams, a man named Thornton, and one Bridges. 
After their alarm had somewhat subsided, they agreed to return for their property. A party 
started with pack-horses, reached the place, and T»ot seeing any Indians, collected their property 



BEDFORD COUNTV. 123 

and commenced their return. After proceeding some distance, a dog belonging to one of the 
party showed signs of uneasiness, and ran back. Bridges and Thornton desired the others to 
wait whilst they would go back for him. They went back, and had proceeded but 200 or 300 
yards, when a body of Indians, who had been lying in wait on each side of the way, but who had 
been afraid to fire on account of the numbers of the whites, suddenly rose up and surrounded 
them and took them prisoners. The others, not knowing what detained their companions, went 
back after them ; when they arrived near the spot, the Indians fired on them, but without doing 
any injury. The whites instantly turned and fled, excepting Samuel Adams, who took a tree 
and began to fight in the Indian style. In a few minutes, however, he was killed, but not with- 
out doing the same fearful service for his adversary. He and one of the Indians shot at and 
killed each other at the same moment. When the news reached the fort, a party volunteered to 
visit the ground. When they reached it, although the snow had fallen ankle deep, they readily 
found the bodies of Adams and the Indian ; the face of the latter having been covered by his 
companions with Adams's hunting shirt. 

A singular circumstance also occurred about that time in the neighborhood of the Allegheny 
mountain. A man named Wells had made a very considerable improvement, and was esteemed 
rather wealthy for that region. He, like others, had been forced with his family from his home, 
and had gone for protection to the fort. In the fall of the year, he concluded to return to his 
place and dig his crop of potatoes. For that purpose he took with him six or seven men, an 
Irish servant girl to cook, and an old plough-horse. After they had finished their job, they made 
preparations to return to the fort next day. During the night Wells dreamed that on his way to 
his family he had been attacked and gored by a bull ; and so strong an implression did the dream 
make, that he mentioned it to his companions, and told them that he was sure some danger 
awaited them. He slept again, and dreamed that he was about to shoot a deer, and when cock- 
ing his gun the main-spring broke. In his dream he thought he heard distinctly the crack of 
the spring when it broke. He again awoke, and his fears were confirmed ; and he immediately 
urged his friends to rise and get ready to start. Directly after he arose he went to his gun to 
examine if it was all right, and in cocking it the main-spring snapped off. This circumstance 
alarmed them, and they soon had breakfast and were ready to leave. To prevent delay, the girl 
v/as put on the horse and started off, and as soon as it was light enough, the rest followed. Be- 
fore they had gone far, a young dog belonging to Wells manifested much alarm, and ran back 
to the house. Wells called him ; but after coming a short distance, he invariably ran back. Not 
wishing to leave him, as he was valuable, he went after him, but had gone but a short distance 
towards tiie house, when five Indians rose from behind a large tree that had fallen, and approach- 
ed him with extended hands. The men who were with him fled instantly, and he would have 
followed, but the Indians were so close he thought it useless. As they approached him, however, 
he fancied the looks of a very powerful Indian who was nearest him boded no good ; and being 
a very swift runner, and thinking it " neck or nothing" at any rate, determined to attempt an 
escape. As the Indian approached, he threw at him his useless rifle, and dashed off" towards the 
woods in the direction his companions had gone. Instead of firing, the Indians commenced a 
pursuit for the purpose of making him a prisoner, but he outran them. After running some dis- 
tance, and when they thought he would escape, they all stopped and fired at once, and every bul- 
let struck him, but without doing him much injury or retarding his flight. Soon after this he 
saw where his companions had concealed themselves ; and as he passed, begged them td fire on 
the Indians and save him ; but they were afraid and kept quiet. He continued his flight, and 
after a short time overtook the girl with the horse. She quickly understood his danger and dis- 
mounted instantly, urging him to take her place, while she would save herself by concealment. He 
mounted, but without a whip, and for want of one could not get the old horse out of a trot. This 
delay brought the Indians upon him again directly, and as soon as they were near enough they 
fired ; and this time with more effect, as one of the balls struck him in the hip and lodged in his 
groin. But this saved his life — it frightened the horse into a gallop, and he escaped, although he 
suffered severely for several months afterwards. 

The Indians were afterwards pursued and surprised at their morning meal ; and when fired on 
four of them were killed, but the other, though wounded, made his escape. Bridges, who was 
taken prisoner near Johnstown when Adams was murdered, saw him come in to his people, and 
describes him as having been shot through the chest, with leaves stuffed in the bullet holes to 
stop the bleeding. 

The Indians were most troublesome during their predatory incursions, which were frequent 
after the commencement of the revolution. They cut off" a party of whites under command of 
Capt. Dorsey, at " the Harbor," a deep cove formed by Ray's hill, and a spur from it. 

John Lane, to whom I have before referred, was out at one time as a spy and scout, under the 
command of a Capt. Philips. He left the scout once for two days, on a visit home, and when he 
returned to the fort the scout had been out some time. Fears were entertained for their safety. 
A party went in search ; and within a mile or two of the fort, found Capt. Philips and the whole 
of his men, 15 in number, killed and scalped. When found they were all tied to saplings ; and, to 



124 BEDFORD COUNTY. 

use the language of the narrator, who was an eye-witness, " their bodies were completely riddled 
with arrows." 

The oldest native of the county living [in 1843] is Wm. Fraser. His father left Fort Cum- 
berland about 1758, and came to the fort at Bedford. He built the first house outside the fort, 
and Wm. was the first white child born outside the fort. He was born in 1759, and is now about 84 
years of age. He was in my office a few days since. He had come about 14 miles that morn- 
ing, and intended returning home the same day ; this he frequently does. 

Several distinguished men of the olden time have been mentioned by- 
Mr. Burd above. Hon. Mr. Walker, lately a U. S. Senator from Missis- 
sippi, was a native of Bedford county. The following is abridged from 
a Connecticut newspaper, under the head of " Letters from Luzerne." 

Yankee talent and virtue are appreciated and rewarded in Pennsylvania. John Todd, some 
years since deceased, was a native of Suffield, Connecticut. Having finished his law studies, he 
took his pack, literally, on his back, and came out to Bedford co., seeking his fortune. A close 
student, he was pale ; but a bright eye animated his countenance. Of middle size, he seenned 
formed rather for activity than strength. When he first entered the Pennsylvania senate, then 
at Lancaster, at about 27 or 28 years of age. Senator Palmer remarked, " My life on't that fellow 
is a fool, or possesses uncommon talents ; I suspect the latter — mark my word — you will hear 
from him." We did. Awkward beyond conception, he would grasp a pen in his hand, bite and 
twist and chew it, as he rose to speak — his head a little on one side — but presently the house 
would be startled by some bold proposition. He would shake the bitten quill, and pour forth a 
torrent — not of words — but of correct principles and sound argument, with a spirit and power 
most effective. In two or three sessions behold him speaker of the house, presiding with great 
and just popularity. On the floor of Congress next, chairman of the committee on manufac- 
tures, he sustains a judicious protective tariff. Attacked by Gov. Hamilton of S. Carolina, that 
hotspur of the south, he prepared to reply. " You'll get it, Hamilton — Todd won't spare yon." 
Willing to escape, Mr. H. said, in the lobby, next morning, " he meant nothing personal, no of- 
fence," &c. " I took it as a political attack, not a personal affront, although extremely personal 
in its bearing ; but say on the floor what you say here, and I will omit my reply." " Can't do 
that." " Then you shall have it." And Todd gave him one of the cleverest retorts known in 
congressional story. An associate on the bench of the supreme court of Pennsylvania, Mr. 
Todd next holds a seat, and no one commanded more confidence and respect. But disease 
brought him to a too early grave — 27th March, 18.30, aged 51 years — in the midst of honor and 
usefulness. He was in his day the Brougham of Pennsylvania. Long will she cherish, with 
pride and affection, the memory of tlie pale Yankee. 

It would appeal" from Rev. Mr. Doddridge's statement that Bedford, as 
compared with the more remote settlements, had during the revolution 
become in a degree civilized. His description of the primeval furniture 
of a cabin related to the new settlements in the Monongahela country, 
but, as the almanac-makers say, will answer nearly as well for other 
places in the same latitude : 

The furniture for the table, for several years after the settlement of this country, consisted of 
a few pewter dishes, plates, and spoons ; but mostly of wooden bowls, trenciiers, and noggins. 
If these last were scarce, gourds and hard-shelled squashes made up the deficiency. The iron 
pots, knives, and forks, were brought from the east side of the mountains, along with the salt 
and iron, on pack-horses. 

These articles of furniture corresponded very well with the articles of diet on which they were 
employed. " Hog and hominy" were proverbial for the dish of which they were the component 
parts. Jonny cake and pone were, at the outset of the settlements of the country, the only forms 
of bread in use for breakfast and dinner. At supper, milk and mush were the standard dish. 

In our whole display of furniture, the delft, china, and silver were unknown. It did not then, 
as now, require contributions from the four quarters of the globe to furnish the breakfast table — 
viz., the silver from Mexico, the coffee from the West Indies, the tea from China, and the delft 
and porcelain from Europe or Asia ; — yet our homely fare, and unsightly cabins, and furniture, 
produced a hardy veteran race, who planted the first footsteps of society and civilization in the 
immense regions of the west. 

I well recollect the first time I ever saw a tea-cup and saucer, and tasted coffee. My mother 
died when I was about six or seven years of age. My father then sent me to Maryland with a 
brother of my grandfather, Mr. Alexander Wells, to school. 

At Col. Brown's in the mountains, at Stoney creek glades, I for the first time saw tame geese ; 
and by bantering a pet gander, I got a severe biting by liis bill and beating by his wings. 1 



BEDFORD COUNTY. 125 

wondered very much that birds so large and strong should be so much tamer than the wild tur 
keys ; at this place, however, all was right, excepting the large birds which they called geese 
The cabin and its furniture were such as I had been accustomed to see in the backwoods, as my 
country was then called. 

At Bedford every thing was changed. The tavern at which my uncle put up was a stone 
house, and to make the change still more complete, it was plastered on the inside, both as to the 
walls and ceiling. On going into the dining room, I was struck with astonishment at the ap- 
pearance of the house. I had no idea that there was any house in the world which was not built 
of logs ; but here I looked round the house and could see no logs, and above I could see no 
joists. Whether such a thing had been made by the hands of man, or had grown so of itself, I 
could not conjecture. I had not the courage to inquire any thing about it. When supper came 
on, " my confusion was worse confounded. A little cup stood in a bigger one with some brown- 
ish looking stuff in it, which was neither milk, hominy, nor broth : what to do with these little 
cups, and the little spoon belonging to them, I could not tell ; and I was afraid to ask any thing 
concerning the use of them. 

L; was in the time of the war, and the company were giving accounts of catching, whipping, 
and hanging the tories. The word jail frequently occurred : this word I had never heard before, 
but I soon discovered, and was mTich terrified at its meaning, and supposed that wo were in 
much danger of the fate of the tories ; for I thought, as we had come from the backwoods, it was 
altogether likely that we must be tories too. For fear of being discovered, I durst not utter a 
single word. I therefore watched attentively to see what the big folks would do with their little 
cups and spoons. I imitated them, and found the taste of the coffee nauseous beyond any thing 
I ever had tasted in my life. I continued to drink, as the rest of the company did, with the tears 
streaming from my eyes ; but when it was to end I was at a loss to know, as the little cups were 
filled immediately after being emptied. This circumstance distressed me very much, as I durst 
not say I had enough. Looking attentively at the grown persons, I saw one man turn his little 
cup bottom upwards and put his little spoon across it. I observed that after this his cup was 
not filled again. I followed his example, and to my great satisfaction, the result as to my cup 
was the same. 

The introduction of delft ware, was considered by many of the backwoods people as a culpable 
innovation. It was too easily broken, and the plates of that ware dulled their scalping and clasp 
knives. Tea ware was too small for men ; — it might do for women and children. Tea and cof- 
fee were only slops which, in the adage of the day, " did not stick by the ribs." The idea was, 
they were designed only for people of quality, who do not labor, or the sick. A genuine back- 
woodsman would have thought himself disgraced by showing a fondness for those slops. Indeed, 
many of them have to this day very little respect for them. 

There are three incorporated boroughs in Bedford co. besides the coun- 
ty seat, — Martinsburg, McConnellstown, and Schellsburg, — each taking 
its name from the person who laid it out and sold the lots. Besides these, 
there are Warfordsburg, Rainsburg, St. Clair, and Bloody Run. The 
latter takes its name from a run which flows through it. Some tradi- 
tions state that the Indians had here murdered a party of whites, with 
their cattle, and the mingling of the blood with the water had suggested 
the name ; but see a different version in Capt. Smith's adventure, above. 

McConnellstown is pleasantly situated in a luxuriant limestone valley, 
between Cove mountain and Scrub ridge, on the turnpike, 28 miles east 
of Bedford, and 19 west of Chambersburg. A turnpike also runs from 
here to Mercersburg. There are at this place two Presbyterian churches. 
Population in 1840, 486. It was incorporated 26th March, 1814. 

Martinsburg is a large flourishing borough, about 23 miles north of 
Bedford, It is situated in a broad and fertile limestone valley, called 
Morrison's Cove, bounded by Dunning's and Lock mountains on the west, 
and Tussey's mountain on the east. The valley abounds in iron ore of 
excellent quality, and the manufacture of iron is extensively carried on. 
Population in 1840, 422. A considerable number of Quakers settled in 
this region about the year 1793. 

Morrison's Cove was settled at a very early date by a Mr. Morris from Washington county, 
Maryland. From him the valley took its proper name of Morris's Cove. Afterwards several 
settlers came in from the Conococheague settlements, among whom was John Martin, from whom 



126 BERKS COUNTY. 

Martlnsburg took Its name — although the place was laid out by Jacob Entriken, who bought it 
from John Brumbach. Jacob Nave built the first grist-mill in Morris's Cove. At that time the 
fort was at HoUiday's, where most of the neighboring pioneers were in the habit of forting. 
While all were gone to the fort but himself, he had been delayed for some cause about his mill, 
and on leaving it he espied a large Indian and a small one just emerging from the bushes, each 
with a rifle : they pointed their rifles at him several times, and he at them ; but neither fired. 
At length he shot the big Indian through the heart, and ran. The young Indian gave chase, but 
Nave found time to load, and fired at him ; but the fellow fell to the ground, and missed the ball. 
This farce was repeated several times, when Nave waited until he had fallen before he fired, and 
then killed him. He threw their bodies into the creek, and escaped to the fort. The next day 
the Indians burnt his mill and his dwelling. 



BERKS COUNTY. ' 

Berks county was formed from Philadelphia, Chester, and Lancaster, 
on the 11th March, 1752. A portion was set off to Northumberland in 
1772, and in 1811 another portion to Schuylkill co. Average length 32 
m., breadth 28 ; area about 927 sq. m. The population in 1790 was 
30,179 ; in 1800, 32,497; in 1810,43,046 ; in 1820, (then without Schuyl- 
kill CO.,) 46,275 ; in 1830, 53,152; and in 1840, 64,569. 

The South mountain range, here broken into irregular spurs, crosses 
the county in a southwesterly direction ; passing the Schuylkill near 
Reading, where one of its lofty spurs takes the name of Penn's mountain, 
which overlooks the borough. This range divides the primitive and 
" middle secondary" formations, in the southeast part of the county, from 
the broad limestone and slate belts of the Kittatinny valley, which occu- 
pies the greater portion of the county between the South mountain and the 
Kittatinny, or Blue mountain. The surface of this valley is undulating, 
the hills of the slate lands which lie next the Blue mountain being gene- 
rally higher than those of the limestone. Both formations present an 
agricultural region of exceeding beauty and fertility ; the slates being 
better watered by streams on the surface than the limestone, where the 
waters are absorbed beneath the surface. There are rich deposits of iron 
ore both in the limestone and sandstone formations, generally most abun- 
dant along the northwestern base of the South mountain. In 1832, there 
were in the county 1 1 furnaces and 22 forges. Many of the beautiful 
stoves of Dr. Nott's invention were cast in Reading ; and it is said that 
one of these stoves was presented, some ten years since, to the convent 
of San Bernard, on the summit of the Alps — whether from this furnace 
or from Albany, N. Y., is not certainly stated. 

The leading stream is the Schuylkill, which passes nearly through the 
centre of the county — watering in its course one of the loveliest and most 
picturesque valleys in the state — with its tributaries. Maiden creek on 
the northeast, Manataway and Monocasy creeks on the southeast, and 
the Tulpehocken and its branches on the west. The Little Swatara rises 
in the northwest corner of the county. 

The Union canal follows the course of the Tulpehocken, joining the 
Schuylkill Navigation Co. canal just below Reading. The works of the 
Schuylkill Navigation Co., consisting of alternate canals and slackwater 
pools, occupy the valley of the Schuylkill, extending into the coal region. 



BERKS COUNTY. 127 

The Pottsville and Philadelphia railroad passes along the Schuylkill val- 
ley, directly through the borough of Reading. Good roads intersect the 
county in all directions, among which are the turnpikes from Reading to 
Harrisburg, to Philadelphia, and to Pottsville. The main business of the 
county is agriculture : a business sure and profitable, and especially 
adapted to the habits and feelings of the German population, which al- 
most exclusively occupies the soil. The iron business is also a prominent 
one in the county. The German language prevails over the whole county ; 
in many districts and families, to the entire exclusion of the English. A 
change, however, is just commencing, and has shown itself most con- 
spicuously in the recent determination of the younger members of the 
Lutheran congregation in Reading to hear preaching in the English lan- 
guage. 

The county has a large almshouse on the Angelica farm of 480 acres, 
three miles southwest of Reading. The whole cost of the establishment 
was $33,000. This farm was formerly in the possession of Gov. Mifflin. 

At an early day after the establishment of his colony, William Penn 
was careful to proclaim to the persecuted religious sects throughout 
Europe, that in Pennsylvania they might find an asylum from persecution ; 
and not only obtain ample sustenance from a fresh and fertile soil, but 
likewise enjoy unlimited freedom of worship according to the dictates of 
their own consciences. Many such sects of Protestants had wandered, 
in little communities, from one German principality to another, seeking 
protection from the persecutions of the Romish church, until at last the 
news of William Penn's new colony reached them, about the years 1700 
to 1711 ; when many, "partly for conscience' sake, partly for their tem- 
poral interest, removed thither, where they say they found their expecta- 
tion fully answered, enjoying liberty of conscience, with the benefits of a 
plentiful country. With this they acquainted their friends in Germany, 
in consequence of which many of them, in the years 1717, &c., removed- 
to Pennsylvania." These first emigrants were generally the Mennonists 
and Dunkards, who settled in Lancaster co. between 1718 and 1734 ; and 
the Moravians, who settled in Northampton co. in 1739 and 1740. An- 
other sect, the Schwenckfelders, from Nether Silesia, settled in the cor- 
ners of Montgomery, Bucks, and Berks, about the years 1733-34, and sub- 
sequently. Thomas Penn purchased the lands on the Tulpehocken from 
the Indians, in 1732-33. The door of immigration thus being opened, the 
new colony became extensively known throughout all Germany. Those 
already here sent for their kindred, and they in turn enticed others ; until 
thousands arrived annually, of all ranks, sects, and persuasions, from the 
haughty baron to the poor redemptioner who was sold into temporary 
slavery to pay for his passage. They scattered themselves, according to 
their various preferences, throughout the counties from Northampton to 
York inclusive ; Berks no doubt receiving her share. The settlers in 
Berks were principally of the Lutheran, or of the German Reformed de- 
nomination; although as late as the year 1745 there was no Lutheran 
church nearer than the Swamp, (Hanover,) in Montgomery co. After 
Reading had been laid out and the county organized, in 1752, population 
increased more rapidly. Great alarm was spread among the settlers in 
1755, by rumors that the French and Delaware and Shawanees Indians 
had made murderous incursions upon the towns in Cumberland valley, 



128 BERKS COUNTY. 

and at Shamokin ; and fears were entertained that the whole frontier 
would be laid waste. The following are abstracts from the colonial re- 
cords of that date : — 

1755. Oct. 31. Conrad Weiser appointed colonel of the forces in Berks co. 

NoF. 2. Accounts from C. Weiser and others, Reading, Oct. 31, 8 o'clock at night, that the 
people at Aughwick and Juniata were all cut off, and that they were all in uproar at Reading. 
No authority, no commissions, no officers practised in war, and without the commiseration of 
our friends in Philadelphia, who think themselves vastly safer than they are. 

There was a warm dispute going forward, at this dangerous crisis, between the governor and 
the assembly, on the propriety of taxing the proprietary lands ; each refusing to yield, and each 
charging the other with promoting, by obstinate delays, the troubles on the frontier. Nov. 8, a 
deputation of Indians, Scarooyady and his son, Andrew Montour and lagrea, came down, and 
taking with them Conrad Weiser, proceeded to Philadelphia, to make explanations and offer 
their services, and those of their tribes on the Susquehanna — " they were willing to fight the 
French, but wished to know whether the English would fight or no ; if they would not, they 
would go somewhere else." 

Nov. 17. Account of 16th Nov. that the Indians had passed the Blue mountains, broke into 
the county of Berks, and murdered and scalped 13 persons at Tulpehocken — which occasioned great 
alarm at Reading. "The people exclaim against the Quakers, and some are scarce restrained 
from burning the houses of those few there are in this town." 

Dec. 16. Accounts from Bethlehem and Nazareth, that about 200 Indians had broke into 
Northampton county, beyond the Blue moimtains, murdering and burning. 

From Conrad Weiser, Reading, Dec. 13. " This country is in a dismal condition. It can't 
hold out long — consternation, poverty, confusion, everywhere." 

Dec. 25. Accounts from C. Weiser, who had been sent to Harris's ferry, that he had gone 
up the west branch of the Susquehanna, and the Delawares at Nescopec had given that place to 
the French for a rendezvous. That the Paxton people had taken an Indian and shot and scalped 
him in the midst of them, and threw his body into the river. 

Alarms of this nature continued to arouse the people of Berks from 
time to time, until the great battle of Wyoming, in 1778 ; soon after which 
the Indians were finally driven beyond the Allegheny mounta^ins. The 
desolating track of the revolutionary war did not reach Berks county ; 
although many of her brave sons were engaged in the struggle. Since 
that event, the history of the county possesses little interest. Farms have 
been cleared and improved ; large stone houses and larger stone barns 
have been built ; sons and daughters have been reared, and in their turn 
have reared others ; the annual crops have been gathered ; roads and 
turnpikes, and canals and railroads, and bridges have been constructed ; 
banks have been established and have failed, and manufactories have 
been put in operation ; churches and schoolhouses have been erected, (but 
not enough of either ;) and the county has immensely increased in wealth 
and population. 

Reading, the seat of justice, is situated on the left bank of the Schuyl- 
kill, about 53 miles from Philadelphia. The ground slopes gently up 
from the Schuylkill to the base of Penn's mount, a lofty ridge that rises 
directly east of the town. Other hills, with quiet and fertile valleys be- 
tween, aid in rendering the scenery highly enticing and picturesque. 
Pure and copious springs gush out from the hills, one of which, from Penn's 
mount, supplies the whole borough with water. That this water is pure, 
as well as the atmosphere and climate of the vicinity, there is no better 
proof than the chubby red cheeks of the little boys in the streets, and the 
great number of hale, hearty old men to be seen in their daily rounds. 

The general aspect of the place corresponds with the beauty of its 
site. The stranger entering the town from the west, is struck with the 
three unusually tall spires on the public buildings, with the dark, frown- 
ing mountain behind them, with the elegant bridge across the river, open- 



BERKS COUNTY. 



129 



ing upon Penn-street, a noble avenue, and with the spacious diamond, or 
central area of the borough, surrounded with tall houses and stores, and 
alive with the bustle of a city. The general aspect of the centre of the 
borough reminds one somewhat of the grandeur of a European city, 
combined with the peculiar freshness and cleanliness of an American 
town. 




RfadiHg. 

The annexed view was taken from the west side of the Schujdkill. 
Penn's mount is seen beyond the town. 

Reading is said to be the largest borough in the United States. 
The extent of the compact part of the town is about a mile east and 
west, and half a mile north and south. The town is rapidly extending 
towards the south and southwest, w"here the principal business with the 
canal is done, and where several extensive manufacturing establishments 
have been erected. Reading contains a new and magnificent court- 
house, a jail, 12 churches, 33 hotels and taverns, a great number of stores 
and manufactories, 7 printing-offices, 5 or 6 extensive manufactories of 
iron in various forms, such as foundries of brass and iron ; locomotive 
engine and machine shops, &c. &c.; a water- works, an academy, a fe- 
male seminary, 9 private schools, and 13 public schools, but only 4 public 
school houses ; a mineralogical cabinet, a masonic lodge, 3 public libra- 
ries, 1 German and 2 English, and quite a number of societies organized 
for useful instruction or charitable purposes. Reading was incorporated 
as a borough by the act of 12th Sept. 1783, and reorganized on the 29th 
March, 1813. 

The following sketch of the early history of Reading was published in 
the Ladies' Garland, in Feb. 1839. 

As early as 1733, warrants were taken out by John and Samuel Finney, and 450 acres of land 
surveyed under their sanction, which are now entirely embraced within the limits of Reading. 
Whether the inducements to this selection were other than its general beauty and fertility, it is 
now difficult to say, though it is asserted that when the proprietaries, John and Richard Penn, 
became aware of its advantages, and proposed to repurchase for the location of a town, the 
Messrs. Finney long and firmly resisted all the efforts of negotiation. This produced a momen- 
tary change in the design of the proprietaries, as they employed Richard Hockley to survey and 
lay out the plan of a town on the margin of the Schuylkill, opposite its confluence with the Tul. 

17 



130 BERKS COUNTY. 

pehocken. This survey is still to be found on record, though divested of any date or name bj 
which the precise period in which it was made can be ascertained. It is now only known as an 
appended portion to Reading, under the designation of the " Hockley Out-lots." The importance, 
as well as reality of the design now appears to have subdued the objections of the^Finneys to the 
sale of their claim, as they immediately relaxed in their demands, and finally yielded them to the 
proprietaries, who at once caused the " Hockley plot" to be abandoned, and in the fall of the 
year 1748, that of Reading to be laid out. The difficulty in obtaining water, even at great 
depths through the limestone, was the specious reason generally assigned for the sudden vacation 
of the former site, as the new one was remarkable for the numerous and copious springs existing 
within its limits. Thus Thomas and Richard Penn, proprietaries and governors-in-chief of the 
province of Pennsylvania, became private owners of the ground plot of Reading, the lots of 
which they carefully subjected in their titles to an annual quit or ground rent. Singular as it 
may seem, this claim became almost forgotten, through neglect and the circumstances that re- 
suited from the change in the old order of things produced by the revolution ; indeed, when re- 
curred to at all, it was generally believed to have become forfeit to the state, by the nature of 
that event. But a few years ago it was revived by the heirs, and its collection attempted under 
the authority of the law ; but so excited were the populace, and adverse to the payment of its 
accumulated amount, that it was generally, and in some cases violently, resisted, till the delibera- 
tions of a town meeting had suggested measures leading to a more direct, amicable, and perma- 
nent compromise. 

Like most of the primitive towns of the state, Reading is indebted for its name, as is also the 
county in which it is situated, to the native soil of the Penns. The streets intersect each other 
at right angles. Their original names were retained to a very recent date, (Aug. 6, 1833,) and 
were characteristic of the loyalty of the proprietary feeling, as well as family attachment and 
regard. King, Queen, Prince, Duke, Earl, and Lord streets, sufficiently evidence the strength 
of the former, whilst the main, or central streets, Penn and Callowhill, are as distinctly indica- 
live of filial regard. Hannah Callowhill, their mother, was the second wife of William Penn, 
and had issue, besides Thomas and Richard, of John, Margaret, and Dennis, whence also had 
originated the names of Thomas, Margaret, and Richard streets. Hamilton-street from Jamea 
Hamilton, Esq., who was deputy-governor of the province at that period. The names now sub- 
stituted " as more compatible with the republican simplicity of our present form of government," 
are similar to those of Philadelphia, as the streets running north and south commence at Water- 
street, on the Schuylkill, and extend to Twelfth-street, while those running east and west are 
called Penn, Franklin, Washington, Chestnut, and Walnut streets. In 1751, Reading contained 
130 dwelling-houses, besides stables and other buildings — 106 families, and 378 inhabitants, 
though about two years before it had not above one house in it. The original population was 
principally Germans, who emigrated from Wirtemburg and the Palatinate, though the adminis. 
tration of public affairs was chiefly in the hands of the Friends. The former, hy their prepon. 
derance of numbers, gave the decided character in habits and language to the place, as the Ger- 
man was almost exclusively used in the ordinary transactions of life and business, and is yet re- 
tained to a very great extent. 

From a small pamphlet, published in 1841, by Major William Stable, 
an aged and highly respectable citizen of the place, the following facts 
and statistics are derived. 

Old Berks was erected into a county, and Reading established as the county seat, in the year 
1752. The first deed was recorded in the office, Nov. 17, and the first will, Nov. 29th of that 
year ; and to complete the honors of the new county, a lawsuit was instituted about the same 
time. Here follow some records of the doings of his majesty George the Third's justices of 
the peace. 

Berks county. To one of ye Constables of Reading. 

Henry Chrigt^Subpoena Philip Adam Klauser and Joseph Sollenberger of ye township of 
Bern, so that they be and appear before me and Wm. Reeser, on ye first day 
Seal. of September next at one of the o'clock in ye afternoon, then and there t« give 

evidence in a certain dispute now depending before us and undetermined, be- 
tween ye Lutheran and Reformed Congregations about Sanct. Michael's Church. — Hereof you 
are not to fail at your peril. Given under my hand and seal at Reading ye 27th day of August 

Henry Christ, 
Berks, ss. 

Apprehend George Geisler, and bring him immediately before me, or the next Jus- 
L. S. tice to ansr unto such mattrs and things, as on his Majesty's behalf shall be ob- 
jected against him by Catharine Reese ; hereof fail not. — Given undr my hand 
and seal. Deer ye 26th 1770. 

To Samuel Jackson, Constable. James Diemer. 



BERKS COUNTY. 131 

That is the true magisterial style, and I have no doubt that between the justice and Catharine 
Reese, poor George Giesler had a liard time of it. 

The following are illustrative of the times. " Ann appraisement of the goods late the property 
of Wm. Kees, taken in execution — by Samuel Jackson, constable. One gunn, 15s, one pair of 
leather breeches, 15s." But see how they strip Samuel Dehart of the comforts of life. " A list 
of the goods taken in execution from Samuel Dehart by the constable, and appraised by us the 
subscribers as follows. Amity August 24th 1770, to wit — one coat 30s, one jacket and trowsers, 
12s, one rugg 5s, one pillow 2s — total, £2 9s." I am not quite sure that Mr. Dehart would con- 
gratulate himself that his bodi/ was left. 

A body of Hessian prisoners, captured at Trenton in 1776, together with many British, and 
the principal Scotch royalists subdued and taken in North Carolina, were brought to Reading 
and stationed in a grove on the bank of the river Schuylkill, in the south part of the borough. 
In the fall- of the same year they were removed to the hill, east of the town, which is called the 
" Hessian Camp" to this day. There th«y remained some time, and built themselves huts in 
regular camp order, the greater part of which may be seen at the present day. 

The oldest houses standing in the borough are, the house of Widow Graeff, No. 134 East 
Penn-street, formerly kept as a tavern ; the house of Daniel GraefF, No. 133 East Penn-street ; 
No. 158 in 8th-street, between Penn and Washington, and the Spring Garden house. The corner 
house occupied by Keim and Stichtcr, was built in the year 1755, by Conrad Weiser, the Indian 
interpreter and agent for government, and was for many years occupied as a wigwam, where 
many tribes met for treaty, &c. The first coal-stove was introduced into use in Reading in 
1812, by William Stable. And the first stone coal was brought into town about the same time 
by Marks John Biddle, Esq. 

In 1751 the population was 378; in 1769, twenty years after the first settlement, the number 
may be estimated, from the 241 taxables, to have been about 1,000 or 1,200. In 1810, by census, 
3,462 ; in 1820, 4,278 ; in 1830, 5,631 ; and ill 1840, 8,392. Nine revolutionary soldiers sur- 
vived in 1840, whose ages ranged from 78 to 85 ; they were Michael Spatz, Sebastian Allgaier, 
Peter Stichter, Aaron Wright, Henry Styles, Christian Miller, Wm. Jarnes, Joseph Snablee, John 
P. Nagle. The number of taxables in the borough is now 1,795, of which are married men, 
1,378, single, 417 ; in 1769 they stood, married, 223, single, 18. The nmnber of females, at the 
present time, exceeds that of the males b}' about 350. This great inequality has principally 
grown up within the last ten years, as in 1830 the difference was only about 50. It would be 
interesting to linow the nmnber of unmarried males and females within some of the periods noted 
in the table of the census — say from 15 years upwards. The number of the latter must be very 
large ; and many of them would be left unprovided with husbands even should the young men 
all make haste to get married betimes. This, however, seems by no means to be the fact with 
them, judging from the great number of single men taxed as above, who are of course all more thart 
twenty-one years old. In 1769, there were only 18 taxable single men in the borough. Matri- 
mony flourished then. But the times are sadly changed now ! The fault is not altogether with 
the young men, nor are the ladies to be rashly charged with unkindness. The truth is, that the 
expense of living, especially in the style of fashion, has become so extravagantly great, that a 
large portion of the more genteely bred young men, are, from the insufficiency of their income, 
under the severe necessity of indefinitely postponing matrimony. A mutual consciousness of 
this necessity, occasions mutual forbearance between the sexes. Thus are luxury and false no- 
tions of gentility extinguishing the fires upon the altar which burned brightly in Reading iri 1769. 

The first house of worship in Reading was a loghouse, built by the Friends, on their burying- 
gromid, in 1751. In 1766, it was pulled down, and in its place the present one-story loghouse 
was built in Washington-street. Their old log schoolhouse, near it, was built in 1787. The 
German Reformed church was organized soon after the settlement of Reading, but the exact 
date, as well as that of the erection of their first edifice, has not been ascertained. The present 
building was erected in 1832, and the previous one in 1762. The steeple is 151 feet high. The 
German Lutheran church was organized shortly after the German Reformed. The congregation 
long occupied a log building where their church now stands. The present church, the largest ii: 
Reading, was erected in 1791. The splendid steeple, 201 feet high, was erected in 1833. In 
this church, and in the German Reformed, divine service is performed in the German language. 
The ancient stone schoolhouse near the church, was erected in 1765. One of the bells was cast 
by Henry Keppele, of Philadelphia, in 1755. On one of the grave-stones in the yard, with a Ger- 
man inscription, is the date of 1703. The old 30 hour clock in the town, the first in the place, 
was imported from London about the year 1755. The Presbyterian church was erected in 1824. 
The Catholic chapel in 1791. The Episcopal church in 1826. The Methodist in 1839. The 
Baptists formerly occupied a site near the river, but the location was disliked, and in 1837 a new 
brick church was erected by Rev. Enoch M. Barker, the pastor at that time, which he after- 
wards conveyed to the society. The Universalist church was erected in 1830. Besides the 
above, there are three African churches. The iiiagnificent new coilrthouse was completed in 
1840, after the designs of Thomas U. Walter, architect, of Philadelphia. The front is an Ionic 
portico, with six columns of red sandstone. The edifice is surmounted by a very high cupola, 



132 BERKS COUNTY. 

presenting a conspicuous and beautiful object to one approaching the borough. The old court- 
house, which formerly stood in the centre of the public square, at the intersection of the two 
principal streets, obstructing tlie beautiful and extended view tiirough those streets now enjoyed. 
It was built in 1762, and is said to have been " remarkable for nothing but its ugliness." The 
Office of Discount and Deposit was established in 18U8 ; the Farmers' Bank was incorporated in 
1814; the Berks Co. Bank in 1826. 

The postoffice was established at Reading in 1 793 ; Gotlcib Yungmann first postmaster. Pre- 
vious to this, letters were conveyed from Reading to Pliiladclphia and other important places by 
private iiidividuals, upon their own account. In 1789, a two-horse coach was started by Mr. 
Martin Hausman, to run weekly for the conveyance of passengers and letters between Reading 
and Philadelphia. It made its passage through in two days. Fare $2 — letter carriage 3d. In 
1790, the establishment was transferred to Alexander Eiscnbeis. Mr. Eiscnbeis sold out in 1791 
to William Coleman, who soon alter started a coach also to Harrisburg, which performed its 
trips in the same time, and at the same rates of fare and postage, as tiiat to Philadelphia. At 
the close of the year 1800, tiie mail was carried from here to Sunbury once a week, on horseback; 
io Lancaster and Easton once a week, in a private two-horse carriage. But it is time to speak 
6f the present. 

Seventy-seven houses were erected in 1840 ; one of which, built by Mr. Daniel H. Boas, goes 
by the name of the Forge-hammer, from its resemblance in shape to that favorite implement of 
Vulcan. When applied to by the builders for a iilan, Mr. Boas sent them a forge-hammer for their 
model. The result was a rather odd-looking, but very convenient house. It is a two-story frame 
building, situated at the canal landing. 

No manufacturing was done in Reading previous to the year 1836, except in the articles of 
boots and shoes, hats and stoneware. Since that period, the iron and nail works of Messrs. 
Keim, Whitaker & Co., the iron and brass foundry of Messrs. Darling, Taylor & Co., the loco- 
motive engine manufactory and machine-shop of D. H. Dotterer «Si, Co., the stationary steam- 
engine and rifle-barrel manufactory of William G. Taylor, the foundrj' of Adam Johnston, the 
auger manufactory of Messrs. Rankin & Phillips, the steam saw-mill and chopping-mill of 
Messrs. Ferry & Frill, and three shops for manufacturing horse-power thrashing machines, corn- 
shellers, patent ploughs, revolving hay-rakes, cultivators, &.C., have been established. There are 
also two extensive flour-mills in the borough. 

The Schuylkill canal commences at Port Carbon, in the coal region, passes through Reading, 
and terminates in Philadelphia. It is 108 miles long, with 117 lilt-locks, overcoming a fall of 
610 feet. The Union canal commences at Middletown, on the Susquehanna, enters the Schuyl- 
kill at Reading; near the foot of Penn-strect, and continues in and along the river for about two 
miles below Reading, where it forms a junction witli the Schuylkill canal. These canals are 
of the highest importance to Reading ; the one affording a cheap and safe mode of transporta- 
tion to Philadelphia and Pottsville, and the other cesinecting with the Pennsylvania canal at 
Middletown, opens a direct line of transportation to Pittsburg and the far west. The Philadel- 
phia, Reading and Pottsville railroad, which passes through the borough, was opened through to 
Pottsville early in 1842, and the event was celebrated with military display and an immense pro- 
cession of 75 passenger cars, 1,25.5 feet in length, containing 2,150 persons, 3 bands of music, 
banners, &lc., all drawn by a single engine I In the rear was a train of 52 burden cars, loaded 
with 180 tons of coal, part of which was mined the same morning 412 feet below the water 
level. The whole was under the charge of Mr. Robinson, chief engineer, and Mr. G. A. Nichols, 
superintendent. This road is one of tlie best in the United States. From Pottsville to Phila- 
delphia there is no ascending grade, but a regular descent of 19 inches to the mile. The cut 
through the town of Reading, 22 1-2 feet deep, walled up on each side, is a fine specimen of art. 
It was made in 1839, by Messrs. Graul & Henry. 

During the revolution, Reading was a favorite place of resort for Phil- 
adelphians, who wished to retire a little from the stormy political atmo- 
sphere of the city. Alexander Graydon, who was then on parole, having 
been captured by the British, near New York, has recorded in his graphic 
" Memoirs of a Life chiefly passed in Pennsylvt nia, within the last Sixty 
Years," many interesting reminiscences of his residence here. 

Many other Philadelpliians had recourse to this town, as a place of safety from a sudden m- 
cursion of the enemy ; and, among a score or more of fugitive families, were those of Gen. Mif- 
flin and my uncle, as I have called Mr. Biddle, though only standing in that relation by marriage. 
It was also the station assigned to a number of prisoners, both British and German, as well as 
of the principal Scotch royalists who had been subdued and taken in North Carolina. I soon 
discovered that a material change had taken place during my absence from Pennsylvania ; and 
that the pulses of many, that at the time of my leaving it had beaten high in the cause of whig- 
ism and liberty, werfe considerably lowered. Power, to use a language which had already ceaspd 



BERKS COUNTY. 133 

to be orthodox, and could therefore only be whispered, had fallen into low hands. The better 
sort were disgusted and weary of the war. 

Mr. Edward Biddlc, then in a declining state of health, and no longer in congress, apparently 
entertained sentiments not accordant with the measures pursuing ; and in the fervid style of elo. 
cution for which he was distinguished, he often exclaimed, that he really knew not what to wish 
for. " The subjugation of my country," he would say, " I deprecate as a most grievous calamity, 
and yet sicken at the idea of thirteen unconnected, petty democracies : if we are to be independ- 
ent, let us, in the name of God, at once have an empire, and place Washington at the head of 
it." Fortunately for oiu" existence as a nation, a great proportion of those wliosc early exertions 
tended to that issue, were not aware of the price by which it was to be acquired ; otherwise, my 
knowledge of the general feeling at this time, so far as my means of information extended, 
obliges me to say that it would not have been achieved. 

The ensuing winter, at Reading, was gay and agreeable, notwithstanding that the enemy was 
in possession of the metropolis. The society was sufficiently large and select ; and a sense of 
common suffering, in being driven from their homes, had the effect of more closely uniting its 
members. Disasters of this kind, if duly weighed, are not grievously to be deplored. The va- 
riety and bustle tiiey bring along with them give a spring to the mind ; and when illumined by 
hope, as was now the case, they are when present not painful, and when past they are among th« 
incidents most pleasing in retrospection. Besides the families established in this place, it was 
seldom without a number of visitors — gentlemen of the army and others. Hence the dissipation 
of cards, sleighing parties, balls, &-c., was freely indulged. Gen. Mifflin, at this era, was at 
home — a chief out of war, complaining, though not ill ; considerably malcontent, and apparently 
not in high favor at head-quarters. According to him, the ear of the commander-in-chief was 
exclusively possessed by Greene, who was represented to be neither the most wise, the most 
brave, nor most patriotic of counsellors. In short, the campaign in this quarter was stigmatized 
as a series of blunders, and the incapacity of those who had conducted it unsparingly reprobated. 
The better fortune of the northern army was ascribed to the superior talents of its leader; audit 
began to be whispered that Gates was the man who should of right have the station so incompe- 
tently sustained by Washington. There was to all appearance a cabal forming for his deposi- 
tion, in which it is not improbable that Gates, Mifflin, and Conway were already engaged ; and 
in which the congenial spirit of Lee, on his exchange, immediately took a share. The well- 
known apostrophe of Conway to America, importing that " heaven had passed a decree in her 
favor, or her ruin must long before have ensued from the imbecility of her military counsels," 
was at this time familiar at Reading ; and I heard him myself, when he was afterwards on a 
visit to that place, express himself to the effect that "no man was more a gentleman than Gen. 
Washington, or appeared to more advantage at his table, or in the usual intercourse of life; but 
as to his talents for the command of an army, (with a French shrug,) they were miserable indeed." 
Observations of this kind, continually repeated, could not fail to make an impression within the 
sphere of their circulation ; and it may be said that the popularity of the commander-in-chief 
was a good deal impaired at Reading. As to myself, however, I can confidently aver that I 
never was proselyted, or gave in to the opinion, for a moment, that any man in America was 
worthy to supplant the exalted character that presided in her army. I might have been disposed, 
perhaps, to believe that such talents as were possessed by Lee, could they be brought to act sub- 
ordinately, might often be useful to him ; but I ever thought it would be a fatal error to put any 
other in his place. Nor was I the only one who forbore to become a partisan of Gates. Several 
others thought they saw symptoms of selfishness in the business ; nor could the great enlat of the 
northern campaign convince them that its hero was superior to Washington. The duel which 
afterwards took place between Gen. Conway and Gen. Cadwallader, though immediately proceed- 
ing from an unfavorable opinion expressed by the latter of the conduct of the former at German- 
town, had perhaps a deeper origin, and some reference to this intrigue ;* as I had the means of 
knowing that Gen. Cadwallader, suspecting Mifflin had instigated Conway to fight him, was ex- 
tremely earnest to obtain data from a gentleman who lived in Reading, whereon to ground a se- 
rious explanation with Mifflin. So much for the manoeuvring, which my location at one of its 
principal seats brought me acquainted with ; and which its authors were soon after desirous of 
burying in oblivion. 

* Not that Gen. Cadwallader was induced from the intrigue to speak tmfavorably of Gen. Con- 
way's behavior at Germantown. That of itself was a sufficient ground of censure. Conway, it 
seems, during the action, was found in a farm-house by Gen. Reed and Gen. Cadwallader. Upon 
their inquiring the cause, he replied, in great agitation, that his horse was wounded in the neck. 
Being urged to get another horse, and at any rate to join his brigade, which was engaged, he de- 
dined it, repeating that his horse was wounded in the neck. Upon Conway's applying to con- 
gress some time after to be made a major-general, and earnestly m-ging his suit, Cadwallader 
made known this conduct of his at Germantown ; and it was for so doing that Conway gave the 
challenge, the issue of which was, his being dangerously wounded in the face from the pistol of 
Gen. Cadwallader. He recovered, however, and some time after went to France. 



134 BERKS COUNTY. 

The Duke of Rochefaucault de Liancourt, an observing French trav 
eller, who passed through Reading in 1795, says: — 

" The sentiments of the inhabitants of this town and the neighboring country are very good, and 
breathe a warm attachment to the federal government. There is no democratic society. Read- 
ing sent about 80 volunteers in the expedition against Pittsburg — [Whiskey insurrection.] Near 
the market, price of building lots 2U0 feet deep, $25 per foot. In less populous parts, $10. 
Price of land some distance from town, about $22 per acre ; near town, $32 to $36. Meadows 
near town cost $150. A project is on foot for extending the town to the bank of the river." 

Died, in the 80th year of his age, at his residence in Reading, [in June, 1832,] Gen. .Joseph 
Hiester, late governor of the commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The deceased, one of the heroes 
of the revolution, entered the army at an early period of his life. He was engaged in the battle 
of Long Island ; was captured, and subsequently confined on board the prison-ship Jersey. Af. 
ter his exchange had been effected, with a gallant spirit unsubdued, he again entered the army, and 
was engaged in the battles of Germantown and Brandy wine. After independence had been estab- 
lished, he served many years in the legislature of his native state ; and for many years ?ubse. 
quently, with the almost unanimous voice of his fellow-citizens of his district, served his co intry 
in congress, with a zeal unsurpassed by that of any of his contemporaries. In private lil'e, he 
was a kind and tender husband, an aifectionate and indulgent parent, a charitable and hospitable 
neighbor, and a warm and zealous friend. — Reading Journal. 

WoMELSDORF is a large village near the Tulpehocken, on the Reading 
and Harrisburg turnpike, 14 miles from Reading, and 88 from Harrisburg. 
Pop. 849. There is a church here common to the Lutheran and German 
Reformed societies. The Tulpehocken valley was settled at an early day, 
about 1733 to 1740, by the whites ; and previous to their arrival there is said 
to have been a cluster of Indian villages north of Womelsdorf, under the 
Kittatinny mountain. Conrad Weiser chose this valley for his favorite 
residence, in the late years of his life, and was buried in this vicinity. 

Conrad Weiser was born in Germany, but came to this country in early life, and settled about 
the year 1714. He lived much among the Six Nations in New York. He was a great favorite 
among them, was naturalized by them, and became perfectly familiar with their language. De- 
siring to visit Pennsylvania, the Indians brought him down the Susquehanna to Harris's ferry, 
and thence he came across to the Tulpehocken ; and thence to Philadelphia, where he met William 
Penn for the first time. He became a confidential interpreter and special messenger for the prov- 
ince, among the Indians ; and was present at many of the most important treaties between the 
proprietary government and the Indians. In 1737 he was commissioned by the governor 
of Virginia to visit the grand council at Onondaga. He started very unexpectedly, in the month 
of February, to perform this journey of 500 miles through a wilderness, where there was neither 
road nor path, and at a season when no game could be met with for food. His only companions 
were a Dutchman and three Indians. In 1744 he was in like manner despatched to Shamokin, 
(Sunbury,) "on account of the unhappy death of John Armstrong, the Indian trader." On both 
these journeys he has specially noted interesting observations relating to a sincere and general 
belief among the Indians in the interposition of an overruling providence, and their habit of ac- 
knowledging with gratitude all such interpositions in their favor.* Mr. Weiser had an Indian 
agency and trading house at Reading. In 1755, during alarms on the frontier, he was appointed 
colonel of a regiment of volunteers from Berks co. The Indians always entertained a high re- 
spect for his character, and for years after his death were in the habit of making visits of affec 
tionate remembrance to his grave. Col. Weiser was the grandfather, on the maternal side, of the 
Rev. and Hon. Henry A. Muhlenberg, lately minister to Austria. 

Dr. Franklin tells the following story of Weiser's visit to Onondaga ; 
it is replete with the doctor's peculiar humor, and probably indicates his 
own prejudices quite as strongly as those of the Indians : — 

The same hospitality, esteemed among them as a principal virtue, is practised by private per* 
sons ; of which Conrad Weiser, our interpreter, gave me the following instances : He had been 
naturalized among the Six Nations, and spoke well the Mohawk language. In going through 
the Indian country, to carry a message from our governor to the council at Onondaga, he called 
at the habitation of Canassatego, an old acquaintance, who embraced him, spread furs for him to 
sit on, placed before him some boiled beans and venison, and mixed some rum and water for his 
drink. When he was well refreshed, and had lit his pipe, Canassatego began to converse with 

* Proud, ii., 316. 



BERKS COUNTY. I35 

Aim ; asked how he had fared the many years since they had seen each other ; whence he then 
came ; what occasioned tlie journey, &,c. Conrad answered all his questions ; and when the dis- 
course began to flag, the Indian, to continue it, said, " Conrad, you have lived long among the 
white people, and know something of their customs : I have been sometimes at Albany, and 
have observed that once in seven days they shut up their shops and assemble in the great house. 
Tell me what that is for — what do they do there ?" " They meet there," says Conrad, " to hear 
and learn good things." " I do not doubt," says the Indian, " that they tell you so ; they have 
told me the same. But I doubt the truth of what they say ; and I will tell you my reasons. I 
went lately to Albany to soli my ^kuis, and buy blankets, knives, powder, rum, &c. You know 
I used generally to deal with Hans Hanson ; but I was a httle inclined this time to try some 
other merchants. However, I called first upon Hans, and asked liim what he would give for 
beaver. He said he could not give more than four shillings a pound ; but, says he, I cannot talk 
on business now : this is the day when we meet together to leam good things, and I am go- 
ing to the meeting. So I thought to myself, since I cannot do any business to-day, I may as 
well go to the meeting too ; and I went with him. There stood up a man in black, and began to 
talk to the people very angrily. I did not understand what he said, but perceiving that he looked 
much at me and at Hanson, I imaghied that he was angry at seeing me there ; so I went out, 
sat down near the house, struck fire and lit my pipe, waiting till the meeting should break up. I 
thought too that the man had mentioned something of beaver, and suspected it might be the sub- 
ject of their meeting. So when they came out, I accosted my merchant. Well, Hans, says I, 
I hope you have agreed to give more than four shillings a pound. No, says he, I cannot give so 
much ; I cannot give more than three shillings and sixpence. I then spoke to several other deal- 
ers, but they all sung the same song — three and sixpence, three and sixpence. This made it 
clear to me that my suspicion was right ; and that whatever they pretended of meeting to leam 
good things, the purpose was to consult how to cheat Indians in tlie price of beaver. Consider 
but a little, Conrad, and you must be of my opinion. If they met so often to learn good things, 
they would certainly have learned some before this time. But they are still ignorant. You know 
our practice. If a white man, in travelUng through our country, enters one of our cabins, we all 
treat him as I do you ; we dry him if he is wet, we warm him if he is cold, and give him meat 
and drink that he may allay liis thirst and hunger, and we spread soft furs for him to rest and 
sleep on. We demand nothing in return. But if I go into a white man's house at Albany, and 
ask for victuals and drink, they say. Get out, you Indian dog. You see they have not yet learned 
those little good things that we need no meetings to be instructed in, because our mothers taught 
them to us when we were children ; and therefore it is impossible their meetings should be, as 
they say, for any such purpose, or have any such effect. They are only to contrive the cheating 
of Indians in the price of beaver." 

KuTZTowN is a large village in the Maxatawney valley on the Allen- 
town and Reading road, 17 miles from either place. It contains some 
120 dwellings, a Lutheran and German Reformed church, and 693 inhab- 
itants by the census of 1840. A correspondent of the Ledger in 1842, 
says — 

" I am ruralizing for a week in a fertile vale of deep-soiled red shale, underlying the lime- 
stone of the Moxatawney valley. The peasantry are honest, hard-working Germans. Here they 
lock no doors. The congregations, of different sectarian faith, worship in the same church on 
alternate Sundays. The church is filled with attentive people, and a very great proportion are 
communicants. They have an excellent organ, made in this county. Preaching in German. It 
pains me to observe in every country churchyard the naked marble slabs, unsheltered by a single 
tree, and unadorned by a single shrub or flower. 

" A contented mind is generally associated with the life of a farmer, by our novelists at least, 
and by those who get their notions from such sources. But farming is far from being exempt 
from the petty vexations that constitute the stinging annoyances of life ; and it is an undoubted 
fact, that the worship of the dollar finds among this class the most devout adherents. My com- 
panion pointed to a house near Kutztown, where, a few weeks since, a farmer in good cir- 
cumstances hung himself, because he had $200 of the notes of a bank that had stopped pay- 
ment ; and many years ago, I remember a wealthy farmer in the same valley, who destroyed 
himself in the same way, because he had on hand in the spring all of his wheat, and could not 
sell it at the price he was offered during the winter." 

Hamburg is a considerable village on the left bank of the Schuylkill, 
just below its passage through the Kittatinny or Blue mountain. Popu- 
lation about 500. One church, common to the Lutheran and German 
Reformed denominations. The surrounding country is fertile and well 



136 BRADFORD COUNTY. 

cultivated. A bridge here crosses the river, and the Pottsville railroad 
passes on the w^est side of the river. 

There are many small villages in Berks co. at the cross-roads, and in 
the smaller valleys, each rendering their peculiar service to the surround- 
ing agricultural population. Among these, the more important are Mor- 
GANTowN in the southern corner, and Rehrersburg in the western corner 
of the CO. The smaller villages are Mertztown, Pricetown, Unionville, 
Warrensburg, Birdsboro', Weaverstown, Exetertown, Millersburg, Woh- 
leberstown, &c. 



BRADFORD COUNTY. 

Bradford county was at first separated from Luzerne and Lycoming in 
1810, under the name of Ontario. In March, 18 12, the co.was fully organized 
for judicial purposes, and the name was changed to Bradford. At the same 
time the courts were directed to be holden, until public buildings should 
be erected, at the house of Wm. Means, in Towanda township. Length 
40 m., breadth 29; area 1,174 sq. miles. Population in 1820, 11,554; in 
1830, 19,746; in 1840, 32,769. Besides the Susquehanna, which winds 
nearly through the centre of the co., there are its tributaries, Wysox cr. 
and Wyalusing cr. on the east, and the Tioga river, and Sugar cr. and 
Towanda cr. on the west side, with several streams of less note. The 
surface of the co. is quite rough, but there are no very long and distinct 
ranges of very lofty mountains. The great subordinate chains of Laurel 
hill and Chestnut ridge, so prominent in other sections of the state, are 
here found to be much depressed in height, and broken and scattered in 
innumerable isolated ridges and spurs. There is, however, along the course 
of the Towanda cr., on its southern bank, a high precipitous ridge stretching 
away towards the head of Pine cr., formerly called Burnett's mountain, 
which may indicate the track of the Laurel hill. The same ridge forms 
the precipitous " narrows'^ on the Susquehanna, two or three miles below 
Towanda. The land on the summits of the ridges is gently undulating, 
forming good grazing farms. Along the streams are many enchanting 
valleys, with meadows and uplands not exceeded in fertility and pictur- 
esque beauty by any in the state. The bituminous coal formation touches 
the southwestern corner of the co., and veins of from three to seven feet 
in thickness are found on the heads of Towanda cr. A railroad route 
from Towanda to these mines was surveyed in 1839, but it now slumbers 
with many of the other projects of that day. Iron is abundant, but not 
developed : and indications of copper have been discovered. There are 
sulphur springs at Rome, eight miles from Towanda. Considerable pine 
and other lumber is still prepared and sent to market from this county ; 
more perhaps than is for the real interest of the population, who would 
derive a surer profit from the cultivation and export of agricultural pro- 
duce. 

The Berwick and Newtown, or Susquehanna and Tioga turnpike road, 
which passes through the co., was projected at the early settlement of 
the CO., about the year 1802 or '04, and was driven through the then wil- 



BRADFORD COUNTY. 137 

derness by the exertions of Philadelphians and others interested in the 
lands. It was not fully completed until subsequent to 1820. The Wil- 
Hamsport and Elmira railroad is completed from Williamsport to the 
southwestern corner of the county, but has been suspended for the pre- 
sent. 

The north branch division of the Pennsylvania canal follows the wind- 
ings of the Susquehanna to the north line of the state, forming a connec- 
tion with the canals of New York. Most of the heavy work has been 
done upon the line ; and a company has been chartered to take the un- 
finished work from the state, and complete it. When this opening is 
made, a profitable exchange will take place between the salt, plaster, 
and lime of New-York, and the coal and iron of Pennsylvania. 

Previous to the arrival of the whites in this region, the valley of the 
Susquehanna was under the special jurisdiction of the Cayuga tribe of 
Indians, one of the great confederacy of the Six Nations. To each of 
that confederacy was confided the charge of a door of their "long house," 
as they termed their residence in the state of New York. The Senecas 
kept the southwestern door on the Allegheny, the Mohawks the eastern 
at Schenectady, &c. The Cayugas themselves did not reside in the re- 
gion now Bradford co. It was, with the Susquehanna valley lower down, 
assigned as the asylum for scattered tribes of Mohicans, Wampanoags, 
Tutelos, Monseys, and other tribes who had retired from the encroach- 
ments of the whites. It was also on the great war-path between the Six 
Nations and the southern tribes ; and it may be inferred from the reply 
of the Cayuga chief to the Moravian Indians, that these now peaceful 
valleys have been the scene of many a bloody encounter. Tradition 
states that Wysox valley was occupied by a tribe of that name, who had 
two sanguinary battles with the Towanda Indians, on the flats at the 
mouth of Towanda cr. Many relics have been found of these former 
races. About two miles above Towanda, at the " Break-neck narrows," 
on the left bank of the Susquehanna, is the resemblance of a squaw's head 
and face carved in the perpendicular rock. It is now much obliterated 
by the ice freshets. It is said that the name of Break-neck was given to 
these narrows by Sullivan's army, who lost some cattle there : but 
w^hether there is any connection between the name and the sculpture 
does not distinctly appear. 

The calumet or pipe of peace was found a few years since on the 
Sheshequin flats, and is now in possession of Mr. Silas Gore. It is curi- 
ously wrought of red-stone, as perfect as when new ; and the material 
corresponds with the description given of the red pipe-stone of the Rocky 
mountains, by George Catlin, Esq. In Burlington township the skele- 
tons of two human beings were lately found in excavating a cellar. 
They were uncommonly large, and had apparently been deposited with 
much ceremony and care. Their heads were laid eastward, and their 
bodies enclosed with large flat stones. The bones were in a state of 
perfect preservation. 

To whom, or to what date may be ascribed what are called the Span- 
ish fortifications above Athens on the Tioga, it is not easy to ascertain. 
The Duke de la Rochefaucault ascribes them to the French in the time 
of Denonville, about 1688. 

Before the men of Connecticut had asserted their claim to the fair valleys of Bradford co., the 

18 



138 BRADFORD COUNTY. 

holy pioneers of tlie Moravian mission had penetrated the wilderness along the Susquehanna, 
and made settlements at various points. 

As early as 1750, Bishop Camnicrhof and Rev. David Zeisbergcr, guided by an Indian of the 
Cayuga tribe, passed up the Susquehanna on a visit to Onondaga. To each night's encamp- 
ment they gave a name, the first letter of which was cut into a tree by the Indians. They 
tarried at Tioga, which is described as " a considerable Indian town." The same year, it ia 
said, " there was a great awakening, which extended over the whole Indian country, especially 
on the Susquehanna." There appears to have been an Indian village, in 1759, at Mac'hwihilu- 
sing, (Wyalusing,) where one Papanhunk, an Indian moralist, had hecn zealously propagating 
his doctrines ; with little success, however, for his hearers were addicted to the most abominable 
vices, and he himself was but little better. On a visit to tiie missionary station Nain, on the 
Lehigh, he heard for the first time the great doctrine of the Cross, and such an impression did it 
make upon him, that the following year he took down his wife and 33 of his followers, to hear 
this new doctrine ; at the same time endeavoring, without success, to persuade the christian In. 
dians of Nain to remove to the Susquehanna. 

In May, 1763, Zeisberger, with the Indian brother Anthony, came to Wyalusing, having 
heard of a remarkable awakening there, and that the Indians desired some one who could point 
them to the true way of obtaining rest and peace in their consciences. Papanhunk had lost his 
credit by the inefficiency of his doctrines. Zeisberger was met, before he arrived, by Job Gillo- 
way, an inhabitant of Wyalusing, who spoke English well, and told him that their council had 
met six days successively to consider how they might procure a teacher of the truth. Zeisberger 
was invited to become a resident missionary among them, which, after a visit to Bethlehem, he 
consented to do. It appears that about this time " some well-meaning people of a different per- 
suasion arrived at Wyalusing," but the Indians having already given a preference to the Mora- 
vians, would listen to no other sect. [Could this have been Brainerd ?] The first fruit of Zeis- 
berger's pious efforts in his new congregation, was Papanhunk himself, who confessed his sins, 
and desired to be baptized. He received the christian name of John, and another Indian, who 
had been Papanhunk's opponent, was baptized after him, and called Peter. 

In the midst of these encouraging prospects, consternation spread through the frontier set- 
tlements, on receipt of the news of the Indian war of 1763, which had just broken out along 
the lakes and the Ohio. Occasional parties of Indians from the west skulked into the Moravian 
Indian settlements to persuade them to withdraw, that they might make a descent upon the 
whites. This became known to the Irish settlement in the Kittatinny valley, whose jealousy 
was aroused that the Moravian Indians were in collusion with their hostile brethi'en, and the 
missionary settlements were thus placed betwet^n two fires. This animosity of the Irish at length 
wreaked itself upon the poor Indians on the Conestogo ; and the other Christian Indians were 
taken by the missionaries to Philadelphia for protection. Peace at length arrived at the close of 
1764, and in 1765 the whole body of Indian brethren returned to the deserted huts at Wyalusing. 
Devoting themselves anew to Him who had given them rest for the soles of their feet, they began 
their labors with renewed courage, and pitching upon a convenient spot on the banks of the 
Susquehanna, a few miles below Wyalusing, they built a regular settlement, which they called 
Friedenshuetten, (Tents of Peace.) It consisted of 13 Indian huts, and upwards of 40 frame 
houses, shingled, and provided with chimneys and windows. A convenient house was erected 
for the missionaries, and in the middle of the broad street stood the chapel, neatly built, and 
covered with shingles. Gardens surrounded the village, and near the river about 250 acres were 
divided into regular plantations of Indian corn. Each family had their own boat. The bury- 
ing-ground was at some distance in the rear. During the progress of building the town, the 
aged, infirm, and children, lodged in the old cottages found on the spot ; the rest in bark huts. 
In fine weather they lifted up their voices in prayer and praise under the open firmament It was 
a pleasure to observe them, like a swarm of bees, at their work ; some were building, some 
clearing land, some hunting and fishing to provide for the others, and some cared for houseKeep- 
ing. The town being completed, the usual regulations and statutes of the Moravian stations 
were adopted ; order and peace prevailed, and the good work went gloriously on. As one of the 
great confederacy of the Six Nations, the Cayugas kept that door of their " long house" which 
opened upon the valley of the Susquehanna, and it became necessary for the missionaries to seek 
their permission to reside within their jurisdiction. With all the solenniiity of Indian diplomacy, 
the Christian Indians gave notice to the chief of the Cayugas, that they had settled on the Sus- 
quehanna, where they intended to build and live in peace with their families, if their uncle ap- 
proved of it ; and they likewise desired leave for their teachers to live with them. The chief, 
after consultation with the great council of Onondaga, replied, in a friendly manner, " that the 
place they had chosen was not proper, all that country having been stained with blood ; therefore 
he would take them up and place them in a better situation, near the upper end of Cayuga lake. 
They might take their teachers with them> and be unmolested in their worship." This proposal 
did not exactly suit the Indians of Friedenshuetten, and they evaded an acquiescence, giving 
the chief hopes that they would reply " when the Indian corn was ripe." This was in the sum. 
iner of '65. After waiting until the spring of 1766, the Cayuga chief sent a message to Fried- 



BRADFORD COUNTY. 13^ 

ehshuetten, " that he did not know what sort of Indiah corn they might plant, for Ihey had promised 
him an answer when it was ripe ; that his corn had been gathered long ago, and was almost con- 
samed, and he soon intended to plant again." The chief, ultimately, and the council, gave 
them a larger tract of land than they had desired, extending beyond Tioga, to make use of as 
their own, with a promise that the heathen Indians should not come and dwell upon it. This 
grant, however, was forgotten at the treaty of 17G8, when the whole country on the Susque- 
hanna was sold to Pennsylvania 

The peace of the settlement was often distm'bed by the introduction of rum, that universal ac- 
companiment of civilization, introduced by straggUng Indians. They ordered at length that 
every rum bottle should be locked up during the stay of its owner, and delivered to him on his 
departure. The white traders from the Irish settlenjents at Paxton, found the settlement a most 
convenient depot, and endeavored to make it a place of common resort in 17()6. They staid 
several weeks in the place, and occasioned much levity and dissipation among the young people; 
The Indians at length ordered them off, desiring that the " Tents of Peace" should not be made 
a jdace of traffic. The hospitality of the brethren often exhausted their little stock of provisions, 
and their only resource for a new supply was in hunting, or seeking aid from the older settle- 
ments. Their numbers had increased so much in 1767, that a more spacious church was erected. 
The locusts, which swarmed by millions, did great damage to their crops. The small-pox 
broke out among them in '67, and the patients were prudently removed to temporary cabins on. 
the opposite side of the river. 

The station at Friedenshuetten continued to prosper for several years, until the year 1772. 
During this period the persevering Zeisberger had several times threaded the wilderness to the 
waters of the Allegheny and Ohio, and planted new churches among the Delawariss dwelling 
there. (See Beaver and Venango.) 

Among the places visited by the Moravian brethren of Friedenshuetten, was an Indian towii 
about thirty miles above, called Tschechschequannink in the orthography of the mission, " where 
a great awakening had taken place. (This was old Sheshequin on the right bank of the river, 
opposite and a little below the present village of that name.) Brother John Rothe, after permis- 
sion duly obtained from the Cayuga chief, took charge of this post as the resident missionary. 
The chief, in granting his permission, gave encouragement that he himself would occasionally 
come to hear the " great word" — being convinced that was the right way. Two Indian brethren 
assisted Mr. Rothe, and the station became a kind of " chapel of ease" to Friedenshuetten. 
About half a mile from Sheshequin the savages used at stated times to keep their feasts of sacri- 
fice. On these occasions they roved about in the neighborhood like so many evil spirits, making 
the air resound with their hideous noises and bellowings, but they never approached near enough 
to molest the brethren. Brother Rothe had the pleasure to see many proofs of the power of the 
word of God, and it appeared for some time as if all the people about Sheshequin would turn to 
the Lord. Some time after, an enmity began to show itself : some said openly, " We cannot 
live according to the precepts of the brethren : if God had intended us to live like them, we 
should certainly have been born amongst them." Nevertheless James Davis, a chief, and seve- 
ral others were baptized. 

The missionaries lost no opportunity of conciliating the chiefs of the Iroquois, and often invited 
them to dine as they passed through the settlement : these little attentions made a favorable im- 
pression, and enabled the missionaries, in familiar conversation, to remove misapprehensions, and 
allay unfounded prejudices which had been entertained by the chiefs against them. These chiefs 
noticed every thing that passed in the village, and looked with no little suspicion upon the sur- 
veying instruments used at the settlement, regarding them as some mysterious contrivance t6 
obtain the land from the Indians. The paintings in the chiu-ch, of the crucifixion, and the scene 
at the Mount of Olives, attracted their admiration, and enabled the brethren to explain to theni 
the history of our Lord, "which produced in some a salutary thoughtfulness." 

In 1771, there was an immense flood in the Susquehanna, and all the inhabitants at Sheshe- 
quin were obliged to save themselves in boats, and retire to the Woods, where they were detained 
four days. 

The Six Nations having, by the treaty of 1768, sold their land "from under their feet," the 
brethren were compelled to seek a new grant from the governor of Pennsylvania, who kindly 
ordered that they should not be disturbed, and that he had ordered the surveyors not to take up 
any land within five miles of Friedenshuetten. 

The brethren had received many pressing invitations from the Delawares on the Ohio to leave 
tlie Susquehanna, and the dangerous vicinity of the whites, and settle among them. These in- 
vitations were declined until 1772, when the brethren became convinced that the congregations 
could not maintain themselves long in these parts. The Iroquois had sold their land, and various 
troublesome demands upon them were continually renewed ; the contest between the Connecticut 
men and the Indians and Pennamites at Wyoming had commenced, wliite settlers daily in- 
creased, and rum was introduced to seduce the young people. They therefore finally resolved ' 
o remove to the Ohio. 

Their exodus was remarkable. To transport 240 individuals of all ages, with cattle and horses. 



140 BRADFORD COUNTY. 

from the North Branch across the Allegheny mountains by way of Bald Eagle, to the Ohio, would 
be, even in these days of locomotive facilities, a most arduous undertaking. What must it have 
been through that howling wilderness 1 fortunately most of the company were natives of the 
forest. The scene is given in the language of Loskiel, the annalist of the missions. 

" June 6th, 1772. The congregation partook of the holy communion for the last time in Frie- 
denshuetten. # * * June 11th, all being ready for the journey, the congregation 

juet for the last time at F., when the missionary reminded them of the great favors and blessings 
received from God in this place, and then offered up praises and thanksgivings to him, with fer- 
vent supplications for his peace and protection on the journey. The company consisted of 241 
persons from Friedcnshuetten and Sheshequin, and proceeded with great cheerfulness in reliance 
upon the Lord. 

" Brother Ettwein conducted those who went by land, and brother Rothe those by water, who 
were the greater number. This journey was a practical school of patience for the missionaries. 
The fatigue attending the emigration of a whole congregation, with all their goods and cattle, in 
a country like North America, can hardly be conceived by any one who has not experienced it ; 
much less can it be properly described. The land travellers had 70 head of oxen, and a still 
greater number of horses, to care for, and sustained incredible hardsiiips in forcing a way for 
themselves and their beasts through very thick woods and swamps of great extent, being directed 
only by a small path, and that hardly discernible in some places ; so that it appears almost im- 
possible to conceive how one man could work his way and mark a path through such close 
thickets and immense woods, one of which he computed to be about 60 miles long. While pass- 
ing through tliese woods it rained almost incessantly. In one part of the country they were 
obliged to wade 36 times through the windings of the river Munsey, besides suffering other hard- 
ships. However, they attended to their daily worship as regularly as circumstances would per- 
mit, and had frequently strangers among them, both Indians and white people, who were partic- 
ularly attentive to the English discourses delivered by brother Ettwein. The party which went 
by water were every night obliged to seek a lodging on shore, and suffered much from the cold. 
Soon after their departure from Friedenshuetten, the measles broke out among them, and many 
fell sick, especially the children. The attention due to the patients necessarily incre,ased the fa- 
tigue of the journey. In some parts they were molested by inquisitive, [probably in the Wyoming 
valley] and in others by drunken people. The many falls and dangerous rapids in the Susque- 
hanna occasioned immense trouble and frequent delays. However, by the mercy of God, they 
passed safe by Sliamokin, and then upon the west arm of the river by Long Inland to Great Island, 
when they joined tlie land travellers on the 29th June, and now proceeded all together by land. 
When they arrived at the mountains, they met with great difficulties in crossing them, for, not having 
horses enough to carry all the baggage, most of them were obliged to carry some part. During 
a considerable part of the journey the rattlesnakes kept them in constant alarm, as they lay in 
great numbers either in or near the road. These venomous creatures desti'oyed several of the 
horses, but the oxen were saved by being driven in the rear. The most troublesome plague in the 
woods was a kind of insect called by the Indians Ponk, or living ashes, from their being so small 
that they are hardly visible, and their bite as painful as red-hot ashes. As soon as the evening 
fires were kindled, the cattle, in order to get rid of these insects, ran furiously towards the fire, 
crowding into the smoke, by which our travellers were much disturbed in their sleep and at meals. 
These tormenting creatures are met with in a tract of country which the Indians call ' a place 
avoided by all ■men.'' The following circumstance gave rise to this name : About 30 years ago, 
an Indian hermit lived u"pon a rock in this neigiiborJiood, and used to appear to travellers or hunt- 
ers in difi!erent garbs, frightening some and murdering otliers. At length a valiant chief was so 
fortunate as to surprise and kill him. To this true account fabulous report has added, that the 
chief, having burnt the hermit's bones to ashes, scattered them in the air throughout the forest, 
and they became /jo/(As. In another part of the forest, the fires and storms had caused such con- 
fusion among the trees, that the wood was almost impenetrable. Some persons departed this life 
during the journey, and among them a poor cripple, 10 or 11 years old, who was carried by h.s 
mother in a basket on her back. Our travellers were sometimes compelled to stay a day or two 
in one place, to supply themselves with the necessaries of life. They shot upwards of 150 deer 
during the journey, and found great abundance of fish. They likewise met with a peculiar kind 
of turtle, about the size of a goose, with a long neck, pointed head, and e3'es like a dove. 

" July 20th, they left the mountains and arrived on the banks of the Ohio [now the Allegheny,] 
where they immediately built canoes to send the aged and infirm with the heavy baggage down 
the river. Two days afterwards they met brother Heckenwelder and some Indian horses from 
Friedenstadt, (in Beaver co.) by whose assistance they arrived there on the 5th Aug., and were 
received with every mark of affection by the whole congregation." 

At Fort Stanwix, Nov. 5, 1768, the chiefs of the Six Nations sold to 
the agents of Thomas and Richard Penn, " in consideration of ten thou- 
sand dollars," all the land in Pennsylvania not heretofore purchased, 
southeast of a boundary. 



BRADFORD COUNTY. 141 

" Beginning on the east side of the east branch of the river Susquohanna at a place called 
Owcgy, down the said branch on the east side to the mouth of a creek called by tlie Indians 
Awandac (Tawandee,) and across the river and up the said creek on the south side, and along 
the range of hills called Burnett's hills by the English, and by the Indians on the north side of 
them to the heads of a creek which runs into the west branch of the Susquehanna, which creek 
is called by the Indians Tiadaghton," &c. &c., over to Kittaning, and thence down the Ohio. 
(See the whole boundary under Lycoming co.) 

Again, at Fort Stanwix, Oct. 23, 1784, the Six Nations sold to the state 
of Pennsylvania all the land in the state lying northwest of the above- 
mentioned boundary ; and this latter sale was confirmed by the Wyan- 
dots and Delawares at Fort Mcintosh, (in Beaver co.) in Jan. 1785. 

It was also ascertained at Fort Stanwix in '84, that the creek called Tia- 
daghton by the Indians, was the Pine creek of the Pennsylvanians ; and 
that the Indians had always known Burnett's mountain by the name of 
the long mountain. 

Previous to the removal of the Moravians, pioneers from Connecticut 
had already arrived in the Wyoming valley, but no settlements were ex- 
tended up as far as Wyalusing until the close of the revolutionary war. 
During that war these valleys swarmed with hostile parties of the Six 
Nations, descending upon the white settlements. A few Dutch families, 
attached to the British cause, were permitted to remain about the upper 
Susquehanna ; among whom was old Mr. Fauks, who lived on the point 
below Towanda. After the bloody conflict at Wyoming in 1778, Col. 
Hartley with a detachment of troops came up the valley and burned the 
Moravian towns, together with the Indian town at Tioga point. Maj. 
Gen. Sullivan passed up the Susquehanna in the ensuing summer of 1779, 
on his memorable expedition against the towns of the Six Nations. The 
army arrived at Tioga Point on the 11th Aug., and hearing that the ene- 
my were at Chemung, an Indian village 12 miles above Tioga Point, 
went up and had a slight skirmish with the Indians, who had abandoned 
the village, and were lying in ambush. The Indians were driven off; 
and after destroying the grain, &c., the army returned to Tioga to 
wait for Gen. Clinton's brigade, which came down the east branch on the 
22d Aug. from New York, with 200 batteaux. The united forces now 
moved forward up the Tioga into the Genesee country, ravaging and 
burning the Indian villages, and destroying their crops.* While the ar- 
my remained at Tioga they erected blockhouses on the peninsula, where 
Col. Shreeve was left with a garrison of 200 men to guard the place. 
The army returned on the 30th Sept., and were received by Col. Shreeve 
with a joyous salute, and " as grand an entertainment as the circum- 
stances of the place would admit." 

The ravages committed by Gen. Sullivan made but a slight impression 
upon the savages. On his return they followed close upon his rear, and 
hovered around the frontier until the close of the war in 1783. A year 
or two after the peace, a number of those who had been in Sullivan's 
campaign, and thus became acquainted with this region, came here to 
settle, bringing with them several other adventurers, who took up lands 
in the Sheshequin valley under the Connecticut title. About the same 
time adventurers and squatters flocked in from New York, and settled 

* A journal of this expedition, kept by Sergeant-major Grant of the Jersey troops, is published 
in full in Hazard's Register, vol. xiv, pp. 72 to 76, where the curious may consult it. The mora 
interesting passages relate to the history of New York. 



14a BRADFORD COUNTY. 

about Tioga point. The progress of the county was for many years re- 
tarded by the uncertainty of title to the lands, growing out of the contest 
between the Pennsylvania and Connecticut claimants. (See Luzerne co.) 
The first actual settlers were generally under the Connecticut title. 
Much bitterness of feeling was excited by the attempts of the Pennsyl- 
vania claimants to survey their tracts. A Mr, Irwin, a surveyor from 
Easton, while sitting, after the fatigues of the day, in the door of Mr. 
McDufHe's house on the Tioga above Athens, was shot dead by some 
person unknown. Mr. JVIcDuthe was sitting near him playing the flute. 
A Mr. Smiley was tarred and feathered one night near Towanda creek. 
The feeling that prevailed among the settlers at the time, and the diffi- 
culty of bringing such offenders to justice, may be inferred from the fact, 
that the individual who lent the Isottle to the rogues to hold their tar, 
was himself on the grand jury for investigating the case ; but as no le- 
gal evidence was presented to him officially that such a use had been 
made of his bottle : and as he did not actually know the fact, he did not 
feel bound to state his suspicions to the grand jury. Col. Satterlee, who 
was one of the most active in securing the original organization of the 
CO., obtained an appropriation at an early day of ^600 for opening roads 
into the northern part of the co., which gave an opportunity for the hardy 
and enterprising New Englanders to settle in the townships of Wells, 
Ridgebury, Springfield, &c. 

Smithfield and Columbia townships are settled by Vermonters, whose 
fine farms attest their industry. 

TowANUA, the county seat, is situated near the centre of the co., on the 
* right bank of the Susquehanna. A part of the village is on the river 
bank, and a part on several successive benches gently rising from the 
river, and presenting a most enchanting prospect. The dwellings are 
built with taste, generally of wood, painted white, imparting a remarka- 
bly bright and cheerful appearance to the town as one approaches it from 
the Wysox valley, just opposite. Besides the usual co. buildings, the town 
contains Presbyterian, Methodist, and Episcopal churches, an academy, 
and a bank, very extensively known. A noble bridge crosses the river at 
the town. Just below the bridge is the dam and lock of the North Branch 
canal, which here crosses the river by a pool, thus forming a convenient 
basin opposite the town. Part of the dam was sWept away in the flood 
of 1841 or '42. In former times the people of Towanda numbered fresh 
shad among their luxuries, but the construction of the dams in the river 
has excluded them entirely. Population, 912. 

Towanda was first laid out in 1812, by Mr. Wm. Means, who resided 
here at that time. The act organizing the co., directed the courts to be 
held at his house until public buildings were erected. Old Mr. Fauks, a 
German, and his son-in-law, Mr. Bo\\inan, lived then on the point below 
Towanda. Mr. Fauks had settled there before, or during the revolution, 
having been attached to the British side in that contest. The village for 
several years was called Meansville, and so marked upon the maps. 
Other names were also occasionally tried on, but did not fit well enough 
to wear long. The Bradford Gazette of 4th March, 1815, says, " the 
name of this village having become the source of considerable animosity, 
the editor, (Burr Ridgway,) willing to accommodate all, announces a new 
name — Williamston — may it give satisfaction and become permanent." 



BRADFORD COUNTY. 



143 



But subsequently, in that same year, the Gazette appears dated Towanda ; 
and in 1822, again the Bradford Settler was dated at Meansville. To- 
wanda was incorporated as a borough in 1828, and its name was thus 
permanently fixed. The location of the canal, the discovery of coal-beds 
in the vicinity, and the establishment of a most accommodating bank, 
gave a great impetus to the growth of the place between the years 1836 
and 1840 ; but the subsequent disastrous failure of the bank, in the spring 
of 1842, following, as it did, the already severe commercial distress, and 
the suspension of the public works, spread a gloom over its prospects. 
The natural advantages of the place, however, are too great to be an- 
nulled by any tem{)orary cause, and Towanda must soon shake off the 
load, and eventually become a place of considerable business. Besides 
the great valley of the Susquehanna, three smaller valleys, rich in the 
products of agriculture, centre here, and must pour their trade into the 
stores of Towanda. 

Athens, now one of the pleasantest villages in Pennsylvania, extends 
across an isthmus, between the Tioga and Susquehanna rivers, about two 
miles above their confluence. Above and below the town, the land 
widens out into meadows of surpassing fertility. The long main street 
of the village runs lengthwise of the isthmus, and is adorned by delight- 




Atliens. 
ful residences, and verdant shades and shrubbery. The annexed view 
exhibits the northern entrance to the street. There is an academy here 
and Presbyterian, Methodist, and Episcopal churches. There is a sub- 
stantial bridge over each of the rivers ; that over the Susquehanna has 
been recently erected ; that over the Tioga was built in 1820. The 
borough was incorporated in 1831. On the completion of the North 
Branch canal, a great increase of trade may be anticipated. Population, 
435. 

The whole region around Tioga is highly picturesque. The annexed 
view was taken from the Sheshequin road, immediately overlooking the 
confluence of the rivers. Directly in front are the broad meadows below 
Athens, with the town in the distance, and the valleys of the two rivers 



144 BRADFORD COUNTY. 

stretching away among the hills of New York. Tioga Point, from its 
geographical position, has been noted, in the annals of Indian warfare, 
as the site of an ancient Indian town, and a place of rendezvous lor par- 
ties, or armies passing up or down the two great streams. At the lower 



Tioga Point. 
end of the village are the remains of an old fort erected during the In- 
dian wars. On the beautiful plain just below the mountain, seen on the 
left of the picture, stood the " Castle" of the celebrated Catharine Mon- 
tour, sometimes called Queen Esther, whose more permanent residence 
was at Catharine's town, at the head of Seneca lake. 

Catharine Montour was a half-breed, who had been well educated in Canada. Her reputed 
father was one of the French governors of that province, and she herself was a lady of compara- 
tive refinement. She was much caressed in Philadelphia, and mingled in the best society. She 
exercised a controlling influence among the Indians, and resided in this quarter while they were 
makino- their incursions upon the Wyoming settlements. It has been even suspected that she 
presided at the bloody sacrifice of the Wyoming prisoners after the battle ; but Col. Stone, who 
is good authority upon the history of the Six Nations, utterly discredits the suspicion. The plain 
upon which the mansion stood is called Queen Estiier's flats. Old Mr. Covenhoven, who still 
lives in Lycoming co., was one of Col. Hartley's expedition to Tioga, just after the battle of 
Wyoming, for the purpose of burning the Moravian villages and the Indian town at Tioga. Mr. 
Covenhoven says, that he himself put the brand to " Queen Esther's castle." He describes it 
as a long, low edifice, constructed with logs set in the ground at intervals of ten feet, with hori- 
zontal hewn plank, or puncheons, neatly set into grooves in the posts. It was roofed, or thatched, 
and had some sort of porch, or other ornament, over the doorway. In 1784, Judge Hollenback, 
of Luzerne co., had an establishment at Tioga for trading with the Indians, of whom many were 
still residing up the Tioga valley. Daniel McDowell was his clerk. The Indians having buried 
the hatchet with the peace of '83, were disposed to be friendly ; but the villany of straggling 
white traders, aided by the demon of rum, often exasperated them to such a degree, that great 
fears were entertained for the safety of the resident families. About this time a good-natured 
Indian, who boasted chiefly of his stature as a " big Shickashinny," was murdered while intoxi- 
cated, near Hollenback's store, by a little roving fur-trader from Delaware river. It was with 
some difficulty the villagers, through McDowell's intercession, appeased the exasperated feelings 
of the relatives and friends of the Indian by purchasing his corpse at the price of a pair of old 
horses ! The murderer enUsted in the army, and before long received his due from the Indians 
on the northwestern frontier. In '84, also, Christopher Hollabird and a Mr. Miller came in and 
squatted upon lands near the town, supposing them to be in the state of New York. The town 
appears to have been laid out between the years 1784 and '88, for in the latter year, Elisha Mat- 



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BRADFORD COUNTY. I45 

thewson, and his brother-in-law EHsha Satterlee, who had previously purchased towii lots, and 
100 acre out-lots, came up from the Wyoming valley and settled here. The venerable Mrs. 
Matthewson, a sister of Mr. Satterlee, from whom many of these particulars are derived, still 
lives near the east end of the Susquehanna bridge. Her husband formerly resided in town, at 
the " old red house," which was erected about the year '94 or '95. At that time the lumber for 
frame houses was brought from Owego cr., where was the nearest mill. Mrs. Matthewson, at 
the age of thirteen, and the oldest of six children, was, with her mother, in Forty fort during the 
battle of Wyoming. The father was killed. The mother, with her little flock, crossed the moun- 
tains on foot, to New England. On the Pokono mountains their only food for two or three days, 
was the whortleberries found along the road. 

In the year 1790, the relations between the U. S. and the Indians on 
the northwestern frontier, assumed a very threatening attitude, and great 
fears were entertained that the Senecas, some of whose people had been 
murdered by the frontier-men, might unite with their brethren on the 
great lakes. A conference with the Six Nations was invited at Tioga 
Point, at which Col. Timothy Pickering, then of Wyoming, was commis- 
sioner on the part of the U. S. The council-fire was kindled on the 16th 
Nov., and was kept burning until the 23d, Among the nations repre- 
sented, were the Senecas, Cayugas, Onondagas, Oneidas, Chippeways, 
and also several of the Stockbridge Indians, among whom was their 
veteran captain, and the faithful friend of the U. S., Hendrick Apamaut. 
The Indians were in a high state of excitement in regard to the outrage 
upon the Senecas. The chiefs, Red Jacket, Farmer's Brother, Little Billy, 
Hendrick Apamaut, and Fish-Carrier, an old and distinguished warrior 
of the Cayugas, took the most active part in the council. Old Hendrick 
made a most pathetic appeal to the commissioner, reminding him of the 
attachment of his tribe to the U. S. during the revolution, of their mili- 
tary services, and the neglect with which their now diminished band had 
been treated. The effort of Red Jacket, one of his earliest, produced a 
deep effect upon his people. " Still, by a wise and well-adapted .speech, 
Col. Pickering succeeded in allaying the excitement of the Indians — dried 
their tears, and wiped out the blood that had been shed."* After that 
subject had been disposed of. Red Jacket introduced the subject of their 
lands, and the purchase of Phelps and Gorham. The following incident 
is related by Col. Stone, in the Life and Times of Red Jacket. He had 
it from the manuscript recollections of Thomas Morris. 

During the progress of the negotiations with Col. Pickering at this council, an episode waa 
enacted, of which some account may be excused in this place, as an illustration of Indian char- 
acter and manners. It was in this year (1790) that Robert Morris, of Philadelphia, the great 
financier of the revolution, purchased from the state of Massachusetts the pre-emptive right to 
that portion of her territory in Western New York, that had not been sold to Phelps and Gor- 
ham, viz. : the entire tract bounded on the north by Lake Ontario, on the south by the Pennsyl- 
vania line, on the east by the Genesee river, and on the west by the Niagara. Preparatory to the 
negotiations which Mr. Morris well knew he should be obliged to hold with the Indians, and for 
the general management of his concerns in that country, his son Thomas had taken up his resi- 
dence at Canandaigua, and was diligently cultivating an acquaintance with the Indians. In this 
he was successful, and he soon became popular among them. He was in attendance with Col. 
Pickering at Tioga Point, where the Indians determined to adopt him into the Seneca nation, 
and Red Jacket bestowed upon him the name he himself had borne previous to his elevation to 
the dignity of a Sachem, — Otetiani — " Always Ready." The occasion of which they availed 
themselves to perform the ceremony of conferring upon young Morris his new name, was a reli- 
gious observance, when the whole sixteen hundred Indians present at the treaty united in an of- 
fering to the moon, then being at her full. The ceremonies were performed in the evening. It 
was a clear night, and the moon shone with uncommon brilUancy. The host of Indians, and 
their neophyte, were all seated upon the ground in an extended circle, on one side of which a large 

* See Stone's Life and Times of Red Jacket. 
19 



146 BRADFORD COUNTY. 

fire was kept burning. The aged Cayuga chieftain, Fish -Carrier, wlio was held in exalted Tene- 
ration for his wisdom, and who had been greatly distinguished for his bravery from his youth up, 
officiated as the high priest of the occasion, — making a long speech to the luminary, occasionally 
throwing tobacco into the fire as incense. On the conclusion of the address, the whole assembly 
prostrated themselves upon the bosom of their parent earth, and a grunting sound of approbation 
was uttered from mouth to mouth around the entire circle. At a short distance from the fire a 
post had been planted in the earth — intended to reprcisent tlie stake of torture to which captives 
are bound for execution. After the ceremonies in favor of Madame Luna had been ended, they 
commenced a war-dance aroimd the post, and tlie spectacle must have been as picturesque as it 
was animating and wild. The young braves engaged in the dance were naked, excepting the 
breech-clout about their loins. They were painted frightfully — their backs being chalked white, 
with irregular streaks of red, denoting tlie streaming of blood. Frequently would they cease 
from dancing while one of their number ran to the fire, snatching thence a blazing stick, placed 
there for that purpose, which he would thrust at the post, as though inflicting torture unon a pris- 
oner. In the course of the dance they sang their songs, and made the forests ring witn their 
wild screams and shouts, as they boasted of their deeds of war and told the number of scalps they 
had respectively taken, or which had been taken by their nation. During the dance, those en- 
gaged in it — as did others also — partook freely of unmixed rum ; and by consequence of the natu- 
ral excitement of the occasion, and the artificial excitement of the liquor, the festival had well- 
nigh turned out a tragedy. It happened that among the dancers was an Oneida warrior, who, in 
striking the post, boasted of the number of scalps taken by his nation during the war of the revo- 
lution. Now the Oncidas, it will be recollected, had sustained the cause of the colonies in that 
contest, while the rest of the Iroquois confederacy had espoused that of the crown. The boasting 
of the Oneida warrior, therefore, was like striking a spark into a keg of gunpowder. The ire of 
the Senecas was kindled ijn an instant, and they in turn boasted of the number of scalps taken by 
them from the Oneidas in that contest. They moreover taunted the Oneidas as cowards. Quick 
as lightning the hands of the latter were upon their weapons, and in turn the knives and toma- 
hawks of the Senecas began to glitter in the moonbeams, as they were hastily drawn forth. For 
an instant it was a scene of anxious and almost breathless suspense, a death-struggle seeming 
inevitable, when the storm was hushed by the interposition of old Fish-Carrier, who rushed for- 
ward, and striking the post with violence, exclaimed — " You are all of you a parcel of boys : 
When you have attained my age, and performed the warlike deeds that I have performed, you 
may boast what you have done ; not till then !" Saying which he threw down the post, put an 
end to the dance, and caused the assembly to retire.* This scene, in its reality, must liave been 
one of absorbing and peculiar interest. An assembly of nearly two thousand inhabitants of the 
forest, grotesquely clad in skins and strouds, with shining ornaments of silver, and their coarse 
raven hair falling over their shoulders, and playing wildly in the wind as it swept past, sighing 
mournfully among the giant branches of the trees above, — such a group, gathered in a broad cir- 
cle in an " opening" of the wilderness — the starry canopy of heaven glittering above them, the 
moon casting her silver mantle around their dusky forms, and a large fire blazing in the midst of 
them, before which they were working their spells and performing their savage rites^ — must have 
presented a spectacle of long and vivid remembrance. 

A few years after the town had been laid out the Duke de la Roche- 
faucault Liancourt, an observing French traveller, passed up the valley, 
in 1795. He had already stopped at French town in Asylum township, 
whence he took his departure with his friends Messrs. De Blacons and 
Du Petit Thouars of that place — the latter on foot. He speaks of stop- 
ping at Solomon Teasy's, who held 500 acres at Old Sheshequin, under 
the Connecticut title. Teasy wanted to sell out at $10 75 per acre, and 
remove to Genesee. He speaks of New Sheshequin as " a small nesat 
town, containing about twelve houses, built either of rough logs or 
boards." The justice of the peace, the surveyor, and the pastor of the 
neighboring country resided there. He speaks of Tioga at that time as 
an inconsiderable village of eight or ten houses, with its single tavern 
(there had been three the year before) crowded with travellers going to 
settle near the great lakes. He quotes the price of land in the neighbor- 
hood of the town at $8 per acre, " when out of 300 acres 50 or 60 are 

* MS. recollections of Thomas Morris. Mr. M. was known among the Indians by the name 
conferred upon him on this occasion, for many years. After his marriage, his wife was called by 
them Otetiani squaw, and his children, Otetiani pappooses. 



BRADFORD COUNTY. 147 

cleared." Town lots 50 feet by 150 were at 820. The merchants car- 
ried on an inconsiderable trade in hemp, which they got from the valleys 
above and sent to Philadelphia. He says — 

" Near the confines of Pennsylvania a mountain rises from the bank of the river Tioga in the 
sliape of a sugar-loaf, upon which are seen the remains of some intrenchments. These the in- 
habitants call the Spanish ramparts ; but I rather judge them to have been thrown up against 
the Indians in the times of Mr. Denonville, [1688.] One perpendicular breastwork is yet re- 
maining, which, though covered over with grass and bushes, plainly indicates that a parapet and 
a ditch have been constructed here." 

Sheshequin, or New Sheshequin, is a neat village on the left bank of 
the Susquehanna, composed of farm houses principally, scattered for two 
or three miles along the road. The Universalist church, the only one, 
stands near the centre of the village, about 8 miles from Towanda, and 
6 1-2 from Athens. The sweet vale of Sheshequin has been very prop- 
erly compared, by Mrs. J. H. Scott, the gifted native poetess of the val- 
ley, to a miniature edition of the Wyoming valley. It is about six miles 
in length by one or two in breadth, and the broad fertile flats on which 
the village stands are closed in by mountains on every side except at the 
romantic passes through which breaks the Susquehanna. Capt. Spal- 
ding, afterwards Gen. Spalding, whose name is conspicuous in the annals 
of Wyoming, had passed up through this valley with Gen. Sullivan in 
1779, and set his heart upon its fair lands. After the peace in 1783 he 
came up and settled here, together with his son John Spalding, Capt. 
Stephen Fuller and his sons John and Reuben, Benjamin Cole, Hugh 
Fordsman, Joseph Kinney, and Col. Thomas Baldwin. Col. Franklin, 
Judge Gore, and " ^Squire" Gore followed the year after. Col. Kingsbury 
says that he came in '94, and the valley had then been settled eleven 
years. 

The following is copied from a manuscript found among the papers of 
the late Mrs. Scott, in the handwriting of Joseph Kinney, Esq. 

" The treaty held in 1796 with the Six Nations, was one of much interest. About three hun- 
dred warriors, well dressed in Indian costume, {)assed down the Susquehanna, and encamped on 
the Sheshequin flats. Their whoops and war-dance, although terrifying, still became interesting 
in the extreme. Gen. Spalding made them a present of six thrifty long-legged shoats, (Col. 
Kingsbury says only two,) turned loose upon the large flats. They selected as many young run- 
ners, each with a scalping-knife, who immediately gave chase. This was fine sport for the in- 
habitants. The race was long — they striking with their knives at every opportunity. Their 
mode of cooking would not suit our refined notions. The hogs were thrown into a large fire and 
the hair burnt oft', which was the only dressing. They were then put into large kettles, with a 
little corn and beans, and cooked. This was their feast, and this they called Ump-a-squanch. 
On their return from Philadelphia they stopped at the sani.e place. Here they gave the whites a 
challenge to a foot-race — and Wm. W. Spalding (still living in the Wysox valley) was selected 
by the whites. The whites were successful : this gave umbrage to the Indians. He then want- 
ed to run a mile, which was of course refused ; and it was with the utmost difiiculty that peace 
was restored, as many of the Indians drew their knives." 

About the year '87 or '88, Gen. Spalding was visited by John Living- 
ston and others, to solicit his aid in effecting the memorable lease of land 
for 999 years in New York, from the Six Nations. After the lease was 
effected, many moved to that country from the Susquehanna, and subse- 
quently suffered much loss and hardship by disputed titles. 

(For an interesting account of Old Sheshequin see the history of the 
Moravians, above.) 

Just opposite Towanda, opens the beautiful valley of Wysox creek, 
stretching away on several branches towards the northeastern corner of 



148 BRADFORD COUNTY. 

the county. In this valley are several pretty and flourishing villages— 
Wysox, 3 miles, Meyersburg, 4 miles, and Rome, 9 miles from Towanda. 
On the high summit level at the head of the creek is the neat village of 
Orwell, 14 miles from Towanda, on the road to Montrose. At Rome, the 
Sulphur Springs have gained some celebrity, both as a watering-place 
and for their medicinal qualities. A spacious hotel accommodates the 
visitors. 

The Connecticut Herald of 1817, says: 

In the town of Wysox, Bradford co., state of Pennsylvania, is the " ci-devant" residence of 
a hermit. It is a beautiful valley, imbosomed by mountains, and refreshed by a small river which 
loses itself in the waters of the Susquehanna. The name of the solitary old man, who was, a 
few years since, found dead in his cabin, was " Fencelor." Hence the place still does, and proba- 
bly ever will, retain the name of " Fencelor Castle." This sequestered spot, replete with the 
most delightful scenery, is now occupied by a gentleman of taste and fortune — an emigrant from 
Connecticut — who recently transplanted into that garden of nature, earth's fairest flower, an 
amiable wife. 

(For an adventure of Van Camp's, near Towanda cr., see Columbia co.) 

Burlington is a village not long since started, about 8 miles west of 
Towanda, where the Berwick and Newtown turnpike crosses Sugar cr. 

Troy is another pleasant village on Sugar cr., about 18 miles from To- 
vranda, where the Williamsport and Elmira railroad crosses the cr. 

Monroe, laid out a few years since by Gordon F. Mason, Esq., surveyor 
of the CO., is on Towanda cr., 8 miles S. W. of Towanda, where the 
Berwick road crosses the cr. The railroad to the coal mines, at the head 
of the cr., was located through the village. 

Canton is a small village recently started on the Williamsport and El- 
mira railroad, near the source of the main branch of Towanda cr. 

Ulster is a small village on the right bank of the Susquehanna, half- 
way between Athens and Towanda. 

Just above the mouth of Wyalusing, a small village has grown up 
since the construction of the canal, and a mile or so below the mouth is 
the extensive agricultural and trading establishment of C. F. Wells, Esq. 
The history of the Moravian towns, near this place, is given on pages 
137 to 140. 

Frenchtown is in Asylum township, on the right bank of the Susque- 
hanna, in a deep bend opposite the mouth of Rummersfield cr., seven or 
eight mile.s, by land, below Towanda. 

The village and township received their characteristic names from 
circumstances related in the following account, condensed from the travels 
of the Duke de la Rochefaucauld Liancourt, a French nobleman, who 
travelled through this valley in 1795. He was a close observer of every 
thing relating to the agriculture, land, &c., of our new country ; and, of 
course, took an especial interest in the settlements of his own countrymen. 

^ Asylum (Frenchtown) has been only fifteen months established. Messrs. Talon and De 
Noailles, French gentlemen, came to this country from England, intending to purchase, cultivate, 
and people 200,000 acres of land. They had interested in their project some planters of St. 
Domingo who had escaped from the ruins of that colony with the remains of their fortune. Messrs. 
Robert Morris and John Nicholson sold them the lands, and in Dec. 1793, the first tree was cut 
tit Asylum. Mr. De Noailles was to manage the concerns of the colony at Philadelphia. Mr. 
Talon attended to the erection of loghouses, and the preparation of land for the reception of the 
new colonists. They were disappointed in the receipt of a part of the funds upon which they had 
relied, and were obliged to rehnquish their purchase and improvements. They then became joint 
partners in the business with Morris and Nicholson ; the quantity of land was enlarged to a 
niiUion of acres, and Mr. Talon was to act as agent, with a salary of $3,000 and the use of a 



BRADFORD COUNTY. 149 

large house. Ignorance of the language, want of practice in business of this nature, other avo- 
cations, and the embarrassments of the company, deprived Mr. Talon of the happiness of open- 
ing a comfortable asylum for his unfortunate countrymen, of aiding them in tlieir settlement, and 
thus becoming the honored founder of a colony. He and Mr. De Noaillcs, therefore, sold out to Mr. 
Nicholson. Notwithstanding these drawbacks, Asylum has already attained an uncommon de- 
gree of perfection, considering its infancy. Thirty houses are inhabited by families from St. 
Domingo and from France, by French artisans and by Americans. Some inns and two shops 
have been established. Several town-shares (out-lots) have been put into very good condition, 
and the fields and gardens begin to be productive. Considerable land has been cleared on the 
Loyalsock cr., where the company has allotted 25,000 acres, in part of 100,000, which the in- 
habitants of Asylum have purchased by subscription. The town-shares consist each of 400 acres, 
from ten to twenty of which are cleared. The owner can therefore either settle there himself, or 
intrust it to a farmer. The clearing of town-shares is effected by subscription, ,^9 per acre be- 
ing paid, provided at least ten acres are cleared, of which five must be under fence. Mr. De 
Montule directs the clearing, the plan of which he conceived for the welfare of the colony. Mr. 
Nicholson, now the only proprietor, has formed a bank of his million of acres, divided into 5,000 
shares, each of 200 acres, at $2 50 per acre, making $500 per share. They bear six per cent, 
interest, which increases in proportion to the state of the land ; at the end of fifteen years, the 
company is to be dissolved, and the profits and advantages to be divided among the shareholders. 
An office has been established by the latter for the direction of the bank. 

Motives arising from French manners and opinions have hitherto prevented even French fami- 
lies from settling here. These are now, however, in great measure removed, and if the com- 
pany manage with prudence, there can hardly remain a doubt that Asylum will speedily become a 
place of importance, as an emporium of inland trade. French activity, supported with money, 
will certainly accelerate its growth, and show that the enterprise and assiduity of Frenchmen are 
equally conspicuous in prosperous and in adverse circumstances. 

The following families have either already settled, or intend to : Mr. De Blacons, deputy for 
Dauphin^, in the constituent assembly ; he has married Mademoiselle De Maulde, late canoness 
of the chapter of Bonbourg. They keep a haberdasher's shop. Their partner is Mr. Colin, for- 
merly Abbe de Sevigny, arch-deacon of Tours, and conseiller au grand conscil. Mr. De Mon- 
tule, late captain of a troop of horse, married to a lady of St. Domingo, who resides at present 
at Pottsgrove. Madame De Sybert, cousin of Mr. De Montule, relict of a rich planter of St. 
Domingo. Mr. Becdelliere, fonnerly a canon, now a shopkeeper ; his partners are the two Messrs. 
De la Roue, one of whom was formerly a petit gens d'armes, and the other a captain of infantry. 
The latter has married a sister of Madame Sybert, Mad'slle De Bercy, who intends to establish 
an inn eight miles from Asylum, on the road to Loyalsock. Mr. Beaulieu, formerly captain of 
infantry in the French service — served in America under Potosky — married an English lady — 
now keeps an inn. Mr. Buzard, a planter of St. Domingo, and physician there, has settled here 
with his wife, daughter, and son, and some negroes, the remains of his fortune. Mr. De NoaUles, 
a planter of St. Domingo. Mr. Dandelot, of Franche Compt^, late an officer of infantrj', who 
left France on account of the revolution, and arrived here destitute, but was kindly received by 
Mr. Talon, and is now engaged in agricultural pursuits with spirit and success. Mr. Du Petit 
Thouars, an officer of the navy, who embarked in an expedition in quest of Mr. De la Perouse. 
He was detained by the governor of a Portuguese colony in Brazil, sent to Portugal, stripped of 
all his property, and only escaped further persecution by fleeing to America, where he Uves free 
and happy, without property, yet without want. He is clearing two or three hundred acres which 
have been presented to him. His social, mild, yet truly original temper, is adorned by a noble 
simplicity of manners. [Du Petit Thouars returned afterwards to France, commanded a ship of 
the line, and was killed in the unfortimate battle of the Nile.] Mr. Nores, a young gentleman 
who embarked with Du Petit Thouars, and escaped with Iiijn to this country. He was formerly 
one of the secular clergy of France — he now earns his subsistence by cultivating the ground. 
Mr. Keating, an Irishman, late captain of the regiment of Welch. In St. Domingo he possessed 
the confidence of all parties, but refused the most tempting ofTcrs from the commissioners of the 
assembly, though his sentiments were truly democratic. He preferred to retire to America 
without a shilling, rather than acquire power and opulence in St. Domingo by violating his first 
oath. His advice and prudence have been of great service to Mr. Talon, and his imcommon 
abilities and virtue enable him to adjust matters of dispute with greater facility than most other 
persons. Mr. Renaud and family, a rich merchant of St. Domingo, just arrived, with very con- 
siderable property, preserved from the wreck of an immense fortune. Mr. Carles, a priest and 
canon with a small fortune — now a farmer, much respected. Mr. Prevost, of Paris, celebrated 
there for his benevolence. He retired to America with some property, most of which he ex- 
pended on a settlement he attempted to establish on the Susquehamia, but without success. He 
now cultivates his lot of ground on the Loyalsock as if his whole life had been devoted to the 
same pursuit ; and the cheerful serenity of a philosophical mind attends him in his retreat. His 
wife and sister share his tranquillity and happiness. Madame D'Autremont, widow of a steward 
at Paris, and three children. Two of her sons are grown up ; one was a notary, the other s 



150 BUCKS COUNTY. 

watchmaker ; but they are now hewers of wood and tillers of the g^round, highly respected for 
their zeal, spirit, and politeness. Some artisans are also established at Asylum, but most of them 
are indifferent workmen, and much addicted to drunkenness. In time, American families of 
a better description will settle here, for those who reside at present at Asylmn are scarcely worth 
keeping. A great impediment to the prosperity of the colony wOl probably arise from the preju- 
dices of the French against the Americans. Some vauntingly declare that they will never learn 
the language of the country, or enter into conversation with an American. Such prejudices 
injure the colony. 



BUCKS COUNTY. 

Bucks county is one of the three original counties established by Wm. 
Penn in 1682. In Penn's letter to the Society of Free Traders in 1683, 
he speaks of it as Buckingham co. At that time its northern boundary 
was the Kittatinny mountain, or as far as the land might be purchased 
from the Indians — a very indeterminate line, as the subsequent details 
will show. The county was reduced to its present limits by the erection 
of Northampton in 1752. Length 40 miles, breadth 15 ; area 605 square 
miles. The population in 1790, was 25,401 ; in 1800, 27,496 ; in 1810, 
32,371 ; in 1820, 37,842 ; in 1830, 45,745; in 1840, 48,107. 

The Delaware river forms the northeastern and southeastern bounda- 
ries, turning at a right angle near Bordentown. The smaller streams 
are the Neshaminy, Tohiccon, and Durham creeks, and the sources of 
Perkiomen creek. All these furnish an abundance of excellent mill-sites. 
Three distinct geological belts cross the co., each imparting its peculiar 
character to the soil and surface. The primary strata, comprising gneiss, 
hornblende, mica slate, and kindred rocks, occupy the southeastern end 
of the CO. as far up as the falls at Morrisville, forming a gently undula- 
ting surface, with a soil of but moderate fertility, better adapted to grass 
than grain. The river margins, however, are very fertile. Next to this 
region, and occupying the greater portion of the co., is the broad belt, of 
which the red shale is the most conspicuous stratum, producing an excel- 
lent soil, accompanied by sandstones and conglomerates of a less fertile 
character. To these strata, for convenience' sake, the state geologist has 
given the name of " middle secondary," " in contradistinction to the Apa- 
lachian formations on the one hand, which are now unequivocally our 
lowest secondary formations, and on the other hand to the green sand de- 
posits of New Jersey and Delaware, which constitute the upper secon- 
dary strata of our country." One or two isolated patches of limestone 
crop out from under this formation west of New Hope and near Centre 
Bridge, which furnish to the farmers the means of enriching those lands 
naturally poor, or worn out by cultivation. The third geological belt 
comprises a group of parallel hills, of moderate elevation, being the out- 
lying ranges of the South mountain, formerly called the Lehigh hills. 
They are composed partly of the primary rocks of the gneiss family, and 
the lovrer sandstones of the secondary formation, and impart a rugged 
and sterile character to this region. Enclosed, however, among these 
hills, are several soft and fertile limestone valleys. One of these is the 
valley of Durham cr., at the mouth of which is the Durham cave, thus 
described by the state geologist : 



BUCKS COUNTY. 



151 



" 1(8 position is a little north of the stream and not far from the Delaware. It has a length 
of about 300 feet, an average height of 12, and a breadth varying from 4 to 40 feet. The floor 
of the cave is not level, but descends as we penetrate to the interior. Its rough walls are covered 
with a few pendants or stalactites. Much of the bottom of this cave is covered with water, the 
level of which is influenced, it is said, by that of the Delaware. About half way down occurs 
a narrow lateral cavern, terminating in the form of the letter T. The general direction of the 
main gallery is S. W., becoming S. towards the remoter end. The rocks show an anticlinal 
axis about 20 yards S. E. of the entrance of the cave, the direction of the axis and the cave 
nearly coinciding." 

In the southern end of the county a dyke of igneous origin, protruded 
through the primitive limestone, has introduced a number of minerals in 
its veins, and among others, plumbago or black-lead. Near the Buck 
tavern in Southampton township, a mine of it was formerly wrought, but 
the place is now abandoned and the pit filled up. The mineral was of 
good quality, but the business did not prove profitable. 

Along the right bank of the Delaware, the Delaware division of the 
Penn. canal comes down from Easton, terminating at Bristol in a large 
basin. The Philadelphia and Trenton railroad passes across the lower 
end of the county. The business of the county is chiefly agricultural ; 
and its farmers do not yield in skill and wealth to any in the state. They 
seem to take far more delight and comfort in their quiet rural homes, 
than in the noise and wild speculation of a city ; and as a consequence 
of this trait of character, there is no very large town in the co. Even 
Bristol, with all its advantages for business, contains only a population 
of 1,500, and still has the rural air which characterizes the county. 

The population of the lower part of the co. is composed of the descend- 
ants of the ancient English settlers ; about Doylestown and Deep run, 
are the descendants of the Irish Presbyterians, and the northwestern part 
of the CO. is extensively occupied by the German race. 

The shore of the Delaware as far up as Bristol, is lined with delightful 
country seats, belonging generally to citizens of Philadelphia. One of 




Country Seat of Nicholas Biddle, Esq, 

the most beautiful is that of Nicholas Biddle, Esq., in Andalusia township, 
about 12 miles from Philadelphia. In the annexed view, the grapery is 
seen on the right of the mansion. In the wing on the left, is the library, 



152 BUCKS COUNTY. 

where probably were written the celebrated letters to Hon. John M. 
Clayton of Delaware, concerning the U- S. Bank. The mansion and 
grounds are part of the estate of Mr. Biddle's lady, and have been in the 
Craig family, some of whom still reside on the adjoining place, for many 
years. The recent architectural improvements, including the splendid 
Grecian portico, are from the designs of Mr. Thos. U. Walter of Phila- 
delphia. Near Mr. Biddle's, is the splendid seat of the late Alexander J. 
Dallas. 

There is reason to believe that a part of Bucks co. was settled by Eu- 
ropeans previous to the arrival of Wm. Penn in 1682. It is well known, 
that for several years previous to that event, a great number of the So- 
ciety of Friends had made extensive settlements in West Jersey, and had 
established a meeting at Burlington. It was natural that some of these 
should be tempted to cross the river and take up the fertile lands on the 
opposite bank. Robert Proud, in a note to his History of Pennsylvania, 
says — 

" In the records of this people [the Quakers] in early times, among other things I find the fol- 
lowing anecdotes respecting the original and regular establishment of some of their religious 
meetings in these parts, viz. : — The first most considerable Enghsh settlement in Pennsylvania 
proper, is said to have been near the lovi^er falls of the Delaware, in Bucks co., where the Quakers 
had a regular and established meeting for religious worship, before the country bore the name of 
Pennsylvania : some of the inhabitants there having been settled by virtue of patents from Sir 
Edmund Andross, Gov. of New- York. Among the names of the inhabitants here at this time 
or soon after, appear William Yardly, James Harrison, Phineas Pemberton, Wilham Biles, an 
eminent preacher, William Dark, Lyonel Britain, William Beaks, &c. And soon afterwards, 
there, and near Neshaminy creek, Richard Hough, Henry Baker, Nicolas Walne, John Otter, 
Robert Hall ; and in Wrightstown, John Chapman and James RatcliiF, a noted preacher in the 
society. In the year 1683, Thomas Janney, a noted preacher among the Quakers, settled near 
the Falls, with his family and otliers who at that time arrived from Cheshire in England. After 
12 years' residence here, he retinrned to England and died there ; — a man of good reputation, cha- 
racter, and example. 

" In 1682, John Scarborough, a coach-smith, arrived in the country with his son John, then a 
youth, and settled in Middletown township, but he afterwards returned to England and left his 
possessions to his son. John Chapman came over in 1684, and was entertained some time at 
Phineas Pemberton's at the Falls, who had then made some progress in improvements. After- 
wards Chapman went to his purchase in Wrightstown, where, within about 12 months afterwards, 
his wife had two sons at one time, whence he called the place Twinborough. At this time Chap- 
man's place was the farthest back in the woods of any English settlement ; and the Indians be- 
ing then numerous, much frequented his house, and wei-e very kind to him and his family, as 
well as to those who came after him ; often supplying them with com and other provisions, at 
that time very scarce. Thomas Langhorne came the same year, and died soon after." 

The Phineas Pemberton above alluded to was clerk of the county ; 
and it is said that he kept a register, and all the first settlers who arrived 
were compelled to bring certificates of acceptable character, which were 
there enrolled, together with their names and those of their families and 
servants, with other circumstances concerning their arrival. This book 
is still in existence. 

Smith, in his Hist, of Penn., under the date of 1684, says — "Anne, the 
second daughter of John Chapman, in the year 1699, came forth in the 
ministry, and travelled on that account several times through New Eng- 
land, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, &c., and in Europe. 

The Indian walk forms a prominent feature, not only in the history of 
Bucks county, but of the state. A full account of this transaction is given 
under the head of Northampton county. The first purchase of the land 
above Neshaminy, appears to have been made by the agent of William 
Penn, probably Markham, in July, 1682. "The following description," 



BUCKS COUNTY. 153 

says the elder John Watson, " is taken from the original deed." The pa- 
rentheses are believed to be by Mr. Watson in 1815. 

" Beginning at a white-oak in the land now in the tenure of John Wood, and by him called 
the Gray Stones, over against the falls of Delaware river, and from thence up the river side to a 
corner spruce-tree, marked with the letter P, at the foot of the mountains, (this tree stood 104 
perches above the mouth of Baker's creek) — and from the said tree along by the ledge or foot of 
the mountains west-southwest to a corner white-oak, marked with the letter P, (on land now 
Benjamin Hampton's) — standing by the Indian path that leads to an Indian town called Play- 
yvicky, and near the head of a creek called Towisinick, and from thence westward to the creek 
called Neshaminah, (this line crosses wliere the Newtown road now is, at the old chestnut tree 
below Dr. Isaac Chapman's lane end,) along by the said Neshaminah to the river Delaware, ahas 
Makerickhickon, and so bounded by the said main river, to tlie first mentioned white-oak in 
John Wood's land, (above Morris yille,) with the several islands in the river, &c., dated 15th Ju- 
ly, 1682. 

" This purchase was limited by previous agreement to extend as far up the river from the 
mouth of Neshaminah as a man might walk in a day and a half — which tradition has said to 
have been executed by William Penn himself, on foot, with several of his friends, and a number 
Qf Indian chiefs. It was said by the old people that they walked leisurely, after fhe Indian man- 
ner, sitting down sometimes to smoke their pipes, to eat biscuit and cheese, and drink a bottle of 
wine ; it is certain they arrived at the spruce-tree in a day and a half, the whole distance rather 
less than 30 miles." 

Four years afterward, in 1(586, the purchase was n)ade by Capt, Thos 
Holme, Penn's surveyor-general and land agent, of another tract, of which 
the boundaries were to be ascertained by walking. Mr. Wq,tson ipi his 
statement says, that many years previous to the actual official walk, an 
informal and unauthorized walk had been made by a white man and an 
Indian, probably for their own amusement, or to settle a question of local 
title. 

" In the year 1692, a white man living at Newtown, and Cornelius Spring, a Delaware Indian, 
accompanied by several Indians and white people, undertook and performed the walk in the In- 
dian manner ; but by whose authority or by whose directioiu is not now known. They started 
fronj the spruce-tree, and walked up the river ; the Indians jumped over all the streams of water 
until they came to the Tohickon, which they positively refused to cross, and therefore they pro- 
ceeded up the creek on the south side to its source, and then turning to the left, they fell in with 
Swamp creek, and going down it a small distance, it was noon on the second day, or a day and 
a half from the time of setting out. To close the survey, it was proposed to go from there to the 
source of the west branch of the Neshaminah, (so called,) thence down the creek to the west 
corner of the first purchase, and thence to the spruce-tree, the place of beginning. These 
bounds would have included a tract of land rather larger than the first purchase, and no doubt 
would have been satisfactory to the Indians. It does not appear to have been a final settlement, 
or that any thing was done relative to the subject, except talk about it, for 43 years ; in wliich 
time a large tract was sold to a company at Durham, a furnace and forges were erected there, 
and nmnerous scattered settlements made on the frontiers as far back as the JLiehigh hills. The 
chief settlements of the Indians at the time were in the forks of the Delaware and Lehigh, below 
and beyond the Blue mountains. But in the summer season many families migrated in their 
way, and cabined among the white people in different places, as far down as Pennsbury manor, 
where they long retained a permanent residence on sufferance ; and although a general harmony 
subsisted between the natives and the white people, yet they showed a dislike to the surveys and 
settlements that were every year extending further back in the woods, and as they presumed far 
beyond tbe proper limits of the land they had sold." (See Northampton co.) 

About the time that Wm. Penn organized Bucks co. in 1682, he select- 
ed an extensive tract of fine land on the bank of the Delaware, four or 
five miles above where Bristol now stands, which he called Pennsbury 
manor, intending to establish there his favorite country residence. The 
original tract contained 8,431 acres in 1684, but was afterwards reduced 
by various grants. Wm. Penn always had a strong predilection for coun- 
try life. In a letter of counsel to his family he says : " Let my children 
be husbandmen and housewives. This leads to consider the works of 
God and nature, 9,nd diverts the mind from being taken up with the vain 

20 



154 



BUCKS COUNTY 



arts and inventions of a luxurious world. Of cities and tqwns, of con- 
course beware. The world is apt to stick close to those who have lived 
and got wealth there. A country life and estate I like best for my chil- 
dren." 

Upon this favorite spot Wm. Penn had concentrated many a bright 
vision of quiet enjoyment, in the midst of his own family, and surrounded 
by the anticipated honors of his station as proprietary. He erected, or 
caused to be erected during his absence, a magnificent mansion-house, 
60 feet long by 40 deep, with offices and outhouses at the sides ; fronting 
upon a beautiful garden which extended down to the river. It was in 
his day, and for many years afterward, the marvel of the neighborhood. 
He had the happiness to reside here for a short period with his family in 
1700-01, and entertained much company in his public capacity. The 
increasing cares and responsibilities of the colony, and the peculiar state 
of the times, required his presence in England, and he never afterward 
enjoyed that quiet retirement for which he had so luxuriously provided. 
The mansion and outhouses were neglected during his absence. A large 
leaden water reservoir, which had been erected on the top of the man- 
sion, to guard against fire, became leaky, and injured the walls and fur- 
niture of the house, so that it fell into premature decay, and it was taken 
down just before the revolution. After the peace the whole estate was 
sold out of the Penn family. All that now remains on the premises is 
the ancient frame brewhouse, a sketch of which is here inserted. Al- 
though 160 years old, it is still serviceable as an outhouse, and was not 




Pernios old Brewhouse. 
long since in use as a dwelling. Mr. Crozer thinks the shingles on one 
side of the roof are those originally placed there ; at least no renewal 
has been made " within the memory of the oldest inhabitant." The new 
farm-house of Mr. Robert Crozer, seen in the picture, occupies part of 
the site of the mansion-house. In the rear of the farm-house is a row of 
venerable English cherry-trees planted by Penn himself, still in bearing, 
but very much decayed. 

Mr. John F. Watson, in his Annals of Philadelphia says : 
"The same Samue} Preston says of his grandmother, that she said Phineas Pembertwi 



BUCKS COUNTY. 155 

surveyed and laid out a town, intended to have been Philadelphia, up at Peniisbury, arid that the 
people who Went there were dissatisfied with the change. On my expressing doubts of this, 
thinking she may have confused the case of Chester removal, Mr. Preston then further declared, that 
having, nearly 40 years ago, occasion to hunt through the trunks of surveys of John Lukens, 
surveyor-general of Bucks co., he and Lukens then saw a ground plot for the city of Philadel- 
phia, signed Phineas Peniberton, surveyor-general, that fully appeared to have been in Pennsbury 
manor ; also another for the present town of Bristol, then called Buckingham." 

The following notes of the early history of Buckingham and Solebury 
townships, are from the pen of Mr. John Watson of Greenville. 

" The whole of the two townships, Buckingham and Solebury, in early tunc was called Buck- 
ingham, being a favorite name with our first Worthy proprietor, Wm. Penn. The name Was first 
given to the township and borough now called Bristol, but transferred here perhaps about the 
year , before Cutler's re-survey. 

" It appears, by an enumeration of the inhabitants taken in 1787, that Buckingham contained 
173 dwelling-houses, 188 outhouses, 1,173 white inhabitants, and 13 blacks. Solebury, 166 
dweUing-houses, 150 out-houses, 928 white inhabitants, and no blacks. 

" A certain Dr. Bowman, being of a contemplative turn of mind, in the early settlement, used 
to frequent the fine round top of one of the hills near the river ; and, at his request, he was buri- 
ed there. It is since called Bownian's hill. Many others have since been buried at the same 
place. Bowman's hill is directly opposite to another on the Jersey shore called Belmount, of the 
same height, form, and direction. 

" The first settlers generally came from England, and were of the middle rank, and chiefly 
Friends ; many of them had first settled at the Falls, but soon after removed back, as it was 
then called, into the woods. As they came away in the reigns of Charles, James, William, and 
Anne, they brought with them not only the industry, frugality, and strict domestic discipline of 
their education, but also a portion of those high-toned pohtical impressions that then prevailed 
in England. 

" At that early period, when our forefathers were building loghouses, bams, and sheds for 
stables, and clearing new land, and fencing it chiefly with poles or brush, it has been said that a 
hearty, sincere good will for each other generally prevailed among them. They all stood oc- 
casionally in need of the help of their neighbors, who were often situated at some distance 
through the woods. 

" Chronic ailments were not so frequent as at present ; which was, perhaps, in part owing to 
the wholesome diet, brisk exercise, Hvely manners, and cheerful and unriefined state of the mind. 
But acute disorders, such as fevers, in various degrees — those called ' long fevers, dumb agues, 
fever-and-agues,' sore throats and pleurisies, Were then iriuch more conimon than now. The 
natural small-pox was peculiarly distressing — was mostly severe, and often mortal — and nothing 
strange that it should be so. The nature of the disorder being but little known, it was very im- 
properly treated by the nurses, to whose care the management was chiefly committed. A hot 
room — plenty of bedclothes — hot teas — and milk punch, or hot tiff, were pronounced most proper 
to bring the eruption out, and to make it fill well ; and the chief danger was apprehended from 
the patient taking cold by fresh air or cold drink. 

" When wheat and rye grew thick and tall on new land, and all was to be cut with sickles, 
many men and some women became dexterous in the use of them, and victory was contended 
for in many a violent trial ; sometimes by two or three only, and sometimes by the whole com- 
pany for 40 or 50 perches. About the year 1741, 20 acres were cut and shocked in half a day 
in Solebury. 

" The imposing authority of necessity obliged the first settlers and their successors to wear a 
strong and coarse kind of dress ; enduring buck-skin was used for breeches, and sometimes for 
jackets ; oznabrigs, made of hemp tow at Is. 4d. per yard, was much used for boys' shirts ; 
sometimes flax, and flax and tow were used for that purpose ; and coarse tow for trowsers ; a 
wool hat, strong shoes, and brass buckles, two linsey jackets, and a leather apron, made Out the 
winter apparel. This kind of dress continued to be common for the laboring people until 1750. 

" Yet a few, even in early times, somewhat to imitate the trim of their ancestors, laid out as 
much to buy one suit of fine clothes, as would have purchased 200 acres of pretty good land. 
The cut of a fine coat, (now antiquated,) may be worthy of description. Three Or four large 
plaits in the skirts — wadding almost like a coverlet to keep them smooth — cuffs vastly large up 
to the elbows, open below, and of a round form. The hat of a beau was a good broad-brimmed 
beaver, with double loops, drawn nearly close behind, and half raised on each side. The women 
in full mode wore stiff whalebone stays, worth 8 or $10. The silk gown much plaited in the 
back ; th6 sleeves nearly twice as large as the arm, and reaching rather more than half way from 
the shoulder to the elbow — the interval covered with a fine hoUand sleeve, nicely plaited, locket 
buttons, and long-armed gloves. Invention had then reached no further than a bath bonnet with 
a cape. 

" Something like this was the fashion of gay people ■ of whort there were a few, though no* 



156 BUCKS COUNTY. 

many in early times, in Biickinghiim and Solebury. But the whole, or something hkc it, wa« 
often put on for weddiiiig suits, with the addition of the bride being dressed in a long black hood 
without a bonnet. There was One of these solemn symbols of matrimony made of near two 
yards of rich black Paduasoy, that was lent to be worn on those occasions, and continued some- 
times in use, down to my remembrance. Several of these odd fashions were retained, because 
old, and gradually gave way to those that were new. The straw plat, called the Bee-hive bon- 
net, and the blue or green apron, were long worn by old women. 

" Notwithstanding the antique and rough dresses, and unimproved habits and manners that 
obtained among the early settlers, yet an honest, candid intention, a frank sincerity, and a good 
degree of zeal and energy in adhering to religious and cifil principles and duties generally, pre- 
vailed among the most substantial part of them. 

" The first surveys in what was then called Buckingham, were as early as 168-, and the 
greater part were located before 1703. It is not easy to ascertain who made the first improve- 
ment ; but most probably, from circumstances, it was Thomas and John Bye ; and George Pow- 
nall, Edward^Henry, and Roger Hartley, Dr. Streper, and Wm. Cooper, came early ; Richard 
Burgess, John Scarbrough, grandfather of the preacher of that name, and Henry Paxson, were 
also early settlers. John and Richard Lundy, John Large, and James Lenox, and Wm. La !ey, 
John Worstell, Jacob Holcomb, Joseph Linton, Joseph Fell, Matthetv Hughes, Hugh Ely, and 
perhaps Richard Norton, came from Long Island about 1705. 

" The first adventurers were chiefly members of the falls meeting ; and are said to have fre- 
quently attended it, and often on foot. In the year 1700, leave was granted by the Quarterly 
meeting to hold a meeting for worship at Buckingham ; which was first at the house of William 
Cooper, (now John Gillingham's.) 

" One of the first dwelling-houses yet remains in Abraham Paxson's yard, on the tract called 
William Crbasdale's, now Henry Paxson's. It is of stone. 

" Until a sufficient quantity of grain was raised for themselves and the new-comers, all further 
supplies had to be brought from the Falls or Middletown ; and until 1707, all the grain had to be 
taken there, or to Morris Gwm's, on Pennepack below the Billet, to be ground. In that year 
Robert Heatli built a grist-mill on the great spring-stream in Solebury. Tliis must have been a 
great hardship — to go so far to mill for more than 17 years, and chiefly on horseback. It was 
some time that they had to go tlie same distance with their plough-irons and other smith work. 
Horses were seldom shod ; and blocks to pound hominy were a useful invention borrowed from 
the natives. 

"In 1690, there were many settlements of Indians in these townships — one on the lowland 
near the river, on George Pownall's tract, which remained for some time after he settled there — 
one on James Streiper's tract, near Conkey Hole — one on land since Samuel Harold's — one on 
Joseph Fell's tract — and one at the great spring, &.c. 

" Tradition reports that they were kind neighbors, supplying the white people with meat, and 
sometimes with beans and other vegetables ; which they did in perfect charity, bringing presents 
to their houses and refusing pay. Their children were sociable and fond of play. A harmony 
arose out of their mutual intercourse and dependence. Native simplicity reigned in its greatest 
extent. The difference between the families of the white man and the Indian, in many respects, 
was not great — when to live was the utmost hope, and to enjoy a bare sufficiency the greatest 
luxury. 

" While the land was fresh and new, it produced good crops of wheat and rye ; from 15 to 25 
or 30 bushels per acre. 

" It appears in an old account-book of my grandfather, Richard Mitchcl's, who had a grist, 
mill and store in Wright stown, from 1724 to 1735, that his charges are as follows : Wheat front 
3s. to 4s. ; rye one shilling less ; Indian corn and buckwheat, 2s. 5 middlings, fine, 7s. and 8s. ; 
coarse, 4s. 6rf. ; bran Is. ; salt, 4s. ; beef, 2d. ; bacon, Ad. ; pork was about 'id. 

" Improved land was sold generally by the acre, at the price of 20 bushels of wheat. Thus, 
wheat 2s. 6(Z., land 2L 10s. ; wheat 3s., land 3/. ; wheat .3s. 6^., land 3L 10s. ; wheat 5s., land 
5Z. ; wheat 7s. 6fZ., land 11. lOs. ; wheat 10s., land lOZ. When provender could be procured to 
keep stock through the winter, milk, butter, and cheese became plenty for domestic use. Swine 
were easily raised and fattened. Deers, turkeys, and other small game made a plentiful supply 
of excellent provision in their season. Roast venison and steiv-pies were luxurious dishes, 
which the hunter and his family enjoyed in their log cabins with a high degree of pleasure. 

" Having generally passed over the era of necessity that attended tlie first settlement about 1 730. 
and for some time before, they mostly enjoyed a pretty good living, were well ted, clothed, and 
lodged. 

" The new stone mccting-house being built about 1731, several stone dwelling-houses were 
built about that time, and soon after ; as Joseph Fell's, Thomas Canby's, John Watson's, Joseph 
Large's, and Henry Paxson's. Several frame-houses were also built, enclosed with nice-shaved 
clapboards, plastered inside. One of these yet remains standing on Thomas Watson's land, now 
John Lewis's. The boards for floors and partitions were all sawed by hand, and the hauling 
done with carts and sleds, as there were not many, if any, wagons at that early period. 



BUCKS COUNTY. 157 

" Most of the original tracts were settled and improved before 1720 ; and in 1130 the lands up 
the Neshaniiny and in Plumstead were settled ; and in New Britain by Welsh generally. 

" The winter of 1740-41 was very severe. The snow was deep, and lay from the latter end of 
December to the 4th of March. 

" Houses for school were very few, and those poor, dark, log-buildings ; the masters, generally, 
very unsuitable persons for the purpose ; and but little learning obtained at school. Schooling 
Was 20s. a year, and the master boarded with the employers. 

" Indian com, not being an article of trade, was not raised in quantities before 1750, nor until 
Some years after. 

" Before this time, no cross occurrence happened materially to disturb the general tranquillity ; 
every thing, both public and private, went on in an even and regular routine — moderate wishes 
ivere fully supplied — necessaries and conveniences were gradually increased ; but luxuries of any 
kind, except spirituous liquors, were rarely thought of, or introduced, eitiier of apparel, household 
furniture, or living. Farm carts were had by the best farmers. Thomas Canby, Richard Nor- 
ton, Joseph Large, Thomas Gilbert, and perhaps a few more, had wagons before 1745, and a few 
two-horse wagons from then to 1 750 were introduced ; and some who went to market had light 
tongue-carts for the purpose. These were a poor make-shift, easily overset, the wild team some- 
times ran away, and the gears often broke. John Wells, Esq., was the only person who ever had 
a riding chair. He and Matthew Hughes were the only justices of the peace, except Thos. Can-> 
by, who held a commission for a short time — and there were no taverns in the two townships, 
except on the Delaware, at Howell's and Coryell's ferries, (which was owing probably to the dis- 
position and manners of the inhabitants,) and but one distillery a short time. 

" The preceding account will apply with general propriety to the state of things until 1754, 
when a war began between England and France concerning lands on tlie west and northwest of 
Pennsylvania. In general the war introduced a more plentiful supply of cash. Trade and im- 
provements were proportionably advanced ; the price of all kinds of produce was increased ; 
wheat was from six shillings to a dollar a bushel, and a land tax was raised to sink the debt ; yet 
the burden was not sensibly felt, as there was such an increasing ability to bear it. 

" As the quantity of cash increased during the war, so also there was a much larger importa- 
tion of foreign goods. Bohea tea and coffee became more used, which were not often to be found 
in any farmer's house before 1750. Tea, in particular, spread and prevailed almost universally. 
Half silks and calico were common for women's wearing, various modes of silk bonnets, silk 
and fine linen neckhandkerchiefs ; in short, almost every article of women's clothing was for- 
eign manufacture. The men wore jackets and breeches of Bengal, nankeen, fustian, black ever- 
lasting, cotton velvet, as the fashion of the season determined the point, which changed almost 
every year. Household furniture was added to, both in quantity and kind ; and hence began the 
marked distinction between rich and poor, or rather between new-fashioned and old-fashioned, 
which has continued increasing ever since. 

" The subject of old and new fashions bore a considerable dispute, at least how far the new 
should be introduced. Some showed by their practice that they were for going as far as they 
could ; some stopped half way ; and a few trying to hold out as long as they could, were not to 
be won upon by any means more likely to prevail than by the women, who had a strong aversion 
to appearing singular ; so that at the present time, and for tliese 20 years past, there are but few 
men, and fewer women, left as perfect patterns of the genuine old-fashioned sort of people." 

During many years after the first settlement of Bucks co., the kind- 
hearted and industrious Friends cleared and cultivated their lands in 
peace ; contented with their own lot, and having no cause of quarrel 
with others. Between them and the Indians who dwelt among them, 
hospitality and other kind offices had always been reciprocated ; and al- 
though the black cloud of Indian warfare was rumbling and thundering 
beyond the Blue mountains in 1755-1760, yet the Quakers had little 
to fear from it. During several generations, the simple history of the col- 
onists of Bucks CO. was, that they lived, improved their farms, begat sons 
and daughters, and were gathered to their fathers. But at length people 
of other races, and different religious and political opinions, began to 
Settle among and around them ; and in process of time the desolating 
tide of the revolutionary war swept to and fro across their once quiet 
county. The American army, late in the year 1776, retreated across New 
Jersey into this county. Gen. Washington defended all the passes of the 
river from Coryell's ferry to Bristol. His head-quarters were at New- 
town, while he was urging upon congress the necessity of reinforcing the 



158 BUCKS COUNTY. 

army. The following extract is from a history of the American revcM 
lution, in the Pennsylvania Journal, of 1781 : — 

The affairs of America now (Dec. 1776) wore a serious aspect. New York, with several 
posts in the neighborhood, and a considerable part of New Jersey, Were in possession of the ene- 
my. The American army had lost during the campaign near five thousand men by captivity 
and the sword ; and the few remaining regular troops, amounting only to 2,000 men, were upon 
the eve of being disbanded — for as yet the enlistments were for the short term of only one year. 
Gen. Howe had cantoned his troops in several villages on the Delaware, in New Jersey. His 
strongest post was at Trenton. It consisted of 1,200 Hessians, under the command of Col. Rahl. 
Gen. Washington occupied the heights on the Pennsylvania side of the river, in full view of the 
enemy. A few cannon shot were now and then exchanged across the river, but without doing much 
execution on either side. The two armies lay in these positions for several weeks.* In the mean 
while the spirit of liberty, inflamed by the recital of the ravages committed in New Jersey by the 
British army, began to revive in every part of the continent. Fifteen hundred associators, for 
as yet most of the states were without militia laws, marched from the city of Philadelphia to re- 
inforce the expiring army of Gen. Washington. This body of men consisted chiefly of citizens 
of the first rank and character in the state. They had been accustomed to live in all the softness 
that is peculiar to the inhabitants of large cities. But neither the hardships of a military life, 
nor the severity of the winter, checked their ardor in the cause of their country. The wealthy 
merchant and the journeyman tradesman were seen marching side by side, and often exchanged 
the contents of their canteens with each other.t This body of troops was stationed at Bristol, 
under the command of Gen. Cadwallader. On the evening of the 25th of Dec, Gen. Washing- 
ton marched from his quarters, with his little army of regular troops, to M'Konkie's ferry, with 
the design of surprising the enemy's post at Trenton. He had previously given orders to Gen. 
Irvine, who commanded a small body of the militia of the Flying camp, to cross the Delaware 
below Trenton, so as to cut oft' the retreat of the enemy towards Bordentown. He had likewise 
advised Gen. Cadwallader of his intended enterprise, and recommended it to him at the same 
time to cross the river at Dunk's ferry, three miles below Bristol, in order to surprise the enemy'3 
post at Moimt Holly. Unfortunately, the extreme coldness of the night increased the ice in the 
river to that degree that it was impossible for the militia to cross it, either in boats or on foot. 
After struggling with the season till near daylight, they reluctantly abandoned the shores of the 
Delaware, and returned to their quarters. Gen. Washington, from the peculiar nature of that 
part of the river to which he directed his march, met with fewer obstacles from the ice, and hap- 
pily crossed the river about daylight. He immediately divided his little army, and marched them 
through two roads towards Trenton. The distance was six miles. About eight o'clock an at- 
tack was made on the picket-guard of the enemy. It was commanded by a youth of eighteen, 
who fell in his retreat to the main body. At half an hour after eight o'clock, the town was nearly 
siuTounded, and all the avenues to it were seized, except the one which was left for Gen. Irvine 
to occupy. An accident here had like to have deprived the American army of the object of theif 
enterprise. The commanding officer of one of the divisions sent word to Gen. Washington, just 
before they reached the town, that his ammunition had been wetted by a shower of rain that had 
fallen in the morning, and desired to know what he must do. The commander-in-chief, with 
the coolness and intrepidity that are natural to him in action, sent him word to " advance with 
fixed bayonets." This laconic answer inspired the division with the firmness and courage of 
their leader. The whole body now moved onward in sight of the enemy. An awful sUence 
reigned through every platoon. Each soldier stepped as if he carried the liberty of his country 
upon his single musket. The moment was a critical one. The attack was begun with artillery, 
under the command of Col. (afterwards Gen.) Knox. The infantry supported the artillery with 
spirit and firmness. It was now the tears and prayers of the sons and daughters of liberty found 
acceptance in the sight of heaven. The enemy were thrown into confusion in every quarter. 
One regiment attempted to form in an orchard, but were soon forced to fall back upon their main 
body. A company of them took sanctuary in a stone house, which they defended with a field. 

* Of all events none seemed to the British more improbable, than that their late retreating half- 
naked enemies should, in this extreme cold season, face about and commence offensive operations. 
They indulged themselves in a degree of careless inattention to the possibility of a surprise, 
which, in the vicinity of an enemy, however contemptible, can never be justified. It has been 
said that Col. Rahl, the commanding officer in Trenton, being imder some apprehension for that 
frontier post, applied to Gen. Grant for a reinforcement ; and that the general returned for answer, 
" Tell the colonel he is very safe : I will undertake to keep the peace in New Jersey with a cor- 
poral's guard." — Ramsay. 

t It is remarkable that out of these 1,.500 citizens of Philadelphia, there died with sickness 
only one man during a six weeks' tour of duty. Few veteran troops perhaps ever endured more 
from cold, hunger, watching, and fatigue, than this corps of city militia. 



BUCKS COUNTY. 159 

piece judiciously posted in the entry of the house. Capt. (afterwards Col.) Washington — a rela- 
tion of the general — was ordered to dislodge them. He advanced with a field-piece, but finding 
his men exposed to a close and steady fire, he suddenly leaped from them, and rusliing into the 
house seized the officer by the collar who had the command of the gun, and claimed him as his 
prisoner. His men followed him, and the whole company were immediately made prisoners of 
war. The captain received a ball in his liand in entering the house. In the mean while victory 
declared itself everywhere in favor of the American arms, and Gen. Washington received the 
submission of the njain body of the enemy by means of a flag. The joy of the American troops 
can more easily be conceived than described. This was the first important advantage they had 
gained oyer the enemy in the course of the campaign, and its consequences were at once foreseen 
upon tlie affairs of America. Great praise was given to the behavior of botli officers and sol- 
diers, by Gen. Washington, after the battle, in his letter to congress. The Philadelphia light- 
horse distinguished themselves upon this occasion, by their bravery and attention to duty. They 
were the more admired for their conduct, as it was the first time they had ever been in action.* 
The loss of the enemy amounted to near one hundred in killed and wounded : among the former 
was their commander, Col. Rahl. Above one thousand prisoners were taken, together with six 
field-pieces, and a considerable quantity of camp furniture of all kinds. Private baggage was 
immediately rendered sacred by a general order. About one hundred of the enemy escaped by 
the lower road to Bordentown. The American army had several privates and only one officer 
wounded. After having refreshed themselves, and rested a few hours in Trenton, they returned 
with their prisoners and other trophies of victory, to the Pennsylvania side of the river, by 
the same way they came, with the loss of only three men, who perished with the cold In recross. 
ing the river — an event not to be wondered at, when we consider that many of them were half 
naked, and most of them barefooted. 

A few additional particulars are stated by Marshall, as follows : — 

Gen. Washington accompanied the upper column, and arriving at the outpost on that road 
precisely at eight, drove it in ; and Ln three minutes heard the fire from th(? column which had 
taken the river road. The picket-guard attempted to keep up a fire while retreating, but was pur- 
sued with such ardor as to be unable to make a stand. Col. Rawle, who commanded in the town, 
paraded his men and met the assailants. In the commencement of the action he was mortally 
wounded ; upon which the troops, in apparent confusion, attempted to gain the road to Princeton. 
Gen. Washington threw a detachment into their front, while he advanced rapidly on them in per- 
son. Finding themselves surrounded, and their artillery already seized, they laid down their arms 
and surrendered themselves prisoners of war. About 20 of the enemy were killed, and about 
1,000 made prisoners. Six field-pieces and 1,000 stand of small-arms were also taken. On the 
part of the Americans, two privates were killed, two frozen to death, and one officer, Lieut. Mon. 
roe, (since president of the United States,) of the third Virginia regiment, and three or four pri- 
vates wounded. Count Donop, who commanded the troops below Trenton, on hearing the dis- 
aster which had befallen Col. Rawle, retreated by the road leading for Amboy, and joined Gen. 
Leslie at Princeton. The next day Gen. Cadwallader crossed the Delaware, with orders to ha- 
rass the enemy ; but to put nothing to hazard until he should be joined by the continental bat- 
talions, who were allowed a day or two of repose after the fatigues of the enterprise against 
Trenton. Gen. Mifflin joined Gen. Irvine with about 1,500 Pennsylvania militia, and those 
troops also crossed the river. Finding himself once more at the head of a force with which it 
seemed practicable to act offensively, the general determined to employ the winter in endeavor- 
ing to recover Jersey. 

The Quakers of Bucks co. would willingly, in accordance with their 
principles, have kept entirely aloof from both contending parties. But 
this very neutrality was regarded with suspicion by the more active par- 
tisans on the American side. Suspicion soon broke out into rancorous 
}>olitical hostility, and as the war continued, political hostility ripened into 
personal bitterness between near neighbors. During the progress of the 
war, many unprincipled men, who did not choose to enlist openly with 

* An anecdote is mentioned of Samuel Morris, Esq., the captain of the troop of horse in this 
action, which, though it discovers his mexperience of war, does singular honor to his humanity. 
In advancing towards the town, he came up to the Hessian lieutenant who commanded the 
picket-guard. He lay rnortally wounded, and weltering in his blood, in the great road. The 
captain was touched v/lth the sight, and called to Gen. Greene to know if nothing could be done 
for him. The general bid him push on, and take no notice of him. The captain was as much 
agitated with the order as he was affected with the scene before him ; and it was not till after 
tlie fortunate events of the morning were over, that he was convinced that his sympathy for a 
bleeding enemy was ill-timed. 



160 BUCKS COUNTY. 

the royal army, found a more profitable employment in secret acts of 
treachery and piracy among their own neighbors ; for which they were 
well compensated by the British officers at Philadelphia and New York. 
Among these outlaws the Doane family became notorious. 

The Doanes were a Quaker family, living in Plumstead township during the revolution. The 
father was a worthy man ; but his six sons, as they grew to manhood, abandoned all the noble 
principles of the sect with which they had been reared, and retaining only so much of its out- 
ward forms as suited their nefarious schemes, they became a gang of most desperate outlaws. 
They were professedly tories, and they drove for a time a very profitable trade in stealing the 
horses and cattle of their whig neighbors, and disposing of them to the British army, then in 
Philadelphia. One of the brothers, Joseph, was teaching school in Plumstead ; and Mr. Shaw, 
now of Doylestown, was one of his scholars, together with two of the Doanes, then about 18 or 
20 years of age. Two of the brothers had joined the British in Philadelpliia, and through them 
the stolen horses were disposed of, and the proceeds shared. The Doanes at school were often 
displaying their pockets full of guineas, which were at first supposed to be counterfeit ; but sub- 
sequent events proved their genuineness, and disclosed the source from which they had procured 
so suspicious an amount of gold. Suspicion had long fastened upon the family ; they were closely 
watched ; and eventually, about the year 1782, (as our informant thinks, though others say it was 
in 1778,) the stealing of a horse belonging to Mr. Shaw of Plumstezd, the father of the present 
'Squire Shaw of Doylestown, was distinctly traced to them. This brought upon Mr. Shaw, and 
a few others who were active in their detection, the combined mahgnity of the whole banditti ; 
and it was not long before they obtained their revenge. Uniting with themselves another villain 
of kindred spirit, the whole band, seven in all, including Moses Doane, who was their captain, 
and Joseph, the schoolmaster above inentioned, fell upon Mr. Shaw at the dead of night, in his 
own house, bruised .and lacerated him most cruelly, and decamped with all his horses and many 
valuables plundered from the house. Mr. Shaw, (now of Doylestown,) then a lad, was despatched 
by his father, who was almost exliausted with his wounds, to the nearest neighbors for assistance, 
and to raise the hue and cry after the robbers. But these neighbors being Mennonists, conscien- 
tiously opposed to bearing arms, and having besides an instinctive dread of danger, declined in- 
terfering in the matter. Such was the timidity and cautiousness manifested in those times be- 
tween the nearest neighbors, when of different political sentiments. The young man, however, 
soon raised a number of neighbors, part of whom came to his father's assistance, and part armed 
themselves and went in pursuit of the robbers. The latter, after leaving poor Mr. Shaw, had pro- 
ceeded to the house of Joseph Grier, and robbed him ; and then went to a tavern kept by Col. 
Robert Robinson, a very corpulent man. Him they dragged from his bed, tied him in a most ex- 
cruciating position, and placing him naked in the midst of them, wliipped him until their ferocity 
was satiated. They subsequently robbed and abused several other individuals on the same night, 
and then escaped into Montgomery co. Here they were overtaken, somewhere on Skippach, and 
so hotly pursued that they were glad to abandon the fine horses on which they rode, and be- 
take themselves to the thicket. Joseph, the schoolmaster, was shot through the cheeks, dropped 
from liis horse, and was taken prisoner. The others effected their escape, and concealed them- 
selves. 

The prisoner was taken to Newtown and indicted, but while awaiting trial escaped from jail, 
fled into New Jersey, and there, under an assumed name, taught school for nearly a year, 
The federal government had offered a reward of ^800 for him or his brothers, dead or alive ; and 
while in a bar-room one evening he heard a man say that he would shoot any one of the Doanes, 
wherever he might see him, for the sake of the reward. Doane's school-bills were settled very 
suddenly, and he made his way into Canada. 

Moses, the captain of the gang, with two of the brothers, had concealed themselves in a se- 
cluded cabin, occupied by a drunken man, near the mouth of Tohiccon cr. Mr. Shaw, the father, 
learning their place of concealment, ralUed a party of men, of whom Col. Hart was made the 
leader, and surrounded the house. Instead of shooting them down at once, Hart opened the door, 
and cried out, " Ah ! you're here, are you?" The Doanes seized their arms, and shot down Mr. 
Kennedy, one of the party. Two of the outlaws went through the back window, which seems 
not to have been sufficiently guarded, and made their escape into the woods. Moses, the captain — 
who by the way was more of a gentleman than either of the other brothers — surrendered ; but 
immediately on his surrender he was shot down by one of the attacking party. The person who 
shot him was not, however, voluntarily of the party, but was suspected of being implicated with 
the Doanes in their ill-gotten gains ; and it was supposed he shot him to close his mouth against 
the utterance of testimony against himself. The other two were afterwards taken in Chester co., 
hung in Philadelphia, and brought home to be interred in Plumstead township. 

The Doanes were distinguished from their youth for great muscular activity. They could run 
and jump beyond all competitors, and it is said one of them could jump over a wagon. 

Many years afterwards, the young lad Shaw, who had himself received many a severe flogguig 



BUCKS COUNTY. 



161 



from Doane the schoolmaster, became a magistrate in Doylestown, and Fejoiced in the dignified 
title of " 'Squire" Shaw. Sitting one day at his window, whom should he see entering his gate 
but old Joseph Doane, the traitor to his country, the robber of Shaw's father, the old schoolmas 
tcr who had so often flogged him, the refugee from prison ; and now a poor, degraded, broken- 
down old man. Mr. Shaw assumed his magisterial dignity, and met him bluntly at the door \rith 
the question, "What business have you with me, sir?" Some inquiries passed, a recognition was 
etiected, and a cold formal shaking of hands was exchanged. The old scoundrel had returned 
from Canada to bring a suit against an old Quaker gentleman in the county, for a small legacy 
of some f$40, coming to Doane ; and he had the cool impudence to require the services of a ma- 
gistrate whose father he had formerly robbed and nearly murdered. It is creditable to 'Squire 
Shaw's high sense of honor, and respect for the law he was sworn to administer, that the man re- 
covered his money, and returned quietly to Canada. The meeting between the plaintitl" and the 
delendant is said to have been quite amusing. Their conversation was still conducted, on both 
sides, in the " plain language" of Quakers ; but nevertheless they abused each other most round- 
ly — the one alleging his authority from government to blow the other's brains out, or to take him 
" dead or alive ;" and the other claiming his money, so long, as he thought, unjustly detained. 
Subsequently, a sister of the Doanes, with her husband, also returned from Canada, and niade a 
similar claim for a legacy before 'Squire Shaw. 

Doylestown, the county seat, is situated on a high hill commanding an 
extensive view of the fertile country around it. It is a pleasant and quiet 
town, inhabited by intelligent and orderly citizens. Satisfied with the 
dignity of the seat of justice, it has been kept aloof by its geographical 
position from the railroad and canal projects of the last fifteen years ; 
water lots it has none, and there is no extensive water-power immediate- 
ly at the town for manufacturing purposes. The citizens, therefore, have 
escaped in a great measure the ravages of the recent crisis, and can ap- 
preciate the value of that slow but steady prosperity based upon agricul- 
tural improvement. It became the county seat in 1812, when the public 
documents were removed from Newtown, and the new county buildings 
were erected. The annexed view exhibits these buildings, which are 




Public Buildings at Doylestown. 

well built, of fine sandstone. The town also contains a bank, Presbyte- 
rian, Methodist, and Mennonist churches, an academy, an Academy of 
Natural Science, and three or four weekly newspaper offices. Popula- 
tion in 1840, 906. A Doylestown paper of 1833 says — 

As far back as the year 1778, there were but two or three log buildings in the place; 
the oldest of which was occupied and kept as a sort of public house, for the " entertainment of 
man and horse," and stqod nparly, or perfiaps quite, on tiie site where the handsome new building 

21 



162 BUCKS COUNTY. 

of Pugh Dungan now stands. No trace of this venerable building was to be observed for a 
number of years, saving a sniall cavity which designated the spot occupied by the cellar, and a 
well, which has been re-opened by Mr. Dungan. The next was a low log building, which subse- 
quently gave place to the " Mansion House" of Mrs. MaglU. These were perhaps the only 
buildings in the place at that time. The most particular event which signalized the history of 
Doylestown at that period, was the encampment of the American army a few nights previous to 
the" memorable battle oS Monmouth, which took place on the 28th June, 1778. The army was 
divided into three encampments ; — the first of which was stationed in the rear of a row of cherry 
trees that extended westward from the last-mentioned building, which was occupied during the 
night as Head Quarters, and which bore the imposing insignia of " Cakes and Eteer ;" the second 
was placed near where the Presbyterian church stands ; and the third on the farm of Mr. Calen- 
der, about half a mile from the yillage on the New Hope road. The next morning was occupied 
until near noon before the army and baggage wagons were completely under way. The place 
soon after this began to manifest the appearance of a village, and received the name of Doyle 
Town from a famify who owned the principal part of the property. Traces of the family still 
remain in the neighborhood. 

This region was originally settled by people from the north of Ireland, 
of the Presbyterian denon>ination. As early as 1732, a log church was 
founded at Deep ran, 8 miles northwest of Doylestown, of which Rev. 
Francis McHenry, from Ireland, was installed pastor in 1738. He died in 
1757, and was succeeded in 1761 by the Rev. James Latta,— -to whom, and 
to his successors in the ministry, Hon. William Allen, of Philad., gave the 
lot of ground occupied by the church and parsonage. Rev. Hugh McGill, 
in '76, Rev. James Grier in '91, and Rev, Uriah DuBois in '98, succeeded 
to the charge ; and under the latter, public worship began to be held in- 
terchangeably at Deep run and Doylestown in 1804 — he being also prin- 
cipal of the academy at Doylesto\\ai. The Presbyterian church here 
was dedicated on the 13th August, 1815. Mr. DuBois died in 1821. The 
successors have been Rev, Charles Hyde in 1823, and Rev. Silas M. An- 
drews in 1831, who is still in charge. 

There is a tradition very current in Bucks county, as well as in Phila- 
delphia, that the renowned Indian chief Tamane, Tamaned, or St. Tam- 
many, as modern politicians have it, is buried by the side of a spring on 
Capt. Roberts' farm, about 3 1-2 miles west of IDoylestown. That some 
aged chief was buried there is quite certain, but whether it be the great 
Saint of the Bucktails is somewhat doubtful. The spring gushes out in 
a ravine on the side of Prospect hill, and after running a short distance 
empties into the Neshaminy, which winds beautifully round at the foot 
of the hill. From the summit above the spring may be seen for a great 
distance the beautiful farms and cottages that adorn the northern slope 
of the Neshaminy valley, formerly the cherished hunting grounds of the 
Delawares. The noble old chief had returned to lay his bones in the 
land of his nativity, while the scattered remnants of the tribe were 
doomed to retire, and again and again retire before the encroachments 
of the pale-faces, until the distinct traces of the nation are nearly lost. 
The well-authenticated tradition of the She well family is, that 

The aged chief (whoever he might be) was proceeding, with other cliiefs and ftllowers, to at- 
tend some important treaty — perhaps at Philadelphia, or Easton. He was taken sick on the 
road ; but such was his anxiety to be present at the treaty, that his friends carried him for many 
days, until at last, wearied with their burden and anxious to fulfil their engagement, they were 
compelled to leave him and hasten on to the treaty, to be held the next day. The old chief was 
left with his daughter in a wigwam near the spring where he was buried. Such was his chagrin 
at being thus deserted by his followers, and his mortification at not being able to attend the trea- 
ty, that he attempted to set fire to liis wigwam ; but frustrated in that attempt, he sent his faith- 
ful daughter to the spring for some water, and, during her absence, plunged his knife into his own 
heart and expire4. Mr. Walter Shewell, gran Ifather of the present Nathaniel Shewell, Esq-, 



BUCKS COUNTY. );68 

lived near the Spring at the time, and, on being informed of the cJd chief's death, proceeded with 
one or two companions to perform the rites of sepulture. His son Robert, (the father of Na- 
thaniel Shcwell,) was a "little boy" at the time, and wished to go to the funeral, but his father 
would not permit him. He informed Capt. Roberts that the grave was at the foot of a big poplar 
tree, by the side of a spring on his farm. Capt. R. found the poplar stump, and threw a few 
stones over it to mark the spot. The stump has decayed, the stones have been scattered by the 
plough, and nothing now remains to mark the precise spot but Captain Roberts' recollection. 

The question now arises as to the identity of the chief with Tamane. 
By an examination of the grave-stones in a neighboring churchyard, we 
learn that Walter Shewell, the grandfather of Nathaniel, and the one 
who buried the chief, died 23d Oct. 1779, aged 77 — consequently born in 
1702. Walter Shewell, his son, and uncle of Nathaniel, died in 1822, 
aged 96 — consequently born in 1726. Robert Shewell, also a son, and 
the " little boy" at the time of the funeral, was the father of Nathaniel, 
and died 23d Dec. 1825, aged 84 — consequently born in 1741. Nathaniel 
Shewell is still living within two miles of the old chief's grave. The 
treaty referred to, therefore, could not have been that of 1742, when Can- 
nassetego made his taunting speech to the Delawares ; for Robert was 
then but a year old. In Aug. 1749, Cannassetego, with 280 others — On- 
ondagas, Tutelos, Delawares, Nanticokes, &c. — went to Philadelphia to 
pay their respects to the new governor, Hamilton. On this occasion a 
purchase was made of the land beyond the Blue mountain, now com- 
prising the anthracite coal region. Robert was at this time eight years 
old, and this probably was the date of the chief's death. There was a 
grand conference at Albany, N. Y., iri 1754, at which Sir William John- 
son attended— ^at Easton in 1756, and at Easton and Philadelphia in 
1758. 

Mr. Heckewelder, in his historical account of the Indian nations, says, 

All we know of Tamened is, that he was an ancient Delaware chief who never had his equal. 
It is said that when, about 1776, Col. George Morgan, of Princeton, visited the western Indians 
by direction of Congress, the Delawares conferred on him the name of Tamany, as the greatest 
mark of respect Which they could show to that gentleman, who they said had the same address, 
affability, and meekness as their honored chief. In the revolutionary war, his enthusiastic ad- 
mirers dubbed him a saint, and he was established under the name of St. Tammany, the patron 
saint of America. His name was inserted in some calendars, and his festival celebrated on the 
first day of May in every year. On that day a numerous society of his votaries walked together 
in procession through the streets of Philadelphia, their hats decorated with bucks' tails, and pro- 
ceeded to a handsome rural place out of town, which they called the wigwam , where, after a 
lonff talk or Indian speech had been delivered, and the calumet of peace and friendship had been 
duly smoked, they spent the day in festivity and mirth. After dinner, Indian dances were per- 
formed on the green in front of the wigwam, the calumet was again smoked, and the company 
separated. Since that time Philadelphia, New York, and perhaps other places, have had their 
Tamavy societies, Tamany halls, &-c. &.c. In their meetings these societies make but an odd 
figure in imitating the Indian manner of doing business, as well as in appropriating their nsunes 
upon one another. 

Mr. Drake says he infers from Gabriel Thomas, (who resided in Penn- 
sylvania about 15 years, and who published an historical and geographi- 
cal account of the province at London, in 1698,) that Temeny, as Thomas 
spells it, was a Delaware chief of great renown, who might have been 
alive, as late as 1680 or 1690. 

If Tamaned had been living as late as 1749, he could hardly have 
escaped the observation of the Moravian missionaries, who settled in the 
Forks of the Delaware as early as 1742, and explored the Susquehanna 
country soon after. The inference is, that the chief buried by Mr. Shew- 
ell must have been some other individual. 



164 BLfCJKS COUNTY. 

HartsviLle is a sffiall village on the "Willow Grove turnpike, about silt 
miles south from Doylestown. About half a mile northwest of the vil- 
lage is the " Neshaminv church," (Presbyterian.) The original congre- 
gation which worshipped here, was organized under the charge of Rev. 
Wm. Tennent, about the year 1780. This was the site of the celebrated 
Lo^ College. Our only information respecting this institution, is derived 
from notes' iti the Rev. Dr. Miller's " Retrospect of the 18th century," and 
his " Life of Dr. Rogers." 

Rev. Wm. Tenncnt, an emigrant from Ireland, about tlie year 1730 established at Ncsliaminy 
an Academy, which was more particularly intended for the educafi6n of ministers for the Presby- 
terian churcii. This institution continued to flourish for some time, and was the means of form- 
ing a number of good scholars, aird a number of distinguished professional characters. When it 
began to decline, the lie v. Mr. Roan, a learned and able divine, also of the Presbyterian church, 
erected another Academy at NcsHaminy in the vicinity of the former. — Retrospect of the lUth 
century. 

Mr. Wm. Tenncnt had been a clergyman in the established church of Ireland, Soon after his 
arrival here he renounced his connection with the Episcopal church, and joined the Presbytery of 
Philadelphia. He was much celebrated for his profound and accurate acquaintance with the 
Latin and Greek classics, and taught them with great success at his Academy on the Ncsha- 
miny, called the Loq College, from its being biiilt of logs. Mr. Tennent had foUr sons, Gilbert, 
William, John, and Charles, all distinguished and useful clergymen, whose praise has long been 
in the churches. He educated them all, together with a number of other young men, at his Log 
College. Rev. Wm. Tennent, senior, died at Neshaminy May 6th, 1746, aged 73. The Rev. 
Samuel Blair, one of the most learned and able as well as pious and excellent men that ever 
adorned the American church, came from Ire^and early in life, and was one of Mr. Tennent's 
students at the Log College. The Rev. Charles Beatty, a native of Ireland, obtained a pretty 
accurate classical education in his own country ; but his circumstances being narrow, he em- 
ployed several of the first years of his residence in America in the business of a pedler. He 
halted one day at the Log College. The pedler, to Mr. Tennent's surprise, addressed him in cor- 
rect Latin, and appeared to be familiar with that language. After much conversation — in which 
Mr. Beatty manifested fervent piet}', and considerable religious knowledge, as well as a good edu- 
cation in other respects — Mr. Tennent said, " Go and sell the contents of your pack, and return 
immediately and study with me. It will be a sin for you to continue a pedler when you can be 
so much more useful in another profession." He accepted Mr. Tennent's offer, and in due time 
became an eminent minister. He was chaplain in the army under Dr. Franklin on the Lehigh. 
(See Carbon county.) He died at Barbadoes, where he had gone to solicit benefactions for the 
New Jersey College. — Miller's Life of Dr. Rogers. 

Bristol, the largest town in the county, and formerly the seat of just- 
ice, is beautifully situated on an elevated flat, on the right bank of the 
Delaware, at the mouth of Mill creek. It is opposite Burlington, and 20 
miles from Philadelphia. The Delaware branch of the canal from East- 
on terminates here in a spacious basin, bringing to the place an exten- 
sive coal trade. 'The Philadelphia and Trenton railroad passes in the 
rear of the town. Steamboats are constantly touching at the landing 
place. There are here an Episcopal church nearly 100 years old, a 
Methodist church and Quaker meeting-house, the Farmers' Bank of 
Bucks county, an extensive flouring-mill, hotels, stores, &c. All steam- 
boat travellers to Philadelphia retain a lively recollection of the beauti- 
ful river bank at Bristol, adorned with tasteful country seats, and shaded 
with weeping willows. The distinguishing characteristic of the place, 
notwithstanding the advantages for business introduced by recent pub- 
lic improvements, is its quietness and rural beauty. It has long been 
a favorite resort of the citizens of Philadelphia, and was formerly cele- 
brated for a chalybeate spring, situated in the marsh northwest of the vil- 
lage, but now abandoned. The fever of modern speculation, though it 
caused a few additional lots to be laid out here, as elsewhere, and a few 
gardens to be planted with Multicaulis, has left no very distinct trace of 



BUCKS COUNTY. 169 

its ravages. The population in 1840, was ],43S. Scott, in his geography, 
(of 1806,) says Bristol contained then about 00 houses. By the census of 
1800, the population was 511 — in 1810, 028— in 1820, 908. 

Bristol was incorporated as a borough by Sir William Keith, governot 
of the province, on the 14th Nov. 1720. The charter, which maybe 
found at length in Hazard's Register, 3d vol. 312, recites a number of in- 
teresting historical facts. 

It appears that the petitioners for the charter, " owners of a certain 
tract of land formerly called Buckingham in the County of Bucks," were 
Anthony Burton, John Hall, Wm. Wharton, Joseph Bond, " and many 
other inhabitants of the town of Bristol ;" that they had already laid out 
streets, erected a church and meeting-house, a courthouse, and a prison^ 
and that the courts had for a long time been held there, &c. Joseph 
JBond and John Hall were appointed burgesses, and Thomas Clifford high 
constable. This original charter continued in force until the revolution* 
A new one was granted by the state in 1785. 

In these office-hunting times a provision like the follovving would hardly 
be considered necessary in a borough charter. 

And we do by the authority aforesaid grant unto the burgess and their successors, mat if anj* 
the inhabitants of the said town and borough shall hereafter be elected to the office of burgess or 
constable as aforesaid, and having notice of his or their election, shall refuse to undertake and 
execute that office to which he is so chosen, it shall and may be lawful for the burgfess and bur 
gesses then acting, to impose such moderate fines upon the refusers, so as the burgesses' fine ex- 
ceed not ten pounds, and the constables' five pounds ; to be levied by distress and sale of thfe 
goods of the party so refusing, by warrant, under the hand of one or more of the burgesses, oi" 
by other lawful ways, to the use of the said town. And in such case it shall and may be lawful 
for the said inhabitants forthwith to choose others to supply the defects of such refusers. 

The fairs held in virtue of the following provision, are still remembered 
by the old residents. They were kept up until late in the last century, 
but were abolished at length as being scenes of riot and dissipation. They 
were held, for some years previous to tlieir abolition, for three consecutive 
days following the 9th of May. Similar fairs were held at Lancaster, 
of which a more detailed description may be found under that head. 

And we do further grant to the said burgesses, &.C., That they and their successors shall and 
may for ever hereafter, hold and keep within the said tovi^n in every week of the year one market 
On the 5th day of the week called Thursday ; and also two fairs there in every year ; the first of 
them to begin the eighth day of May, and to continue that day and one day after ; and the other 
of said fairs to begin the twenty-ninth day of October, and to continue till the thirty-first day of 
the same month, in such place or places in the said town as the burgess from time to time maj 
appoint. 

Oldmixon, who described Pennsylvania in 1708, speaks of "Bucking- 
ham CO., where the first town we Come to (going down the river) is Falls 
township, and consists of 20 or 30 houses. Next to it is Bristol, the capi- 
tal of the CO., consisting of about 50 houses. 'Tis famous for the mills 
there of several sorts, built by Mr. Samuel Carpenter, an eminent planter 
in the co., formerly a Barbadoes merchant." 

Mr. Alexander Graydon, whose father was president of the court in 
this CO., says in his Memoirs : 

My recollections of the village of Bristol, in which I was born on the 10th of April, N. S., in 
the year 1752, cannot be supposed to go further back than to the year 1756 or 1757. There are 
few towns, perhaps, in Pennsylvania, which, in the same space of time, have been so httle im- 
proved, or undergone less alteration. Then, as now, the great road leading from Philadelphia to 
New York, first skirting the inlet, at the head of which stand the mills, and then turning short to 
the left along the banks of the Delaware, formed the principal and ijideed only street, marked by 



166 BUCKS COUNTY. 

any thing like a continuity of building. A few places for streets were opened from this mslln dnej 
on which, here and there, stood an humble, solitary dwelling. At a corner of two of these lanes 
was a Quaker meeting-house, and on a still more retired spot, stood a small Episcopal church, 
whose lonely grave-yard, with its surroiuiding woody scenery, might have furnished an appropri- 
ate theme for such a muse as Gray's, These, together with an old brick jail, (Bristol having 
once been the county town of Bucks,) constituted all the public edifices in this my native town* 
With the exception of the family of Dr. Denormandie, our own, and perhaps one or two more, 
the principal inhabitants of Bristol were Quakers. Among these, the names of Buckley, 
Williams, Large, Meritt, Hutcliinson, and Church, are familiar to me. 

The Bulkley-house, in the northern part of the borough, now occupied 
by the Misses Willis, was erected at a very early date. Lafayette spent 
some time there while recovering from his wound received at the battle 
of Brandywine. Mr. Bessonet, an aged resident, is descended from the 
Huguenots. His father kept a tavern on the site of the large one now 
kept by Mr. Kinseyi It was called " The King George," having a sign 
with that monarch's portrait. Another tavern here was " The King of 
Prussia." When the American army passed through the place, they 
riddled poor King George with bullet-holes, so that Mr. Bessonet was 
forced to adopt the more popular device of " The Fountain." His new 
sign, representing the tbuntain, was considered a master-piece of art by 
his rustic guests. 

About the year 1830-31, a Fellenberg or agricultural school was 
founded by Mr. Anthony Morris, at the Bolton farm, near Bristol. It was 
under the superintendence of F. A. Ismar, a pupil of the celebrated 
Hofwyl school, and was associated with the classical institution of Rev. 
Wm. Chatterton, at the same place. In 1833, the Bristol college, an in- 
stitution under the patronage of the Episcopal church, was founded at a 
beautiful tract of 400 acres, 3 miles below Bristol, called the China Re- 
treat. It was under the presidency of Rev. Chauncy Colton, D. D., and 
at one time had about 80 or 100 scholars. It languished, however, as a 
college, and became afterwards a classical school. Within a year past 
it has been opened as a military college. 

The word multicaulis, mentioned above, suggests an interesting topic, 
concerning which, for the benefit of posterity, it may be proper to record 
a few facts, although they have no special connection with the history of 
Bristol, but rather with that of the surrounding region. Thirty years 
hence the young generation of that day will scarcely credit the facts 
stated in the following extracts. 

Annexed is a correct statement of the nmnber, prices, and proceeds of the morus multicaulis 
sold Sept. 18, 1839, at auction, at the Highfield Cocoonery, Germantown, Pa. The trees were 
sold as they stood in the ground, those under 12 inches to be rejected. Owing to a thin soil and 
close planting, the sizes of trees were generally small, and the branches few ; the average height, 
according to an estimate made on the groimd, being about 2 J feet. The purchasers were gener- 
ally from a distance, the largest portion being from IlUnois, Missouri, and other western states. 
[260,000 trees were sold at prices varying from 17^ to 31^ cents per tree — averaging 31 23-100 
cents per tree, or 12^ cents per foot in length of stalk ; the total sale was $81,218 75.] — Haz, 
U. S. Statistical Register, 1839. 

About the same month trees sold at Columbia, Pa., at 50 cents ; at 
Unionville, Chester co., 2,500 trees, " averaging four feet," at 40 cents ; 
other sales, in the same neighborhood, at 47 to 50 cents ; at Westchester, 
Pa., 18,000 trees at 10 cents per foot. Sales in Jersey, and in New Eng- 
land at about the same prices, and in the southern states, some as high 
as $1 per tree. A nurseryman in Jersey, who advertises 30,000 trees, 
very kindly adds, " twenty-five per cent in cash will be received on any 



BUCKS COUNTY. 167 

purchase of $1,000 or upwards, and the balance may remain for a term 
of years at legal interest, secured by bond and mortgage." Mr. Morris's 
" Silk Farmer," published in Philadelphia, Sept. 1839, after enumerating 
many actual sales, gives as the proceeds of 15 acres, $32,500 ; of other 2 
acres, $8,000 ; of other 10 acres, $38,000. 

It will be seen that the sales of trees reported in a single week exceed 300,000, and that prices 
are continually advancing, in the face of a pressure for money severe enough to depress the price 
of both flour and cotton. The selling season is moreover not half gone, yet at least one quarter 
of all the trees in the country have been sold, some of them two or three times. At this time 
last year, no one thought of jjuying trees ; but now, before they arc half grown, and before the 
purchaser can tell what size the trees he is buying will attain to, the demand at home and at the 
west is rapidly taking the stock off" the grower's hands. The naked fact is this — the people of 
this country have become so thoroughly satisfied of the great profit to be realized by growing 
silk, that the mighty movement in that direction, which is now urging on all classes to embark 
in it, cannot be repressed until our whole country is luxuriant with mulberry trees ; and the day 
is fast approaching when in advertising a farm for sale, it will be as indispensable a recommen- 
dation to it, to say that it contains five, ten, or twenty acres of Multicaulis trees, as that it con- 
tains as many of meadow or woodland. — Morrises " Silk Fanner " Sept. 1839. 

In the year 1838, a new chapter in the history of the silk culture was to be unfolded. There 
is little reason to doubt that, at this time, a combination of some principal individuals, deeply in- 
terested in the Multicaulis in the United States, was formed, in order to force the sales of this 
tree at high prices. By every species of finesse, and by the grossest imposition, tlie public pulse 
was quickened to a rapidity and intensity of circulation almost unparalleled in the history of the 
excitements of the human mind. The selling of spurious seed, the disposal of trees under false 
names, the selling for Multicaulis that which did not even belong to the species of the mulberry, 
and especially the getting up extensive auction sales of Multicaulis trees, with no other view 
than that of wholesale imposition upon the public, present facts in the history of our commimity 
equally remarkable and disgraceful. They are instructive monuments to mark the extremes to 
which, under the influence of an unbridled avarice, the cunning of some men will proceed, and 
the credulity of others may be led. In these circumstances the public attention was directed 
exclusively to the growing of trees. The production of silk did not enter into the calculation. 
Thousands and thousands of acres were planted, and immense importations of these trees have 
been made from foreign countries. By the caprices and fluctuations incident to all human affairs, 
and by no means unexpected in a case of such violent and extravagant speculation, as that of 
which I have been speaking, it has happened that the ebb has gone down in proportion to the 
elevation of the flood. This speculation is at an end ; and though all the growers and specula- 
tors in Morus Multicaulis, from Florida to Maine, should pump at the bellows together, they are 
much more likely to blow out the last embers that remain on the hearth, than to fan them into 
a flame. It is feared that in too many cases the exposure of the speculation, as it was termed, 
would present only humiliating examples of fraud and credulity ; and it would be an invidious 
and ungrateful task to rake open the ashes for the sake of seeing the burnt bones and carcasses 
of those who have perished in the flames. The Multicaulis is no longer in quick demand, and 
may be purchased at a price far below its actual and intrinsic value. — Third Report on the Ag- 
riculture of Mass., copied in Hazard^s U. S. Register, Oct. 1839. 

During the height of this speculative epidemic, many fortunes in this 
section of Pennsylvania and in New Jersey, were gained, and others lost. 
In every village numerous gardens and out-lots might be seen planted 
with Multicaulis. In 1843 these trees had become a worthless incum- 
brance, and in many instances were rooted up and thrown away. Still 
the manufacture of silk has steadily progressed as a branch of family in- 
dustry, and promises profitable results to the country. 

New Hope is a flourishing village on the right bank of the Delaware, 
1 1 miles N. E. from Doylestown, and 34 from Philadelphia. It contains, 
by the census of 1840, 820 inhabitants, several churches, 2 cotton facto- 
ries, with 7,000 spindles, 2 flouring-mills, 2 saw-mills, stores, taverns, &c. 
There is a fine bridge across the Delaware, 1,050 feet long, erected in 
1814. The individual subscription was $160,000. A portion of the capi- 
tal was employed in banking, formerly on the New Hope side, but now at 
Lambertsville, at the Jersey end of the bridge. The water power which 



168 



BUCKS COUNTY. 



drives the manufactories at and near this place, is derived from a copious 
spring, called by the natives Aquetong, and by the whites, Ingham's, or 
the Big Spring. It gushes out between the slate and limestone rocks 
about 3 miles west of New Hope. It seldom freezes in winter. It falls 
110 feet in two miles. 

The Delaware canal passes through the town. A navigable feeder to 
the Delaware and Raritan canal connects with the Delaware 4 miles 
above, passing through Lambertsville. Great exertions have been made 
for many years to get Pennsylvania to construct an outlet lock at Black's 
Eddy, but hitherto without success. It would open a passage to the Le- 
high coal through the Jersey canal to New York. The project is op- 
posed by the interest of Bristol and Philadelphia. 

The annexed view was taken from a house on the opposite side of the 




New Hope. 

river. The ferry represented here was kept up while the bridge was 
undergoing repairs after the great freshet of 1841. 

New Hope was formerly called Coryell's ferry, and several of the Cory- 
ell family are still living in the place and vicinity. Mr. Wm. Maris of 
Philadelphia came to New Hope soon after the last war, and gave quite 
an impetus to the place by establishing a large manufactory and mills 
upon the waters of the big spring. The bridge was built, a bank con- 
nected with it, and the place continued to thrive until a few years since, 
when the restricted state of pecuniary affairs caused the mills to suspend : 
the bank passed into other hands, and was moved to the opposite side of 
the river, and since then the village has been somewhat stationary. It 
still has within it, however, ample elements of prosperity, in its fine wa- 
ter power, in the limestone quarries in the vicinity, and in two convenient 
canals to reach two great markets. 

The 8th of January, 1841, will be long- remembered on the Delaware for one of the highest and 
most destructive floods ever known along that river. " Houses, barns, fences, furniture, hay- 
Btacks, coal-boats, saw logs, bridges, and cakes of ice, were borne upon its destructive tide. 
Not a bridge was left standing between Easton and Trenton, nor on the Lehigh between Easton 
and Mauch Chunk. Those at Reiglersville, Centre bridge, New Hope, Taylorsville, and Yard- 



BUCKS COUNTY. 



169 



leyville, all yielded to the flood. The guard lock of the feeder at Bool's island was torn away, 
Johnson's town, a short distance below, was entirely swept away, with the principal part of its 
contents. Lainbertsville was threatened by the Jersey feeder, and the citizens were preparing to 
leave tiieir houses, when the waste weir at Holcombe's basin above town providentially gave way, 
and saved the village. 

Centre bridge caine floating down in two massive pieces just before noon. One piece struck 
New Hope bridge about midway, witli an awful crasii, carrying away one arch ; the other piece 
took an arch on the Jersey side. The Jersey pier soon gave way, when the third arch followed, 
and lodged a short distance below. The other part on the Pennsylvania side remained. The 
mills at Lambertsville escaped without injury. George B. Fell, who happened to be on Centre 
bridge, was carried away with it. Fearing danger from tiie crushing of its timbers oyer head, 
le succeeded, with the aid of a plank, iji reaching a broken portion of the roof floating near him 
thus freeing himself from the main stnjcture. When he passed New Hope bridge he was upor 
a loose plank, and was obliged to lie flat upon it to avoid touching the bridge. Attempts wers 
made in vain to rescue him at that and yarious other places. At Yardleyville he struck a pier, 
and got splashed with water. Wherj he had passed under that bridge and floated a few yardfr 
below, tlie wliole structure was precipitated into the striBam. He continued to float, gathering 
pieces of lumber, which he kept together, forming a sort of raft, by which he was enabled to steei 
into the still water about 3 miles aboye Trenton, wlierc he was taken up in safety. On his return 
to Lambertsville, he was received with shouts and the discharge of a cannon. 

MoRRisviLLE is a pleasant village directly opposite Trenton. The popu- 
lation in 1830 was 531, in 1840, 405. It was incorporated as a borough 
in 1804. It has the advantage of an extensive water-power from the 
Delaware, and several important public improvements passing through 
it — the Delaware canal, and Philadelphia and Trenton railroad. The 
bridge across the Delaware here, is 1,100 feet long, 30 feet wide, consist- 
ing of 5 arches, supported on piers. The floor is supported by perpen- 
dicular iron rods depending from the arches. Jt is not devqjd of histori- 
cal interest. It was finished as early as the year 1806 at an immense 
cost — and was regarded by engineers, both in this country and Europe 
as one of the finest specimens of bridge architecture, of wood, in the 
world. The flood of 1841, described on a preceding page, which left it 
unharmed, bore testimony to its superiority over the frail structures of 
modern years. The annexed view from the Jersey side shows this bridge 
with its ancient front, and its quaint roof. 




Trenton Bridge. 

Morrisville took its name from Robert Morris, the distinguished patrioc 
and financier. He resided here for some time in a splendid mansion- 
house. The estate was afterwards purchased by the French royalist 

22 



170 



BUCKS COUNTY. 



Gen. Victor Moreau, who spent about three years of exile here. The 
neighbors remember him as a Icind-hearted sociable man, who delighted 
in roaming about the banks of the river, fishing and hunting. The man- 
sion took fire, and was consumed. The general returned to Europe, joined 
the allied armies, and was killed at Dresden. The grounds still remain 
in a rather dilapidated condition, and the immense carriage-house, which 
looks like a state arsenal, is used as a workshop by the railroad co. 

Victor Moreau gained great advantage over the Austrians under Kray at Mosskirk. He sig- 
nalized himself in many celebrated victories and successful military operations on the frontiers 
of Italy and Germany in the campaigns of 1796-99, and invaded Germany in 1800. Here, in 
co-operation with Bonaparte, he resumed an offensive campaign. Subsequently, on the 3d De- 
comber, he gained the aecisive victory of Hohenlinden. By a turn of circumstances Moreau is 
found, in 1813, in alliance with Bcrnadotte, his early companion in arms, who commanded the 
army of the north in Germany against Napoleon. On 28th Aug. Napoleon came out of Dres- 
den with 130,000 men to attack the allies. In the assault on the preceding day Napoleon ob- 
served Moreau converaing with the emperor Alexander, and some other officers. Turning to a 
cannoneer, and pointing out the object of his displeasure, he said, " Send a dozen balls upon that 
man !" The officers obeyed — a bull struck Moreau, shattering both his legs and tearing open 
the belly of his horse. He bore the amputation of both his limbs with great firmness, and was 
carried in a litter formed by the lances of the Cossacks to Toplitz, where he expired. 

Newtown is a pleasant village on a small branch of the Neshaminy, 
ten miles northwest from Bristol. It contains about 120 dwellings, a 
Friends' meeting-house, and a Presbyterian church. It was for some 
years, until 1813, the county seat ; and the public buildings still remain. 
Population about 600. 

Newtown has been settled many years. Rev. James Boyd was pastor 
of the Presbyterian church, in connection with that at Bensalem, for 45 
years. The church was founded in 1769; repaired in 1818. The an- 
nexed view, reduced from a larger painting by Mr. Hicks of New York, 




Newtown. 

was taken from a point east of the town. While the American army 
were guarding the river from Coryell's ferry to Bristol, in 177G, Gen. 
Washington had his head-quarters at Newtown, in the house now belong- 
ing to Dr. Lee, on the west side of the creek ; Gen. Mercer was at the 
house of Mr. Keith, a little out of town ; and Gen. Greene at the large 



BUCKS COUNtY 171 

brick house, now Mr. Hough's hotel. One of the aged and respectable 
citizens of this place is Edward Hicks, a distinguished Quaker preacher 
of the Hicksite persuasion. Both Mr. Hicks's father and grandfather were 
attached to the British interest during the revolution. His grandfather 
made no secret of his attachment to that side, and was proscribed ; his 
fine property was confiscated, and he fled to Nova Scotia, where he was 
murdered by a highway robber. Edwai'd, however, is a warm whig, (as 
regards the revolution.) and a great admirer of Gen. Washington's char- 
acter. In addition to his other accomplishments, he adds that of painting. 
A specimen of his self-acquired skill in the fine arts, as well as of his 
high-souled patriotism, may be seen on the tavern-sign in the village. It 
is no ordinary specimen of village art, but is really the spirited produc* 
tion of a skilful artist. On one side is represented the crossing of the 
Delawkre, after Sully's design ; but, with true historical accuracy, the 
general is represented as mounted upon a chestnut-sorrel horse, and not 
upon a white horse, as is usual in paintings of that scene. It seems that 
the distinguished white charger, so well known to all, was a great favorite 
with the commander-in-chief; and being somewhat in years, the general 
selected for the arduous service of that night a younger and more vigor- 
ous animal. On the other side of the sign is the declaration of independ- 
ence, after Trumbull's design. Mr. Hicks relates that Gen. Washington 
left Newtown the same night that he crossed the Delaware. He also 
says that the night preceding Gen. Mercer told Mrs. Keith that he had 
Ireamed of being attacked and overpowered by a huge black bear. A 
"ew days afterwards he was indeed attacked and killed, at Princeton, by 
:he British or Hessians. Soothsayers may draw their own inferences. 

The following anecdote was related to the compiler by a highly respect- 
able Quaker of Delaware co. : — 

An a.ged painter of that sect Was once called on to paint a sign for a stage proprietor and 
lavem-keeper, living somewhere in Bucks co. The device was to be a fine coach-and-four, 
driven by the proprietor himself, who remarked tliat occasionally he had driven his own stages. 
The work was done admirably — the proprietor called in to take a preliminary look, and give his 
approval. The likeness of the driver's face was perfect ; but he appeared to be lolling over as if 
half inclined to drop from his box. His whip hung slouchingly down — the reins were loosely 
held ; and still he did not appear to be asleep, but had a remarkably good-humored expression all 
over his ruddy countenance. " But how is this ?" said the proprietor ; " that is not the way for 
a driver to sit." " Doesn't thee get a little so sometimes ?" shrewdly inquired the old Quaker 
The man burst out into a foaming passion ; but the painter cooled him down, and agreed that if 
le would promise to quit his cups forever, he Would rub out the driver and paint him as he should 
Oe, and the affair should be hushed up. It appeared that the habit of the man was not generally 
puspected, and was known only to the painter and a few other friends. The reformation is said 
1 1) have been prompt and permanent. The Washingtonians could not have done it more gently. 

It would quite exceed the limits of this work to notice all the pleasant 
rural towns and villages in Bucks co. The principal villages not enu- 
merated above, along the Delaware, are Monroe, Lumberville, Centre 
Bridge, Brownsburg, Taylorsville, Yardleyville. It was near Taylors- 
ville that Gen. Washington crossed the Delaware to attack Trenton. 

On the Neshaminy are Harlington, Newport, Hulmeville, formerly the 
site of the bank now at Bristol ; Attleborough, Bridgetown, Bridge- 
roiNT, &c. 

In other parts of the county are Wrightstown, Centreville, Greenville, 
Fallsington, Line-Lexington, Strawhntown, Quakertown, Hartzville, 
Houghville, Andalusia, &lc. &c. 



172 BUTLER COUNTY. 



BUTLER COUNTY. 

Butler county, in common with all the counties N. W. of the Alfe^ 
gheny river, was taken from Allegheny co. by the act of 12th March, 
1800. Length 33 hi., breadth 23; area, 785 sq. miles. Population in 
1800, 3,9 IG; in 1810, 7,346; in 1820, 10,193 ; in 1830, 14,681 ; in 1840y 
22,378. 

The surface of the country is rolling, partaking of the general charac- 
ter of the secondary region west of the mountains ; near the largef 
streams, the hills are high, and sometimes rocky and precipitous ; yet it 
is said, by an intelligent surveyor, that there is little or no waste land ; 
scarcely any body of land of 200 acres can be pointed out in the county 
which would not make a productive farm. Iron ore is found in abun- 
dance in several townships ; extensive beds of bog ore are not uncommon. 
Bituminous coal, in strata from two to five feet thickj abounds throughout 
the CO. Limestone strata are found near the coal. Salt water has beeil 
obtained by boring from 300 to 500 feet. There are, or have been, several 
salt works in operation, one at Harmony, or near it, and one at Butler. 
There are several furnaces and forges in the co. It is generally believed 
that a lead mine exists on Conoquenessing creek, about three miles above 
Harmony. Its location is said to be well known to the Indians of Corn- 
planter's tribe, who used secretly to visit it in passing and repassing 
through the county. No one, however, has yet had suflicient confidence 
in their statements to pay their price for the information as to its precise 
locality. The remains of small furnaces are yet to be seen near the 
creek, where it is supposed that they smelted the ore. 

The principal streams are the branches of the Conoquenessing cr. and 
Slippery Rock cr. A few small tributaries of the Allegheny rise within 
the CO., and that river itself just touches the northeastern corner of the co^ 
Agriculture is the main business of the citizens. The soil and climate 
are well adapted to wheat, rye, and oats ; and corn is raised in consider- 
able quantities. All the surplus produce goes to the Pittsburg market at 
present ; but the market of the lakes will soon be opened by the com- 
pletibn of the canal from Beaver to Erie. A turnpike leads from Butler 
to Kittanning, and the Pittsburg and Erie turnpike passes through the 
oounty seat. 

From a map attached to Loskiel's history of the Moravian missions we 
earn that there existed about the year 1770, an Indian village, called 
Kaskaskunk, some eight or ten miles northw^est of Butler. It appears, 
from Loskiel, that a chief of the Delawares, Pakanke, dwelt here, and a 
warrior and speaker of some distinction, called Glikkikan. The latter 
had heard of the arrival of the Moravian missionary, Zeisberger and his 
brethren, among the Senecas, at Lauanakanuck, on the Allegheny above 
Venango, and as he had formerly been initiated in the Catholic doctrines 
by the priests in Canada, and had been a teacher among his own people, 
he determined to go and refute and resist the newly ingrafted heresy of 
the Moravians. 

When he arrived at Lauffnakanuck his courage failed him, and he resolved to hear the brethren 
first, and then reply. Anthony, [a converted Indian,] that active and cheerful witness of Jestts 



BUTLER COUNTY. 173 

^hose heart continually burned with desire to lead souls to their Saviour, incited Glikkikan and 
nis suit to dine with him, and during the interview he opened to them, in simple but expressive 
eloquence, the plan of salvation as taught him by the Moravians. Glikkikan's heart was capti- 
vated, and in the presence of the chiefs from Goshgoshunk, who had come to witness the defeat 
of the missionarfes, he confessed himself a convert. He tlien attended the usual daily meeting, 
and was exceedingly struck by seeing, when full awake, what he declared to have beheld in a 
Vision, several years ago. He had dreamed that he came to a place where a number of Indiana 
were assembled in a large room. They wore their hair plain, and had no rings in their noses. In 
the midst of them he discovered a short white man, and tlie Indians beckoning to him to come 
in, he entered, and Was presented by the white man with a book, who desired him to read ; on his 
replying, " I cannot read," tlie white man said, " after you liave been with us some time, you 
will learn to read it." From this time he frequently told liis hearers that there Were white men 
somewhere who knew the right way to God, for he had seen them in a dream. Therefore, when 
ne came liither, and saw the Indians and the short white man. Brother Zeisberger, exactly an- 
swering to tlie figure of him he saw in his dream, he was much astonished. U])on his return to 
KaskaskUnk, he honestly related the unexpected result of liis undertaking, and delivered a noble 
testimony concerning the brethren and their labors. Not long after, the cliicfs at Kaskaskunk 
sent an invitation to the missionaries to come and labor among them, which they accepted, and 
established a station on or near Little Beaver or., which they named Friedenstadt, or Town of 
Peace. (See Beaver co.) 

This Kaskaskunk was doubtless the Murdering toibn alluded to by 
"Washington in his journal, to which their Indian guide wished to entice him 
and Mr. Gist, on their return from Venango, in 1753. Mr. Gist speaks of 
it as " Murdering town, on the southeast fork of Beaver cr." 

The following sketch of the early history of this county, is from an able 
article in Hazard's Register for June, 1832^ 

Butler CO. was first settled mostly by inhabitants from the counties west of the mountains. 
Westmoreland and Allegheny contributed the greater portion ; Washington and Fayette a part ; 
and some came from east of the mountains. A few emigrated from other states. Pennsylvania 
ans, of Irish and German extraction, native Irish, some Scotch, and some few Germans, were 
amongst her first settlers. The first settlement commenced in 1792, immediately subsequent to 
the act of the 3d of April, of that year, which provided for the settlement of all that part of 
western Pennsylvania, lying north and west of the Ohio and Allegheny rivers, and Conewangr 
creek. No considerable settlement was made until '96, and up to 1800-3, at which time the co 
of Butler was formed, and the county town laid out. This era gave a new stimulus to the settle- 
ment and improvement of the country. The first settlers had many difficulties and privations ttt 
sunnount, before they could comfortably sit down under their own vine and fig-tree. The wanl 
of provisions, and limited means to purchase them, was the lot of almost every one who first 
emigrated. The greatest hardships and privations are often submitted to patiently, so long as 
the pleasing prospect of liberty and independence 13 in View. The act of the 3d of April, 1792, 
Opened a wide field for fraud and speculation. Whilst it seemed to promise a home to the honest, 
industrious, and adventurous pioneer, it at the same time afforded the most ample source of im- 
position to those who have generally been denominated land-jobbers. To the several conditions 
introduced into this law, may justly be attributed all the afflicting scenes of litigation to which 
the first settlers were made subject. Some were obliged to abandon the country of their own 
choice, and seek a home elsewiiere, or remain, to Undergo new scenes of penury and want 
Those who remained, either compromised, or had their rights detennined by a course of law. 

The most prominent speculators were of two descriptions ; the one by survey and warrant, the 
Otlier by new survey and article with the seller. One of the conditions of these warrants, under 
the act of '92, was, that of settlement within two years from the date of the warrant, unless 
prevented by the enemies of the United States. This clause gave rise to much contention ; the 
construction given to it by the supreme court not having taken place in time to arrest the pro- 
gress of litigation in its commencement. Such as articled with the warrantee, were to receive 
for settlement, a gratuity from 100, 150, to 200 acres, as soon as they would complete such set- 
tlement, which required five years. Many difficulties arose out of those contracts, and various 
decisions being had on them, operated mucli to protract litigation. The other description of land- 
jobber should not be overlooked ; whether he is entitled to a niche in the temple of fame or in- 
famy, is witii an honest public to judge. In mercy we ought to pass over them with a sparing 
hand, for few there are, if any, rcmaiuing to receive rebuke. They have all been consigned to 
the silent tomb. Those who had only surveys made and returned without any warrants, entered 
into articles of agreement with settlers, to perform one of the most laborious and essential parts 

* See Sparks' Life of Washington ; also, page 90 of this work, under Allegheny co. 



m 



IStTLfiR COUNTY. 



of the law, the settlement — for which they were to receive as a gratuity, as they modtslly called 
it, some 100, 150, and 200 acres, as they could afrree, in five years from the commencement of 
such settlement. The contract on the part of this description of land-jobbers, in almost every 
instance, has been violated and forfeited. The settlers in some instances bought out ; others 
have taken out patents themselves, and this description of land may now be considered as out 
of dispute. The surest kind of land titles, north and West of the Ohio and Allegheny rivers, 
and ConeWango creek, are the donations which Were laid out in 1785, in lots of 200, 250, 300, 
and 500 acres, as a gratuity to soldiers, who had been in the service of their country in the most 
perilous times. Part of district No. 1, is in Muddy Creek township, Butler co., and district No. 
2, is in Parker, Mercer, and Slippery Rock townships. Those lands are generally good, particu- 
larly such tracts as are situated on the Waters of Muddy creek and Slippery rock. The titles are 
indisputable. The original owners of the donations were generally of that description of citizens 
who were least calculated and desirous to improve their lands, or advance the settlement of the 
country ; having tasted the honors of war, and contracted habits and feelings adverse to thd 
quiet and peaceful situation of a farmer, they generally sold them, and they are now generally 
occupied and improved. 

Butler borough, the county seat, is situated on an eminence above the 
Conoquenessing cr., which winds partly round the town in the form of a 
horseshoe. The view from the cupola of the courthouse embraces a 
large extent of fine rolling land, variegated with copses of woodland, 
country seats, verdant meadows, and the silvery waters of the creek 
meandering among them. The town contains the usual county buildings \ 
an academy, Presbyterian, Lutheran, Methodist, and Episcopal churches. 
On the creek there is a salt-works and a number of mills. The borough 
was incorporated 26th Feb. 1817. Population in 1830, 580 ; in 1840, 861. 




Butler. 

The annexed view was taken from the Pittsburg turnpike, south of the 
town. 

When Butler co. was first organized, Mr. Wm. Ayres was appointed 
prothonotary, and had for his clerk and law student, Mr. H. M. Brecken- 
ridge, since a distinguished member of congress from Allegheny co. The 
following graphic sketch is from his " Recollections of the West." 

On my arrival at Butler there were a few loghouses just raised, but not sufficiently completed 
to be occupied. It was not long before there were two taverns, a store, and a blacksmith's shop ; 
it was then a town. The country around was a perfect wilderness, with the exception of a few 



BUTLER COUNTY. I75 

scattered settlements. The business of the office requiring but little of my time, and having an 
unbounded liberty, with a most e.xquisite relish for its enjoyment, no small portion of it was 
passed in wild and uncertain rambles through the romantic hills and valleys of Butler. The 
mornings and evenings were devoted to study, but generally the day was sacred to liberty. 

The first court held in Butler, drew the whole population to tiie town, some on account of busi- 
ness, some to make business, but the greater part from idle curiosity. They were at that time 
chieriy Irish, who had all tlie characteristics of the nation. A log-cabin just raised and covered, 
hut without window sash, or doors, or daubing, was prepared for the hall of justice. A carpenter's 
ijench, with tiiree chairs upon it, was the judgment seat. Tlie bar of Pittsburg attended, and 
tlie presiding judge, a stiff", formal, and pedantic old bachelor, took his seat, supported by two 
associate judges, who were common farmers, one of whom was blind of an eye. The hall was 
barely sufficient to contain the bench, bar, jurors, and constables. But few of the spectators 
could be accommodated on the lower floor, the only one yet laid ; many, therefore, clambered up 
the wails, and placing their hands and feet in the open interstices between tlie logs, huno- there, 
suspended like enormous Madagascar bats. Some had taken possession of the joists, and big 
John M'Junkin (who until now had ruled at all public gatherings) had placed a foot on one joist, 
and a foot on another, directly over the heads of their honors, standing like the Colossus of 
Rhodes. The judge's sense of propriety was shocked at this exhibition. The sheriff, John 
M'Candless, was called, and ordered to clear the walls and joists. He went to work with his as- 
sistants, and soon pulled down by the legs those who were in no very great haste to obey. 
M'Junkin was the last, and began to growl as he prepared to descend. " What do you say, sir ?" 
said the judge. " I say, I pay my taxes, and his as good a reete here as iny mon." " SheriiF, 
sheriff," said the judge, " bring him before the court." M'Junkin's ire was now up — as he reached 
the floor, he began to strike his breast, exclaiming, " My name is John M'Junkin, d'ye see — here's 
the brist that niver flunched, if so be it was in a goode caase. I'll stan iny mon a hitch in But- 
ler CO., if so be he'll clear me o' the la'." " Bring him before the court," said the judge. He 
was accordingly pinioned, and if not gagged, at least forced to be silent, while his case was under 
consideration. Some of the lawyers volunteered as amici curiiE, some ventured a word of 
apology for M'Junkin. The judge pronounced sentence of imprisonment for two hours in the 
jail of the co., and ordered the sheriff" to take him into custody. The sheriff with much sim- 
plicity observed, " May it please the coorte, there is no jail at all at all to put him in." Here 
the judge took a learned distinction, upon which he expatiated at some length, for the benefit of 
the bar. He said there were two kinds of custody : first, safe custody ; secondly, close custody. 
The first is, where the body must be forthcoming to answer a demand, or an accusation, and in 
this case the body may be delivered for the time being out of the hands of the law, on bail or 
recognizance ; but where the imprisonment forms a part of the satisfaction or punishment, there 
can be no bail or mainprize. This is the reason of the common law, in relation to escapes under 
capias ad satisfaciendum, and also why a second ca. sa. cannot issue after the defendant has 
been once arrested and then discharged by the plaintiff. In like manner a man cannot be twice 
imprisoned for the same offence, even if he be released before the expiration of the term of im- 
prisonment. This is clearly a case of close custody — arcta custodia, and the prisoner must be 
confined, body and limb, without bail or mainprize, in some place of cloee incarceration." Here 
he was interrupted by the sheriff, who seemed to have hit upon a lucky thought. " May it please 
the coorte, I'm just thinken that may be I can take him till Bowen's pig pen — the pigs are kilt 
for the coorte, an it's empty ?" " You have heard the opinion of the court," said the judge, " pro- 
coed, sir ; do your duty." 

The sheriff accordingly retired with his prisoner, and drew after liim three fourths of the spec- 
tators and suitors, while the judge, thus relieved, proceeded to organize the court. But this was 
not the termination of the aff"air. Peace and order had hardly been restored, when the sheriff 
came rushing to the house, with a crowd at his heels, crying out, " Mr. Jidge, Mr. Jidge ; may 
it please the coorte." " What is the matter, sheriff?" " Mr. Jidge, Mr. Jidge — John M'Junkin's 
got aff; d'ye mind." "What! escaped, sheriff ? Summon the posse comitatus !" " The pusse, 
the pusse — why now I'lljist tell ye how it happen'd. He was goin on quee-etly enough, till he 
got to the hazzle patch, an' all at once he pitched aft'intil the bushes, an' I after him, but a lumb 
of a tree kitched my fut, and I pitched three rad off, but I fell forit, and tiiafs good luck, ye 
mintc." The judge could not retain his gravity ; the bar raised a laugh, and there the matter 
ended, after which the business proceeded quietly enough. 

The residence of Massy (Mercy) Herbe.son, whose interesting adven- 
ture is given below, w^as formerly at the salt-lick a mile and a half north- 
east of the borough. The truth of her narrative is confirmed and 
generally credited by the old people of the vicinity. 

Massy Herbeson, on her oath, according to law, being taken before John Wilkms, Esq., one 
of the commonwealth's justices of the peace, in and for the co. of Allegheny, deposeth and saith, 
that on the 22d day of this instant, she was taken from her own house, within two hundred 



176 BUTLER COUNTY. 

yards of Reed's blockhouse, which is called twenty-five miles from Pittsburg; her husband be- 
ing one of the spies, was from home ; two of the scouts had lodged with licr that niglit, but had 
left her house about sunrise, in order to go to the blockhouse, and had left the door standing wide 
open. Shortly after the two scouts went away, a number of Indians came into the house, and 
drew her out of bed by the feet ; the two eldest children, who lay in another bed, were drawn 
out in the same manner ; a younger child, about one year old, slept with the deponent. The 
Indians then scrambled about the articles in the house. While they were at their work, the de- 
ponent went out of the house, and halloed to the people in the blockhouse ; one of the Indians 
then ran up and stopped her mouth, another ran up with his tomahawk drawn, and a third ran 
and seized the tomahawk, and called her his squaw ; this last Indian claimed her as his, and 
continued by her ; about fifteen of the Indians then ran down toward the blockhouse and fired 
their guns at the block and store house, in consequence of which one soldier was killed and aur 
other wounded, one having been at the spring, and the other in coming or looking out of the 
storehouse. This deponent telling the Indians there were about forty men in the blockhouse, 
and each man had two guns, the Indians went to them that were firing at the blockhouse, and 
brought them back. They then began to drive the deponent and her children away ; but a boy, 
about three years old, being unwilling to leave the house, they took it by the heels, and dashed it 
against the house, th(»n stabbed and scalped it. They then took the deponent and the two other 
children to the top of the hill, where they stopped until they tied up the plunder they had got. 
While they were busy about this, the deponent counted them, and the number amounted to thirty- 
two, including two white men that were with them, painted like the Indians. 

That several of the Indians could speak English, and that she knew three or four of them 
very well, having often seen them go up and down the Allegheny river ; two of tlicm slie knew 
to be Senecas, and two Munsees, who had got their guns mended by her husband about two 
years ago. That they sent two Indians witii her, and the others took their cour.se towards Puckety. 
That she, tlie children, and the two Indians had not gone above two hundred yards, when the 
Indians caught two of her uncle's horses, put her and the youngest child on one, and one of the 
Indians and tiie other child on the other. That the two Indians then took her and the children 
to the Allegheny river, and took tiiem over in bark canoes, as tliey could not get the horses to 
Bwim the river. Alter they iiad crossed the river, the oldest child, a boy of about five years of 
age, began to mourn for his brotlier, when one of the Indians tomahawked and scalped him. 
That they travelled all day very liard, and that night arrived at a large camp covered with bark, 
which, by appearance, might hold fifty rnen ; that night they took her about three hundred yards 
from the camp, into a large dark bottom, bound her arms, gave her some bedclothes, and lay 
down one on each side of her. That the next morning they took her into a thicket on the hill 
side, and one remained with her till the middle of the day, while the other went to watch the 
path, lest some white people should follow them. They then exchanged places during the re- 
mainder of the day ; she got a piece of dry venison, about the bulk of an egv, that day, and a 
piece about the same size the day they were marching ; that evening, (Wednesday, the 23d,) they 
moved her to a new place, and secured her as the night before : during the day of the 23d, she 
made several attempts to get the Indian's gun or tomahawk, that was guarding her, and, had 
she succeeded, she would have put him to death. She was nearly detected in trying to get the 
tomahawk from his belt. 

The next morning, (Thursday,) one of the Indians went out, as on the day before, to watch 
the path. The other lay down and fell asleep. When she found he was sleeping, she stole her 
short-gown, handkerchief, a child's frock, and then made her escape. The sun was then about 
half an hour high — that she took her course from the Allegheny, in order to deceive the Indians, 
as they would naturally pursue her that way ; that day she travelled along Conoquenessing cr. 
The next day she altered her course, and, as she believes, fell upon the waters of Pine cr., which 
empties into the Alleglieny. Thinking this not her best course, she took over some dividing 
ridges — lay on a dividing ridge on Friday night, and on Saturday came to Squaw run — continued 
down the run until an Indian, or some other person, shot a deer ; she saw the person about one 
hundred and fifty yards from her — the deer running, and the dog pursuing it, which, from the 
appearance, she supposed to be an Indian dog. She then altered her course, but again came to 
the same run, and continued down it until she got so tired that she was obliged to lie down, 
it having rained on her all that day and the night before ; she lay there that night ; it rained con- 
stantly ; on Sunday morning she proceeded down the run until she came to the Allegheny river, 
and continued down the river till she came opposite to Carter's house, on the inhabited side, where 
she made a noise, and James Closier brought her over the river to Carter's house. 

Sworn before me, at Pittsburg, this 28th day of May, 1792. 

JOHN WILKINS. 

Harmony is situated on the left bank of Conoquenessing cr., 14 miles 
S. W. of Butler. Detmar Bassa Miiller, a native of Germany, here pur- 
chased a very large tract of depreciated land, at an early day, and sold 



BUTLER COUNTY. 177 

out in 1803 to George Rapp and his associates, who planted their first 
colony here, and called it Harmony. (See Beaver co.) In 1814, they 
sold out their land, 6,000 acres, of which they had cleared probably one 
half, for $100,000. 

The country has not sustained any loss by the chancre of owners. The present proprietor, 
Abra'm Zeigler, Esq., from the eastern part of Pennsylvania, is a man of great enterprise, of in- 
defatigable industry, and a practical farmer. It was but a short time after Mr. Zeigler pur- 
chased, until he sold out a number of lots in the town of Harmony, and also a nmnber of farms, 
generally to Pennsylvania Germans, who are equal in industry and skill in farming to their pre- 
decessors ; and much better citizens, inasmuch, as they enjoy the right of judging and acting for 
themselves, in all matters both of a religious and political nature. The present condition of all 
those farms is a state of the best improvement and cultivation. The raising of wool has been 
a business with them of considerable extent, and meets with much encouragement. The climate, 
situation, and soil of Butler co., were ascertained, from experience, to be well adapted to the 
raising of sheep. The land generally, in the neighborhood of Harmony and Zelienople, is very 
good, and in that township generally. This part of the county seems to have been more highly 
favored with settlers than most of the other townships. A number of Scotch famiUes settled in 
1796-7, who came from the island of Lewis, in the northern part of Scotland. They settled mid- 
way between Butler and Harmony, in Conoquencssing township. The old stock have mostly 
been consigned to the grave. Their descendants are numerous, and are now enjoying the fruits 
of their labor in peace and plenty. A house of public worship has been erected of brick, called 
the " White oak spring meeting-house," on the Butler and Harmony road, where a large congre- 
gation attend worship. They are of the Associate Presbyterian Reformed, or Unionists. — Haz. 
Register, June, 1832. 

Zelienople is on the Conoquencssing, about one mile S. W. of Har- 
mony, and 15 miles from Butler. The town was laid out by Dr. Miller 
about the year 1806. It now contains about 50 houses and 300 inhabi- 
tants, principally Germans of the Lutheran denomination. The soil 
around the village is very fertile. Iron ore, limestone, and bituminous 
coal can be obtained in abundance. 

Cbntreville, in Slippery Rock township, contains from 40 to 50 build- 
ings. It is only a few years since this place was laid out, and, as if by 
enchantment, it has sprung up into a handsome village. It is 14 miles 
from Butler, on the turnpike to Mercer, 

The other villages of Butler co. are, Harrisville, Murrinsville, Pqrt 

TERSVILLE, WoODVILLE, PrOSPECT, EvANSVILLE, and SuMMERVILLE. 

One of Capt. Samuel Brady's adventures occurred on the waters of 
Blippery Rock cr., probably somewhere in this co. 

The injuries inflicted on the Indians by the troops under Gen. Broadhead quieted the coyntry 
for some time. He kept spies out, however, for the purpose of watching their motions, and 
guarding against sudden attacks on the settlements. One of these parties, under the command 
of Capt. Brady, had the French creek country assigned as their field of duty. The captain had 
reached the waters of Slippery rock, a branch of Beaver, without seeing signs of Indians. Here, 
however, he came on an Indian trail in the evening, which he followed till dark without over- 
taking the Indians. The next morning he renewed the pursuit, and overtook them wiiile they 
were engaged at their morning meal. Unfortunately for him, another party of Indians were in 
his rear. They had fallen upon his trail, and pursued him, doubtless, with as much ardor as his 
pursuit had been characterized by ; and at the moment he fired upon the Indians in his iront, he 
was, in turn, fired upon by those in his rear. He was now between two fires, and vastly outnum- 
bered. Two of his men I'ell ; iiis tomahawk was shot from his side, and the battle-yell was given 
by the party In his rear, and loudly returned and repeated by those in his front. There was no 
time for hesitation ; no safety in delay ; no chance of successful defence in their present position. 
The brave captain and his rangers had to flee before their enemies, who pressed on their flying 
footsteps with no lagging speed. Brady ran towards the creek. He was known by many, if not 
all of them ; and many and deep were the scores to be settled between him and them. They 
knew the country well : he did not ; and from his running towards the creek they were certain 
of taking him prisoner. The creek was, for a long distance above and below the point he was 
approaching, washed in its channel to a great depth. In the certain expectation of catching him 
there, the private soldiers of his party were disregarded ; and throwing down their guns, and 
drawing their tomahawks, all pressed forward to seize their victim. 

23 



178 CAMBRIA COUNTY. 

Quick of eye, fearless of heart, and determined never to be a captive to the Indians, Brady 
comprehended their object and his only chance of escape, the moment he saw the creek ; and by 
one mighty effort of com"age and activity, defeated the one and effected the other. He sprang 
across the abyss of waters, and stood, rifle in hand, on the opposite bank, in safety. As quick as 
lightning, (says my informant,) his rifle was primed ; for it was his invariable practice in loading 
to prime first, The next minute the powder-horn was at the gun's muzzle ; when, as he was in 
this act, a large Indian, wiio had been foremost in pursuit, came to the opposite bank, and with 
the manliness of a generous foe, who scorns to undervalue the qualities of an enemy, said in a 
loud voice, and tolerable English, " Blady make good jump !" It may indeed be doubted whether 
the compliment was uttered in derision ; for the moment he had said so he took to his heels, and, 
as if fearful of the return it might merit, ran as crooked as a worm-fence — sometimes leaping high, 
at others suddenly squatting down, he appeared no way certain that Brady would not answer from 
the lips of his rifle. But the rifle was not yet loaded. The captain was at the place afterwards, 
and ascertained that his leap was about 23 feet, and that the water was 20 feet deep. Brady's 
next effort was to gather up his nien. They had a place designated at which to meet, in case 
they should happen to be separated ; and thither he went, and found the other three there. They 
immediately commenced their homeward march, and returned to Pittsburg about half defeated 
Three Indians had been seen to fall from the fire they gaye them at breakfast. 



CAMBRIA COUNTY. 

Cambria county was taken from Somerset and Huntington by the act 
of 26th March, 1804, The seat of justice was at first designed to be at 
Beulah, but the act of 1805 established it at Ebensburg. In 1807, the 
county was fully organized for judicial purposes. Length 85 ms., breadth 
19; area 670 sq. miles. Population in 1810,2,117; in 1820,3,287; in 
1830, 7,076 ; 9,nd in 1840, 11,256. The county occupies one of the most 
elevated positions in the state on the western declivity of the great Alle- 
gheny mountain. 

" To the traveller passing westward, this mountain presents a bold precipitous front ; but on 
crossing the summit the declivity is very gradual, not exceeding that of ordinary hifls ; thus de- 
monstrating the existence of a broad elevated table land between the Allegheny mountain and the 
subordinate range of Laurel hill. The latter mountain skirts the western part of the county, be- 
coming depressed and broken as it passes northward. The surface is exceedingly rugged and 
broken, and the soil comparatively cold, better adapted for grazing, and oats, rye, and potatoes, 
than for corn and wheat. Still it furnishes many a happy and comfortable home to the hardy 
mountaineers, who have preferred the crystal springs and salubrious air of this region, to the 
more enervating climate of the luxuriant lowlands." 

No Stream passes the great barrier on the east : in every other direc- 
tion the waters which rise here flow to far distant points. The west 
branch of the Susquehanna rises in this co., with its tributaries, Chest cr. 
and Clearfield cr., and after breaking through the Allegheny mountain iu 
Clinton co., sends its waters to the Atlantic ocean. On the other hand, 
Paint cr. and little Conemaugh, draining the mountains at the southern 
end of the co., break through the Laurel hill below Johnstown, and send 
their waters to the Gulf of Mexico. The Allegheny mountain is the 
boundary between the great secondary coal formation of the west, and 
the " lower secondary" strata of the southeastern counties. The deep 
wild valley of the Conemaugh has opened to view several valuable beds 
of coal, iron, and limestone ; other seams of coal and iron are exposed on 
the northern waters of the county. Borings for salt were made a few 
years since on Black Lick cr., and salt water obtained, but the manufac- 
ture was abandoned. 



CAMBRIA COUNTY. 179 

The principal occupation of the inhabitants is in agriculture, lumber- 
ing, and in the labors connected with the immense transportation busi- 
ness on the public improvements. The latter also furnishes a convenient 
market for the surplus produce of the county. 

The Portage railroad, connecting the eastern and western divisions of 
the Pennsylvania canal, crosses the mountain in the southern part of the 
county, and communicates with the slackwater navigation of the Cone- 
maugh river at Johnstown. The northern turnpike from Hollidaysburg 
to Pittsburg, crosses the county. At Ebensburg a branch turnpike runs 
to Indiana and Kittanning., 

Near the north line of the county, about a mile or two above the forks 
of Beaver-dam and Slate-lick creeks, there is said to be an ancient cir- 
cular fortification. The embankments are four or five feet high, and 
overgrown with immense trees. There were very old clearfields or open 
prairie lands, not far from this fortification, which probably gave name 
to Clearfield county. 

The following sketch of the early history of Cambria co. is extracted 
from several numbers written by Mr. Johnston of Ebensburg, in the pa- 
per edited by him in 1840. A few corrections have beeil made in names 
and facts — corrections which were made by the author in numbers sub- 
sequent to the first : 

" Previous to the ^ar 1789, the tract of country which is now included within the limits of 
Cambria co. was a wilderness. ' F^rankstown settlement,' as it Was then called, Was the frontier 
of the inhabited parts of Pennsylvania east of the Allegheny mountain. None of the pioneers 
had yet ventured to explore the eastern slope of the mountain. A remnant of the savage tribes 
still prowled through the forests, and seized every opportunity of destroying the dwellings of the 
settlers, and butchering such of the inhabitants as were so unfortunate as to fall into their hands. 
The howling of the wolf, and the shrill screaming of the catamount or American panther, (both 
of which animals infested the country in great numbers at the period of its first settlement,) 
mingled in nightly concert with the war-whoop of the savages. 

" It is believed that Capt. Michael McGuire was the first white man who settled within the 
present bounds of Cambria co. He settled in the neighborhood of where Loretto now stands, in 
the year 1790, and commenced improving that now interesting and well cultivated portion of Al- 
legheny township ; a large portion of which is still owned by his descendants. Luke McGuire, 
Esq., and Capt. Richard McGuire were sons of Michael McGuire, and came with him." 

Thomas Blair, of Blair's Gap, Huntington co., was at this time the 
nearest neighbor Capt. McGuire had. He resided at a distance of twelve 
miles. 

" Mr. McGuire was followed not long afterward by Cornelius Maguire, Richard Nagle, Wm. 
Dotson, Richard Ashcraft, Michael Rager, James AlCorn, and John Storm ; the last was of 
Gel man descent. These were followed by others — John Trux, John Douglass, John Byrne, and, 
we believe, Wm. Meloy. Under the auspices of these men, and perhaps a few others, the coun- 
try improved very rapidly. The first grist-mill ui the county was built by Mr. John Storm. 

" The hardships endured by these hardy settlers are almost incredible. Exposed to the incle- 
ntency of an Allegheny winter, agauist the rigor of which their hastily erected and scantily fur- 
nished huts afforded a poor protection, their sufferings were sometimes almost beyond endurance. 
Yet with the most unyielding firmness did these men persevere until they secured for themselves 
and their posterity the inheritance which the latter at present enjoy. 

" There was nothing that could be dignified with the name of road by which the settlers might 
have an intercourse with the settlements of Huntington co. A miserable Indian path led front 
the vicinity of where Loretto now stands, and intersected the road leading to Frankstown, two 
or three miles this side of the Summit. 

" Many anecdotes are related by the citizens of Allegheny township of the adventures of their 
heroic progenitors among the savage beasts, and the more savage Indians, which then infested 
the neighborhood. Tlie latter were not slow to seize every opportunity of aggression which pre- 
sented itself to their bloodthirsty minds, and consequently the inhabitants held not only property, 



180 CAMBRtA COUNTY. 

but life itself, by a Very uncertain tenure.* The truth of the fol.cwin^ story is vouched for by 
many of the most respectable citi^ns in Allegheny and Cambria townships, by one of whom it 
has kindly been furnished us for publication. A Mr. James Alcorn had settled in the vicinity 
of the spot where Loretto now stands ; and had built a hut and cleared a potato patch at some 
distance from it. The wife of Mr. Alcorn went an errand to see the potatoes, and did not re- 
turn. Search was immediately made, but no trace could be found to lead to her discovery. What 
became of her is to this day wrapped in mystery, and, in all human probability, We shall remain 
in ignorance of her fate. It was generally supposed that she had been taken by the savages ; 
and it was even reported that slie had returned several years after ; but this story is not credited 
by any in the neighborhood," 

The following interesting biographical sketch also pertains to the early 
history of the co. From the Mountaineer — Ebensburg, 14th May, 1840; 

" Died, on the 6th inst., at Loretto, the Rev. Demetrius Augustine Gallitzin, who for 42 yenrh 
exercised pai^f'toral functions in Cambria co. The venerable deceased was born in 1770, at Mun 
ster, in Germany. His father. Prince de Gallitzin, ranked among the highest nobility in Rassia. 
His mother w'as the daughter of Field Marshal General de Schmeltan, a celebrated ofi'tcer under 
Frederick the Great. Her brother fell at the battle of Jena. The deceased held a high commis- 
sion in the Russian army from his infancy. Europe in the early part of his life Was desolated 
by war — the French revolution burst like a volcano upon that convulsed continent : it offered no 
facilities or attractions for travel, and it was determined that the young Prince de Gallitzin 
should visit America. He landed in Baltimore in Aug. 1782, in company with Rev. Mr. Bro- 
sius. By a train of circumstances in which the hand of Providence was strikingly visible, his 
mind was directed to the ecclesiastical state, and he renounced forever his brilliant prospects.^ 
Already endowed with a splendid education, he was the more prepared to pursue his ecclesiasti- 
cal studies, under the venerable Bishop Carroll, at Baltimore, with facility and success. Having 
completed his theological course, he spent some time on the mission in Maryland. 

In the year 1789, he directed his course to the Allegheny mountain, and found that portion of 
it which now constitutes Cambria co., a perfect wilderness, almost without inhabitants or habi- 
tations. After incredible labor and privations, and expending a princely fortune, he succeeded in 
making ' the wilderness blossom as the rose.' His untiring zeal has collected about Loretto, his 
late residence, a Catholic population of three or four thousand. He not only extended the church 
by his missionary toils, but also illustrated and defended the truth by several highly useful publi- 
cations. His ' Defence of Catholic principles' has gained merited celebrity both here and in 
Europe. 

" In this extraordinary man we have not only to admire his renunciation of the brighest hopoa 
and prospects ; his indefatigable zeal — but something greater and rarer — his wonderful humilityi 
No one could ever learn from him or his mode of life, what he had been, or what he exchanged 
for privation and poverty. 

" To intimate to him that you were aware of his condition, would be sure to pain and dis- 
please him. He who might have revelled in the princely halls of his ancestors, was content to 
spe'iid 30 years in a rude log-cabin, almost denying himself the common comforts of life, that 
he rafight be able to clothe tiie naked members of Jesus Christ, the poor and distressed. Few 
have left behind them such examples of charity and benevolence. On the head of no one have 
been invoked so many blessings from the mouths of widows and orphans. It may be literally 
said of him, ' if his heart had been made of gold he would have disposed of it all in charity tO 
the poor.' " 

Ebensburg, the county seat, is a flourishing village, on the top of one 
of the ridges of the Allegheny mountain, 7 miles west of the summit, 
and 74 from Pittsburg. It commands a grand and extensive vievv^ of the 
surrounding country. The annexed view was taken from the hill about 
a mile southeast of the village. The academy and courthouse will be 
recogni.sed near the left of the view. In addition to the usual county 
buildings, the place contains a very handsome academy, and four churches, 
Catholic, Baptist, Methodist, and Independent. The latter three are 
Welsh. One half the population of the town, and the greater proportion 
for miles around it, is composed of Welsh — a people remarkable for thrift, 
sobriety, and industry. The ancient tongue of Cambria strikes the ear 
of the traveller from nearly every one he meets, and the services of three 

* Nerertheiess, it is said that Michael Rager, another settler, left 27 children. 



CAMBRIA COUNTY. 



181; 




Ebenshnrg. 
ot the churches are conducted in that language. Indeed, it is only occa^ 
sionally that one may hear English preaching in Ebensburg. The busi- 
ness of the place is limited to the ordinary affairs of the courts and county 
offices, and the supply of the surrounding agricultural district. The turn- 
pike from Hollidaysburg to Pittsburg passes through the borough ; and 
another runs to Indiana and Kittanning. Population in 1840, 353. 
Ebensburg was incorporated as a borough in 1825. 

The following is from the numbers by Mr. Johnston, referred to above : 

Ebensbiirg and Vicinity were not settled for several years after the first settlement was made 
at Loretto and Munster. As it lay still further from the more eastern settlements than the two 
latter places, it of course would not so soon be occupied by the hardy emigrants. In the fall and 
winter of 1796, the families of Thomas Phillips, William Jenkins, Theophilus Rees, Evan Rob- 
erts, Rev. Rees Lloyd, William Griffith, James Nicholas, Daniel Griffith, John Jones, David 
Thomas, Evan James, and George Roberts ; and Thomas W. Jones, Esq., John Jenkins, Isaac 
Griffith, and John Tobias, bachelors, commenced settling in Cambria township, Cambria co. ; 
and in the following spring and smnmer the families of the Rev. Morgan J. Rees, John J. Evans, 
William Rees, Simon James, William Williams, (South,) Thomas Griffith, John Thomas, John 
Roberts, (Penbryn,) John Roberts^ (shoemaker,) David Rees, Robert Williams, and Geo. Turner ; 
and Thomas Griffith, (farmer,) James Evans, Griffith Rowland, David Edwards, Thomas Lewis, 
and David Davis, bachelors, followed. There were at this time several families living in the vi- 
cinity of the places where Loretto, Munster, JefTerson, and Johnstown now stand. The settlers 
above named, we believe, were all from Wales. They commenced making improvements in the 
different parts of what is now called Cambria township. The name which the Welsh emigrants 
gave to their settlement, Cambria, was derived from their former home — the mountainous part 
of Wales. Cambria township afterwards gave name to the county, which was, at the time of 
which we speak, a part of Somerset co. The tract of country on which the Welsh emigrants 
settled .had been purchased a year or two previous, by the Rev. Morgan J. Rees, (mentioned 
above,) from Dr. Benjamin Rush, of Philadelphia ; and by him sold to his Welsh brethren, in 
smaller tracts. 

The early Welsh settlers had laid out a town at Beulah, two miles 
southwest of Ebensburg : but the establishment of the seat of justice at • 
the latter place, by the act of 1805, destroyed its prospects. 

Rev. Rees Lloyd was the first settler in Ebensburg, and gave it the 
name it now bears. 

Two frame houses, of which the present stage-tavern is one, were the first built in town. 
These were quite insufficient to accommodate the crowd that assembled at court, and not imfre- 
quently " the boys" would build a large fire in the street, and take their lodging around it. The 
first courts were held in the old red building now used as a jail ; the prison being in the cellar, 



182 CAMBRIA COUNTY. 

and the hall of justice above. Jemmy Ferrol, an independent Irishman of the mountain, attend 
ing court one day, began for his amusement to beat a tune on the drum of the stove, and to 
make various other noises ; so that Judge Young, in order to maintain the dignity of his station, 
found it necessary to commit him to the prison beneath, and justice for a few moments moved on 
without interruption. But a short time, however, had elapsed, when the clamor made by the 
advocate addressing the jury was drowned by the Stentorian voice of Jemmy, singing "Paddy 
O'Whack" in the cellar. An order was issued to silence the prisoner, but he was in a state to 
laugh at the order. He went further — he hired a fellow-prisoner to assist him in his concert ; and 
together they sent forth such a discordant noise that the judge, in self-defence, was compelled to 
adjourn the court until the prisoner's time of commitment had expired. 

in the summer of 1842, the citizens of Ebensburg were shocked by the 
perpetration of a most atrocious murder. The following account of it is 
from the " Mountaineer :" — • 

On Sunday last, two Irishmen, said to bear the name of Flanagan, made their appearance irt 
the neighborhood, and spent the day in a suspicious manner — sometimes in deep consultation to- 
gether, and sometimes drinking and lurking about the taverns. About 11 o'clock at night, they 
broke into the house of Mrs. Elizabeth Holder, a lone widow, who resided near Ebensburg, and 
who Was thought by some persons to have some money in her house. At their first attack, she 
screamed a few times very violently; and her next neighbor, a Mr..Rainey, who had retired to 
bed, heard her and ran to her assistance. But ere he got there the struggle was all over, and she 
was no more ; and they were plundering the house. Mr. Rainey was afraid to venture into the 
house alone, and ran off for more assistance. Four or five men soon came along with him, and 
they arrived there just as the murderers were about leaving. The citizens endeavored to take 
them, and fired a rifle at one of them, but missed him. They made their escape, in the darkness 
of the night, into the neighboring woods. The citizens of this neighborhood are greatly excited, 
and immediately after the alarm was given of the deed having been committed, they turned out, 
to a man, to have the murderers taken ; but they have yet escaped. They were frequently seen 
on Monday, and very nearly taken two or three times. Before they commenced the work of 
murder, they took off their hats, and one of them his coat, and left them outside of the house ; 
lest, as is supposed, they should be besmeared with the blood of their innocent victim. They 
had not time to get their garments when they escaped. They are consequently, one of them at 
least, running without hat or coat. The other got an old chip hat at a farm-house, early on Mon- 
day morning. It is thought they could not have got more than tlu-ee or four dollars in the house. 

The Flanagans were taken in Crawford co., brought to Cambria, and 
condemned to be hung. In March, 1843, a motion was made in the legis- 
lature to grant them a new trial. 

Johnstown is situated on a broad flat, completely encircled by moun- 
tains, at the confluence of the Stony creek with the little Conemaugh* 
The annexed view was talcen from the hill near the railroad. In the 
centre of the town, a large basin is formed by damming the Conemaugh, 
to accommodate the great fleet of canal-boats plying between this place 
and Pittsburg. This basin is surrounded by warehouses, boat-yards, and 
other conveniences for receiving and delivering goods. Some eight or 
ten lines for transportation have forwarding houses here, and during 
the summer it is a stirring, busy place. The dwellings are generally 
very well built — many of them of brick. No place can boast of purer 
water, and few of more salubrious mountain air. There are four church- 
es — Catholic, Presbyterian, Methodist, and Lutheran. The state has a 
large depot here for repairing locomotives and other machinery — and has 
recently taken measures to construct a larger basin, with necessary ap- 
*paratus for launching and hauling up the section boats that cross the 
mountain on trucks. The population in 1840 was, of the borough, 949, 
of the extension, 328 — total, 1,377. 

Johnstown occupies the site of an old Indian town called Kickenapaw- 
ling's old town. About the year 1791 or '92, Mr. Joseph Jahns, (or Yahns, 
as he spelt it,) an enterprising German, came and settled here. The ori- 
ginal title-deeds of many of the town lots are in his name. Mr. Holli- 



CAMBRIA COUNTY. 



183 




Johnstown. 

day, it is said, was also an owner of property here — whether with Mr. Jahns 
or subsequently, is not ascertained. As this was the head of navigation 
to those seeking the western waters, it became a place of shipment for 
the iron of Huntington county, and for the lumber and produce of the 
vicinity, as well as the emigration destined for the west. Arks and flat- 
boats were then the only mode of conveyance. The pigs and blooms of 
Juniata iron were hauled over the old Frankstown road, by the gap of 
that name. The place at that time was called Conemaugh. Some forty 
years since a family of Leveers were living here in a cabin. 

The Allegheny Portage railroad is 39 69-100 miles in length from Hol- 
lidaysburg to Johnstown, overcoming in ascent and descent an aggregate 
of 2,570 feet, 1,398 of which are on the eastern and 1,172 on the western 
side of the mountain. It crosses the mountain at Blair's gap summit, and 
descends along the mountain branch of the Conemaugh. The top of the 
mountain, which is some 200 feet higher than the culminating point of 
the railroad, is 2,700 feet above the Delaware river at Philadelphia. The 
ascent and descent have been overcome by ten inclined planes, lifting 
from 130 to 307 feet, and varying in inclination between 4 1-8 and 5 5-6 
degrees. The shortest plane is 1,585 feet, and 130 feet high ; the longest 
is 3,100 feet, and 307 feet high. There is on the line a tunnel of 870 feet 
long and 20 feet high through the mountain, at the Staple bend of the 
Conemaugh. The principal viaduct on the line is that ovev the Horse- 
shoe bend : it is a semicircular arch of 80 feet span ; its cost was 
$54,562. The Ebensburg and Mountain branch viaducts are 40 feet span 
each. All the viaducts and culverts have been built of the most substan- 
tial masonry, the character of which is in perfect keeping with this mag- 
nificent mountain pass. The iron rail is of great strength, and of an ap- 
proved pattern, corresponding with the importance of the road. The cars 
are elevated by stationary steam-engines at the head of each plane, and on 
the intervening levels locomotives and horses are used. The total cost 
of the road, including stationary engines, &c., exceeded $1,500,000. 

" The design was originall}' entertained of connecting the main Pittsburg route by continuing 
the canals with locks and dams as far as possible on both sides, and then to tunnel through the 



184 CARBON COUNTY. 

mountain summit, a distance of four miles ! Fortunately, however, this extravagant idea was 
abandoned, and surveys for the railroad were commenced in 1828, and were continued by various 
engineers until the appointment of Sylvester Welch, under whom the present location was made. 
Mr. Welch has immortalized his name by a work equal in importance and grandeur to any in the 
world. He has raised a monument to the intelligence, enterprise, and public spirit of Pennsylva- 
nia, more honorable than the temples and pyramids of Egypt, or the triumphant arches and col- 
mnns of Rome. They were erected to commemorate the names of tyrants, or the battles of vic- 
torious chieftains, while these magnificent works are intended to subserve the interests of agri- 
culture, manufactures, and commerce — to encourage the arts of peace — to advance the prosperity 
and happiness of the whole people of the United States — to strengthen the bonds of the Union." 
" In October, 1834, this portage was actually the means of connecting the waters of Eastern 
Pennsylvania with those of Mississippi ; and as the circumstance is peculiarly interesting, we 
here place it on record. Jesse Chrisman, from the Lackawanna, a tributary of the north branch 
of the Susquehanna, loaded his boat, named Hit or Miss, with his wife, children, beds and family 
accommodations, with pigeons and other live-stock, and started for Illinois. At Hollidaysburg, 
where he expected to sell his boat, it was suggested by John Dougherty, of the Reliance Trans- 
portation hue, that the whole concern could be safely hoisted over the mountain and set afloat 
again in the canal. Mr. Dougherty prepared a railroad car calculated to bear the novel burden. 
The boat was taken from its proper element and placed on wheels, and imder the superintendence 
of Major C. Williams, (who, be it remembered, was the first man who ran a boat over the Alle- 
gheny mountain,) the boat and cargo at noon on the same day began their progress over the rug- 
ged Allegheny. All this was done without disturbing the family arrangements of cooking, sleep- 
ing, &c. They rested a night on the top of the mountain, like Noah's ark on Ararat, and de- 
scended next morning into the valley of the Mississippi, and sailed for St. Louis." 

The trip of a boat over the mountain is now^ no novel sight, except 
that, instead of going over whole, they are so constructed as to be sepa- 
rated into three or four parts on reaching the railroad. After thus mount- 
ing the cars piecemeal, v^ith their loads of emigrants, baggage, and 
freight on board, they wend their way over the mountains, and resuming 
their proper element at Johnstown, they unite their parts again and glide 
on to the waters of the great west. Since this road wa« constructed, 
such improvements have been made in the construction of locomotives, 
that a project has been suggested for re-locating the whole road, and so 
arranging and extending the grades as to adapt them to the tractive 
power of locomotives, and dispense entirely with stationary engines, or, at 
any rate, with all except one at the extreme summit. This route would 
cross the summit by a gap north of the present route. 

LoRETTO is situated about six miles east of Ebensburg, a few miles 
north of the turnpike. It is the site of the Catholic church founded by 
the liberality and sustained by the labors of Rev. Dr. Gallitzin. Popula- 
tion in 1840, 151. The soil in and around the village is exceedingly good. 
The population in the vicinity is principally composed of Germans and 
Irish of the Catholic persuasion. (See above the history of the oo,) 

MuNSTER is a small village, five miles east of Ebensburg, on the turn- 
pike, containing, by the census of 1840, only 67 inhabitants. 

The Summit is a small village at the summit of the railroad, containing 
a post-office, taverns, stores, &c., and about 100 inhabitants. There is 
another thriving village at the foot of plane No. 3, containing two 
as, stores, &c. &:c. 



CARBON COUNTY. 

iRBON COUNTY was taken from Northampton and Monroe by the act 
843. The townships of Mauch Chunk, Lausanne, Upper To wamen- 



CARBON COUNTY. 185 

sing, Lower Towamensing, and East Penn were taken from Northamp- 
ton, and the township of Penn Forest from Monroe. Length 20 miles, 
breadth 19; area 390 sq. miles. The county comprises the very moun- 
tainous region on the Lehigh river above the Kittatinny mountain, a re- 
gion rugged and wild in appearance, and poorly adapted to agricultural 
purposes ; but abounding in mineral wealth, in extensive forests of pine 
lumber, and in water power. The Lehigh river divides the county into 
two nearly equal parts. The more important streams tributfPry to it are, 
on the east side the Aquanshicola and Big cr.. Muddy run and Duck cr. ; 
and on the west side, Lizard, Mahoning, Mauch Chunk, Nesquihoning, 
Quakake, and Laurel creeks. 

Above the Kittatinny or Blue mountain, and running parallel with it 
in a southwestern and northeastern direction, are Mahoning mountain, 
Mauch Chunk or Bear mountain, Pohokopo, Pokono, Broad, and Spring 
mountains. Bald ridge, and Pine hill. Of these the Mauch Chunk, Broad, 
and Pokono, rise from 800 to 1,000 feet above the Lehigh river. Anthra- 
cite coal is found in great abundance in the Mauch Chunk mountain, and 
in several of the other elevations northwest of the Lehigh. The particu- 
lar localities will be described more in detail in another place. The 
Great Swamp, or Shades of Death, as it was formerly called by the suf- 
fering fugitives from Wyoming, is a vast body of rather wet land, covered 
with a dense forest of pine, on both sides of the Lehigh river, extending 
from its source downward some 20 miles. The lower end of this tract is 
in Carbon co. Its lurrjber furnishes a vast amount of freight for the Le- 
high Navigation Company's canal, which has recently been extended into 
this forest. 

This canal and slackwater navigation extends from White Haven 
along the Lehigh to Easton, where it connects with the Delaware canal. 
There are several railroads in the county for bringing to the canal the 
produce respectively of the Mauch Chunk, Nesquihoning, Beaver Meadow, 
Hazleton, and Sugar Loaf mines. The Centre turnpike from Easton to 
Berwick on the Susquehanna, passes up the Lehigh to a short distance 
above Mauch Chunk, whence it passes over the Broad and Spring moun- 
tains, and through the village of Beaver Meadow. 

The first settlement in Carbon county was by the Moravian mission- 
aries in the year 174G. The converted Mohegan Indians having been 
driven out of Shekomeko, in New York, near the borders of Connecticut, 
and from Patchgatgoch in the latter state, found an asylum for a short 
time at Friedenshuetten, near Bethlehem. Deeming it inconvenient to 
maintain a large Indian congregation so near Bethlehem, the missionaries 
purchased 200 acres on the north side of Mahoning creek, about half a 
mile above its junction with the Lehigh. " Each Indian family possessed 
its own lot of ground, and began its separate housekeeping. Gnaden- 
hutten became a very regular and pleasant town. The church stood in 
the valley, on one side the Indian houses, forming a crescent, upon a 
rising ground ; and on the other stood the house of the missionary, and 
the burying-ground. The road to ' Waiomink' and other Indian towns, lay 
through the settlement." This was the famous path over Nescopeck 
mountain still known as the Warrior's path. The missionaries tilled their 
own grounds, and every Indian family their plantation ; and on the 18th 
Aug. 1746, they had the satisfaction to partake of the first-fruits of the 

24 



186 CARBON COUNTY. 

land at a love-feast, " Christian Ranch and Martin Mack were the first 
missionaries who resided here. They were succeeded by other missiona- 
ries, who were occasionally removed, the brethren being of opinion that 
frequent changes of the ministers of the congregation might be useful in 
preventing too strong a^n attachment to, and dependence upon men, and 
fixing the hope of the Indians more upon God alone." Several parts of 
Scripture had been translated into the Mohegan language. " The con- 
gregation met morning and evening to sing and pray, and sometimes to 
hear a discourse upon the text of Scripture appointed for the day. The 
holy communion was administered to the communicants every month. 
The Indians called the communion day the great day, and such indeed it 
was, for the missionaries pould never find words to extol the power and 
grace of God, revealed on these occasions." "In Sept. 1749, Bishop Jo- 
hannes Von Watteville went to Gnadenhutten and laid the foundation 
of a new church, that built in 1746 being too small, and the missionaries 
being obliged to preach out of doors. The Indian congregation alone 
consisted of 500 persons. About this time Mr. David Brainerd and seve- 
ral of his Indian converts visited Gnadenhutten." " The congregation 
continued in this pleasing and regular state until the year 1754." 

When the Delawares and Shawanees on the Susquehanna began to 
waver in their allegiance to the English, and were preparing to take up 
the hatchet on the side of the French, it became an object of some im- 
portance to them to withdraw their Indian brethren in the missionary set- 
tlements beyond the reach of the whites, that the hostile savages might 
more freely descend upon the white settlements. The Christian Indians 
for some time resolutely refused to move to Wyoming. At length, how- 
ever, a part were seduced by the influence of Teedyuscund, The Mohe- 
gans who remained were joined by the Christian Delawares from Menio- 
lagomeka, and — to continue the history in the words of Loskiel — 

The land on the Mahoning being impoverished, and other circumstances requiring a change, 
the inhabitants of Gnadenhutten removed to the north side of the Lehigh. The dwelhngs were 
removed, and a new chapel was built, in June, 1754. The place was called New Gnadenhutten 
[It stood where Weissport now is.] The dwellings were so placed that the Mohicans lived on 
one, and the Delawares on the other side [of the street.] The brethren at Bethlehem took the 
culture of the old land on the Mahoning upon themselves, made a plantation of it for the use of 
the Indian congregation, and converted the old chapel into a dwelling, both for the use of those 
brethren and sisters who had the care of the plantations, and for missionaries passing on their 
visits to the heathen. 

The Indians in the French interest were much incensed that any of the Moravian Indians 
chose to remain at Gnadenhutten, and determined to cut off the settlement. After Braddock's 
defeat, in 1755, the whole frontier was open to the inroads of the savage foe. Every day dis- 
closed new scenes of barbarity committed by the Indians. The whole country was in terror ; 
the neighbors of the brethren in Gnadenhutten forsook their dwellings and fled ; but the brethren 
made a covenant together to remain undaunted in the place allotted them by Providence. How- 
ever, no caution was omitted ; and because the white people considered every Indian as an ene- 
my, the Indian bretliren in Gnadenhutten were advised as much as possible to keep out of their 
way — to buy no powder nor shot, but to strive to maintain themselves without hunting, which 
they willingly complied with. ****** jjyt QqJ jj^d otherwise or- 
dained. On a sudden the mission-house on the Mahoning was, late in the evening of 24th Nov., 
attacked by the French Indians, burnt, and eleven of the inhabitants mm'dered. 

The family, being at supper, heard an uncommon barking of dogs, upon which brother Sense- 
man went out at the back door to sec what was the matter. On the report of a gun, several ran 
together to open the house-door. Here the Indians stood with their pieces pointed towards the 
door, and firing immediately upon its being opened, Martin Nitchman was instantly killed. His 
wife and some others were wounded, but fled with the rest up stairs into the garret, and barrica- 
ded the door with bedsteads. Brother Partsch escaped by jumping out of a back window. 
Brother Worbas, who waa ill in bed in a bouse adjoining, jumped likewise out of a back window 



CARBON COUNf Y, iSt 

and escaped, though the enemies had placed a guard before his door. Meanwhile the savages 
pursued those who had taken refuge in tlie garret, and strove hard to burst the door open ; but 
finding it too well secured, they set fire to the house, which was soon in flames. A boy called 
Sturgeons, standing upon the flaming roof, ventured to leap off, and escaped ; though at first, up- 
on opening the back, door, a ball had grazed his cheek, and one side of his head was much burnt. 
Sister Partsch seeing this took courage, and leaped likewise from the burning roof. She came 
down unhurt, and unobserved by the enemies ; and thus the fervent prayer of her husband wa3 
fulfilled, who in jumping out of the back window cried aloud to God to save his wife. Brother 
Fabricius then leaped also off" the roof, but before he could escape was perceived by the Indians, 
and instantly wounded by two balls. He was the only one whom they seized upon alive, and 
having dispatched him with their hatchets, took his scalp, and left him dead on the ground. The 
rest were all burnt alive, and brother Senseman, who first went out at the back door, had the in» 
expressible grief to see his wife consumed by the flames. Sister Partsch could not run far for 
fear and trembling, but hid herself behind a tree, upon a hill near the house. From hence she 
saw sister Senseman, already surrounded by the flames, Standing with folded hands, and heard 
her call out, "'Tig all well, dear Saviour — I expected nothing else !" The house being consumed, 
the murderers set fire to the bams and stables, by which all the corn, hay, and cattle were de* 
stroyed. Then they divided the spoil, soaked some bread in milk, made a hearty meal, and de- 
parted — sister Partsch looking on unperceived. 

This melancholy event proved the deliverer of the Indian congregation at Gnadenhutten ; for 
Upon hearing the report of the guns, seeing the flames, and soon learning the dreadful cause from 
those who had escaped, the Indian brethren immediately went to the missionary, and offered to 
attack the enemy without delay. But being advised to the contrary, they all fled into the woods, 
and Gnadenhutten was cleared in a few minutes ; some who already were in bed having scarce 
time to dress themselves. Brother Zeisberger, who had just arrived in Gnadenhutten from Beth- 
lehem, hastened back to give notice of this event to a body of English militia, which had 
marched within five miles of the spot ; but they did not venture to pursue the enemy in the dark. 

The fugitive congregation arrived safely at Bethlehem. After the 
French and Indians had retired, the remains of those killed on the Ma- 
honing were carefully collected from the ashes and ruins, and solemnly 
interred. A broad marble slab, placed there in 1788, now marks the 
grave, which is situated on the hill, a short distance from Lehighton, and 
a little north of a small hamlet which occupies the site of the ancient 
missionary village. The following is the inscription on the marble ;* — 

To the memory of Gotlieb and Christiana Anders, with their child Johanna ; Martin and Su- 
sanna Nitsmann, Ann Catharina Sensmann, Leonhard Gattermeyer, Christian Fabricius, clerk ; 
George Shuegger, John Frederick Lesley and Martin Presser, who lived here at Gnadenhutten 
unto the Lord, and lost their lives in a surprise from Indian warriors, November the 24th, 1755. 
Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints. — Psalm cxvi., 15. 

The next chapter in the history of these wild glens of the Lehigh may 
perhaps be best given in the words of Dr. Franklin. 

While the several companies in the city and country were forming, and learning their exercisfe, 
the governor prevailed with me to take charge of our northwestern frontier, which was infested 
by the enemy, and provide for the defence of the inhabitants by raising troops, and building a 
line of forts. I undertook this military business, though I did not conceive myself well qualified 
for it. He gave me a commission with full powers, and a parcel of blank commissions for ofli- 
cers, to be given to whom I thought fit. I had but Httle difficulty in raising men, having soon 
five hundred and sixty under my command. My son, who had in the preceding war been an 
officer in the army raised against Canada, was my aid-de-camp, and of great use to me. The 
Indians had burned Gnadenhutten, a village settled by the Moravians, and massacred the in- 
habitants ; but the place was thought a good situation for one of the forts. In order to march 
thither, I assembled the companies at Bethlehem, the chief establishment of those people. I was 
surprised to find it in so good a posture of defence ; the destruction of Gnadenhutten had mada 
them apprehend danger. The principal buildings were defended by a stockade ; they had pur- 
chased a quantity of arms and ammunition from New York, and had even placed quantities o. 
small paving stones between the windows of their high stone houses, for their women to throw 



* The grave-yard is in a very neglected condition. It would add much to the beauty of this 
interesting spot, if the brethren at Bethlehem and Nazareth would plant a few shade-trees around 
the monument, and enclose it with a raiUng. 



188 CARBON COUNTY. 

them down upon the heads of any Indians that should attempt to force into them. T •^■*t«;i> 
brethren too kept watch, and reUeved each other on guard as nietliodically as in any gurrisoii 
town. In conversation with the bishop, Spangenbcrg, I mentioned mj surprise ; for knowing 
they had obtained an act of parhament exempting tliem from raihtary duties in the colonies, I 
had supposed they were conscientiously scrupulous of bearing arms. He answered me, " That 
it was not one of their established principles ; but that at the time of their obtaining that act it 
was thought to be a principle with many of their people. On this occasion, however, they to 
their surprise found it adopted by but a few." It seems they were either deceived in themselves, 
or deceived the parliament ; but connnon sense, aided by present danger, will sometimes be too 
strong for whimsical opinions. 

It was the beginning of January, 1756, when we set out upon this business of buOding forts. 
I sent one detachment towards the Minisink, with instructions to erect one for the security of 
that upper part of the country ; and another to the lower part with similar instructious . and I 
concluded to go myself with the rest of my force to Gnadenhutten, where a fort was thought 
more immediately necessary. The Moravians procured me five wagons for our tools stores, 
baggage, tfec. Just before we left Bethlehem, eleven farmers, who had been driven from their 
plantations by the Indians, came to me requesting a supply of fire-arms, that they might go back 
and bring otF their cattle. I gave them each a gun with suitable ammunition. We had not 
marched many miles before it began to rain, and it continued raining all day. There were no 
habitations on the road to shelter us, till we arrived near night at the house of a Gennan, where, 
and in his barn, we were all huddled together as wet as water could make us. It was well we 
were not attacked in our march, for our arms were of the most ordinary sort, and our men could 
not keep the locks of their guns dry. The Indians are dextrous in contrivances for that purpose, 
wliich we had not. They met that day the eleven poor farmers above mentioned, and killed ten 
of them ; the one that escaped informed us that his and his companions' guns would not go 
off, the priming being wet with the rain. The next day being fair, we continued our march, and 
arrived at the desolate Gnadenhutten ; there was a mill near, round which were left several pine 
boards, with which we soon hutted ourselves ; an operation the more necessary at that inclement 
season, as We had no tents. Our first work was to bury more effectually the dead we found there, 
who had been half interred by the country people ; the next morning our fort was planned and 
marked but, the circumference measuring four hundred and fifty-five feet, which would require as 
many palisades to be made, one wilh another of a foot diameter each. Each phie made three 
palisades of eighteen feet long, pointbd at one end. When they were set up, our carpenters built a 
platform of boards all round within, about six feet high, for the men to stand on when to fire 
through the loop-holes. We had one swivel gun, which we mounted on one of the angles, and 
fired it as soon as fixed, to let the Indians know, if any were within hearing, that we had such 
pieces ; and thus our fort, (if that name may be given to so miserable a stockade,) was finished 
in a week, though it rained so hard every other day that the men could not well work. 

This kind of fort, however contemptible, is a sufficient defence against Indians who had no 
canon. Finding ourselves now posted securely, and having a place to retreat to on occasion, we 
ventured out in parties to scour the adjacent country. We met with no Indians, but we found 
the places on the neighboring hills where they had lain to watch our proceedings. There was an 
art in their contrivance of those places, that seems worth mentioning. It being winter, a fire 
was necessary for them ; but a common fire, on the surface of the ground, would, by its light, 
have discovered their position at a distance ; they had therefore dug holes in the ground about 
three feet diameter, and somewhat deeper ; we found where they had with their hatchets cut off^ 
the charcoal from the sides of burnt logs lyuig in the woods. With these coals they had made 
small fires in the bottom of the holes, and we observed among the weeds and grass the prints of 
their bodies, made by their lying all round with their legs hanging down in the holes to keep their 
feet warm, whicii, with them, is an essential point. This kind of fire, so managed, could not 
discover them either by its light, flame, sparks, or even smoke. It appeared that the number 
was not great, and it seems they saw we were too many to be attacked by them with prospect 
of advantage. 

We had for our chaplain a zealous Presbyterian minister, Mr. Beatty,* who complained to me 
that the inen did not generally attend his prayers and exhortations. When they enlisted, they 
were promised, besides pay and provisions, a gill of rum a day, which was punctually served out 
to them, half in the morning, and half in the evening ; and I observed they were punctual in 
attending to receive it ; upon which I said to Mr. Beatty, " It is, perhaps, below the dignity of 
your profession to act as steward of the rum ; but if you were to distribute it out only just afteJ 
prayers, you would have them all about you." He liked the thought, undertook the task, and 
with the help of a few hands to measure out the liquor, executed it to satisfaction, and never 
were prayers more generally and more punctually attended. So that I think this method prefer 
able to the punishment inflicted by some military laws for non-attendance on divine service. 



* See under Bucks co., page 164. 



CARBON COUNTY. 189 

The fort erected by Dr. Franldin was called Fort Allen, in honor of 
Wm. Allen, a distinguished citizen of Philadelphia. Franklin soon after* 
left Col. Chapham in charge, and returned to Philadelphia. On his way 
he stopped at Bethlehem, where he took particular observation of their 
peculiar customs. Among other things, he says— 

I inquired concerning the Moravian marriages, whether the report was true that they were by 
lot. I was told that lots were used only in particular cases ; that generally, when a young man 
found himself disposed to marry, he informed the elders of his class, Who consulted the elder 
ladies that governed the young women. As those elders of the different sexes were well ac- 
quainted with the tempers and dispositions of their respective pupils, they oould best judge what 
matches were suitable, and their judgments were generally acquiesced in. But if, for example, 
it should happen that two or three young women V/ere found to be equally proper for the young 
man, the lot was then recurred to. I objected, if the matches arc not made by the mutual choice 
of the parties, some of them may chance to be very unhappy. " And so they may," answered 
my informer, " if you let the parties choose for themselves." Which indeed I could not deny. 

In April, 1760, the Indian congregation at Nain, near Bethlehem, be-* 
coming crowded, found it necessary to swarm, and a new Indian mission- 
ary village was established, under Br. Gottlob Senseman, at Wechquetanki, 
which, from the map in Loskiel, would appear to have been some ten or 
twelve miles S. W. of Gnadenhutten, "behind the Blue mountains." 
Possibly it may have been in the eastern corner of Schuylkill co., but 
whether on Mahoning or Lizard cr. does not appear ; but probably on 
the latter. When Pontiac's war broke upon the frontier, in 1763, there 
was much reason for the brethren at Wechquetank to fear a repetition 
of the dreadful scenes of 1755. In addition to this source of alarm, all 
the Moravian Indian villages were objects of antipathy and suspicion to 
the Scotch-Irish settlers along the Kittatinny valley, who considered them 
as convenient lurking places for the parties of hostile Indians who came 
down to spy out the land, and cut off the frontier settlements. Loskiel 
thus describes the state of feeling in this region at the time. 

The whites had killed an Indian,' Zachary, and his wife and child, of the Wechquetank settle- 
ment, who were found sleeping in a barn away from home. After this event, the soldiers became 
still more suspicious of the Indians of Wechquetank, natdrally supposing that Zachary's fou^ 
brothers living there would endeavor to revenge his death, and that all the inhabitants would take 
their part. They therefore prohibited the Indians to hunt ; threatening to kill the first they should 
meet in the forest ; however, Capt. Wettherhold was at last persuaded to desist from this meas- 
ure by Br. Grabe. The congregation at Wechquetank was greatly encouraged by the steady and 
intrepid conduct of their missionary. He cared for them as a father, and was never weary of 
speaking in their behalf to the officers of the militia, though sometimes roughly treated. The 
most difficult task he had, was to pacify a party of Irish freebooters, who in great rage declared 
that no Indians should dare to show themselves in the woods, or they should be shot dead imme- 
diately, and that if only one white man more should be murdered in this neighborhood, the whole 
Irish settlement would rise in arms, and kill all the inhabitants of Wechquetank, without waiting 
for an order from government, or for a warrant from the justice of the peate. The same tlueat- 
ening messages were sent to Nain. On the 8th Oct. some savages attacked an Irish settlement, 

8 miles from Bethlehem, and killed a captain, lieutenant, several soldiers, and a Mr. S , 

whose wife narrowly escaped, though she was the sole cause of all this mischief, by dropping 
some inconsiderate words against a company of Indians who lodged there. After this, a party 
of Irish came to Wechquetank and accused the Indians there of being accomplices in the mur- 
der. Br. Grabe succeeded in pacifying them, fed them, and sent them away without bloodshed. 
But the congregation was obliged to leave Wechquetank, and flee to Nazareth, and soon after to 
Philadelphia. Wechquetank was afterwards burned by the whites, about the month of Nov. 
1763. 

The following narrative of the captivity of the Gilbert family is 
abridged from a communication by Mark Bancroft, in Atkinson's Casket 
for 1835. 



190 CARBON COUNTY. 

Benjamin Gilbert, a Quaker from Byberry, near Philadelphia, iri 1775 removed with his family 
to a farm on Mahoning creek, five or six miles from Fort Allen. His second wife was a widow 
Peart. He was soon comfortably situated with a good log dwelling-house, barn, and saw and 
grist mill. For five years this peaceable family went on industriously and prosperously ; but on 
the 25th April, 1780, the very year after Sullivan's expedition, they were surprised about sunrise 
by a party of 11 Indians, who took them all prisoners. 

" At the Gilbert farm they made captives of Benjamin Gilbert, senior, aged 69 years ; Elizabeth 
his wife, 55 ; Joseph Gilbert, his son, 41 ; Jesse Gilbert, another son, 19 ; Sarah Gilbert, 
wife to Jesse, 19 ; Rebecca Gilbert, a daughter, 16 ; Abner Gilbert, a son, 14 ; Elizabeth Gilbert, 
a daughter, 12 ; Thomas Peart, son to Benjamin Gilbert's wife, 23 ; Benjamin Gilbert, a son of 
John Gilbert of Philadelphia, 1 1 ; Andrew Harrigar, of German descent, 26 ; a hireling of Benja- 
min Gilbert's ; and Abigail Dodson, 14, a daughter of Samuel Dodson, Who lived on a farm 
about one mile from Gilbert's mill. The whole number taken at Gilbert's was 12. The Indians 
then proceeded about half a mile to Benjamin Peart's dwelling, and there captured himself, aged 
27, Elizabeth his wife, 20, and their child nine months old." 

The last look the poor captives had of their once comfortable home, was to see the flames and 
falling in of the roofs, from Summer hill. The Indians led their captives on a toilsome road ovel 
Mauch Chunk and Broad mountains into the Nescopeck path, and then across Quakake creek 
and the Moravian Pine Swamp to Mahoning mountain, where they lodged the first night. On 
the way they had prepared moccasins for some of the children. Indians generally secure theii 
prisoners by cutting down a sapling as large as a man's thigh, and therein cut notches in which 
they fix their legs, and over this they place a pole, crossing it with stakes drove in the groimd, 
and on the crotches of the stakes they place other poles or riders, effectually confining the prison- 
ers on their backs ; and besides all this they put a strap round their necks, which they fasten to 
a tree. In this manner the night passed with the Gilbert family. Their beds were hemlock 
branches strewed on the ground, and blankets for a covering. Andrew Montour was the leader 
of the Indian party. 

The forlorn band were dragged on over the wild and rugged region between the Lehigh and the 
Chemung branch of the Susquehanna. They were often ready to faint by the way, but the cruel 
threat of immediate death urged them again to the march. The old man, Benjamin Gilbert, in- 
deed had begun to fail, and had been painted black — a fatal omen among the Indians ; but when 
his cruel captors had put a rope around his neck, and appeared about to kill him, the interces- 
sions of his wife softened their hearts, and he was saved. Subsequently, in Canada, the old marl 
conversing with the chief observed, that he might say what none of the other Indians could, 
"that he had brought in the oldest man and the youngest child." The chief 's reply was im- 
pressive : " It was not I, but the great God, who brought you through ; for we were determined 
to kill you, but were prevented." 

" On the 54th day of their captivity, the Gilbert family had to encounter the fearful ordeal of the 
gauntlet. ' The prisoners,' says the author of the narrative, ' were released from the heavy 
loads they had heretofore been compelled to carry, and were it not for the treatment they expected 
on their approaching the Indian towns, and the hardship of separation, their situation would have 
been tolerable ; but the horror of their mmds, arising from the dreadful yells of the Indians as 
they approached the hamlets, is easier conceived than described — for they were no strangers to 
the customary cruelty exercised upon the captives on entering their towns. The Indians — men, 
women, and children — collect together,* bringing clubs and stones in order to beat them, which 
they usually do with great severity, by way of revenge for their relations who have been slain. 
This is performed immediately upon their entering the village where the Warriors reside, and 
cannot be avoided : the blows, however cruel, must be borne without complaint. The prisoners 
are sorely beaten until their enemies are weary with the cruel sport. Their sufferings were in 
this case very great ; they received several wounds, and two of the women who were on horse- 
back, were much bruised by falling from their horses, which were frightened by the Indians. 
Elizabeth, the mother, took shelter by the side of one of them, (a warrior,) but upon his observing 
that she met with some favor upon his account, he sent her away ; she then received several vio- 
lent blows, so that she was almost disabled. The blood trickled from their heads in a stream, 
their hair being cropt close, and the clothes they had on in rags, made their situation truly pite- 
ous. Whilst the Indians were inflicting this revenge upon the captives, the chief came and put 
a stop to any further cruelty by telling them ' it was sufiicient, ' which they immediately at- 
tended to." 

Soon after this a severer trial awaited them. They were separated from each other. Some 
were given over to Indians to be adopted, others were hired out by their Indian owners to service 
in white families, and others were sent down the lake to Montreal. Among the latter was the 
old patriarch Benjamin Gilbert. But the old man, accustomed to the comforts of civilized life, 
broken in body and mind from such unexpected calamities, sunk under the complication of wo 

* The WEuriors but seldom took part, except by looking on and encouraging the demoniac 
sport. 



CARBON COUNTY. 191 

and htirdship. His remains repose at the foot of an oak near the old fort of Caur du Lac, on 
the St. Lawrence below Ogdensburg. Some of the family met with kind treatment from the 
hands of British officers at Montreal, who were interested in their story, and exerted themselves 
to release them from captivity. 

" Sarah Gilbert, the wife of Jesse, becoming a mother, Elizabeth left the service she was en- 
gaged in — Jesse having taken a house, that she might give her daughter every necessary attend- 
ance. In order to make their situation as comfortahle as possible, they took a child to nurse, 
which added a little to their income. After this, Elizabeth Gilbert hired herself to iron a day 
for Adam Scott. While she was at her work, a little girl belonging to the house acquainted 
her that there were some who wanted to see her, and upon entering the room, she found six 
of her children. The joy and surprise she felt on this occasion, were beyond wlutt we shall at- 
tempt to describe. A messenger was sent to inform Jesse and his wife, that Joseph Gilbert, 
Benjamin Peart, Elizabeth his wife, and their young child, and Abner and Elizabeth Gilbert the 
younger, were with their mother." 

" Among the customs, or indeed common laws of the Indian tribes, one of the most remarkable 
and interesting was adoption of prisoners. This right belonged more particularly to the females 
than to the warriors, and well was it for the prisoners that the election depended rather upon the 
voice of the mother than on that of the father, as innumerable lives were thus spared whom 
the warriors would have immolated. When once adopted, if the captives assumed a cheerful 
aspect, entered into their modes of life, learned their language, and, in brief, acted as if they 
actually felt themselves adopted, all hardship was removed not incident to Indian modes of 
life. But, if this change of relation operated as amelioration of condition in the Ufe of the prison- 
er, it rendered ransom extremely difficult in all cases, and in some instances precluded it al- 
together. These difficulties were exemplified in a striking manner in the person of Elizabeth 
Gilbert the younger. This girl, only 12 years of age when captured, was adopted by an Indian 
family, but afterwards permitted to reside in a white family of the name of Secord, by whom 
she was treated as a child indeed, and to whom she became so much attached as to call Mrs. 
Secord by the endearing title of mamma. Her residence, however, in a white family, was a 
favor granted to the Secords by the Indian parents of Ehzabeth, who regarded and claimed her 
as their child. Mr. Secord having business at Niagara, took Betsey, as she was called, with 
him ; and there, after long separation, she had the happiness to meet with six of her relations, 
most of whom had been already released and were preparing to set out for Montreal, lingering 
and yearning for those they seemed destined to leave behind perhaps forever. The sight of 
their beloved little sister roused every energy to effect her release, which desire was generously 
seconded by John Secord and Col. Butler, who, soon after her visit to Niagara, sent for the In- 
dian who claimed Elizabeth, and made overtures for her ransom. At first he declared that he 
" would not sell his own flesh and blood ;" but attacked through his interest, or in other words 
Ills necessities, the negotiation succeeded, and, as we have already seen, her youngest chUd was 
among the treasures first restored to the mother at Montreal." 

Eventually they were all redeemed and collected at Montreal on the 22d Aug. 1782, when they 
took leave of their kind friends there and returned to Byberry after a captivity of two years and 
five months. 

The premises where stood the dwelling and improvements of the Gilbert family, were in 1833 
occupied by Mr. Septimus Hough, — on the north side of Mahoning creek, on an elevated bank 
about forty perches from the main road leading from Lehighton and Weissport to Tamaqua, and 
about four miles from the former. Benjamin Peart lived about half a mile further up the creek, 
and about one fourth of a mile from the same, on the south side. Mr. Robert McDaniel lived on 
the place in 1833. 

Our limits will not admit of copying the whole of this interesting nar- 
rative ; it may be found at length as originally written by one of the 
family, in Hazard's Register, vol. 3, 314. 

After the peace of 1783 a very few scattered cabins might be found 
along the secluded valleys of the Lehigh and the Mahoning, but with this 
exception the whole county was a vast howling wilderness. 

About the year 1791 an event occurred, in itself apparently trifling, but 
fraught with momentous results to the future interest of Carbon county. 

Dr. T. C. James, who travelled in this region in 1804, thus describes it 
in a communication to the Pennsylvania Hist. Society. 

In the course of our pilgrimage we reached the summit of the Mauch Chunk mountain, the 
present site of the mine or rather quarry of anthracite coal. At that time there were only to be 
seen three or four small pits, which had much the appearance of the commencement of rude 
wells, into one of which our guide descended with great ease, and threw up some pieces of coal 



192 CARBON COUNTY. 

for our examination ; after which, whilst we lingered on the spot, contemplating the wlldnesg of 
the scene, honest Philip Ginter amused us with the following narrative of the original discovery 
of this most valuable of minerals, now promising, from its general diffusion, so much of wealth 
and comfort to a great portion of Pennsylvania. 

He said, when he first took up his residence in that district of coimtry, he built for himself a 
rough cabin in the forest, and supported his family by the proceeds of his rifle, being literally a 
hunter of the back-woods. The game he shot, including bear and deer, he carried to the nearest 
store, and exchanged for the otlicr necessaries of Ufe. But, at the particular time to which he 
then alluded, he was without a supply of food for his family, and after being out all day with his 
gun in quest of it, he was returning towards evening over the Mauch Chunk mountain, entirely 
unsuccessful and dispirited, having shot nothing. A drizzhng rain beginning to fall, and the 
dusky night approaching, he bent his course homeward, considering himself as one of the most 
forsaken of human beings. As he trod slowly over the ground, his foot stumbled against some- 
thing which, by the stroke, was driven before him : observing it to be black, to distinguish which 
there was just light enough remaining, he took it up, and as he had often listened to the traditions 
of the country of the existence of coal in the vicinity, it occurred to him that this, perhaps, 
might be a portion of that " stone-coal" of which he had heard ; he accordingly carefully took 
it with him to his cabin, and the next day carried it to Col. Jacob Weiss, residing at what was 
then known by the name of Fort Allen. The colonel, who was alive to the subject, brought 
the specimen with him to Philadelphia, and submitted it to the inspection of John Nicholson 
and Michael Hillcgas, Esqs., and Charles Cist, an intelligent printer, who ascertained its nature 
and qualities, and authorized the colonel to satisfy Ginter for his discovery, upon his pointing out 
the precise spot where he found the coal. This was done by acceding to Ginter's proposal of 
getting through the forms of the patent-oflice the title for a small tract of land which he sup- 
posed had never been taken up, comprising a mill-seat, on which he afterwards built the mill 
which afforded us the lodging of the preceding night, and which he afterwards was unhappily 
deprived of by the claim of a prior survey. 

Hillegas, Cist, Weiss, and some others, immediately after, (about the beginning of the year 
1792,) formed themselves into what was called the " Lehigh Coal Mine Company," but without 
a charter of incorporation, and took up about 8 or 10,000 acres of, till then, unlocated land, in- 
cluding the Mauch Chunk mountain, but probably never worked the mine. 

It remained in this neglected state, being only used by the blacksmiths and people in the im- 
mediate vicinity, imtil somewliere about the year 1806, when Wm. Turnbull, Esq., had an ark 
constructed at Lausanne, which brought down two or three hundred bushels. This was sold 
to the manager of the Water- works for the use of the Centre square steam-engine. It was there 
tried as an experiment, but ultimately rejected as unmanageable, and its character for the 
time being blasted, the further attempts at introducing it to pubUc notice in this way seemed 
suspended. 

During the last war, J. Cist, (the son of the printer,) Charles Miner, and J. A. Chapman, 
tempted by the high price of bituminous coal, made an attempt to work the mine, and probably 
would have succeeded, had not the peace reduced the price of the article too low for competi- 
tion. 

The writer commenced burning the anthracite coal in the winter of 1804, and has continued 
its use ever since, believing, from his own experience of its utility, that it would ultimately be- 
come the general fuel of this, as well as some other cities. 

Mauch Chunk, (pronounced Mok-chunk,) the principal toM^n in Carbon 
cotinty, and which has recently been selected as the seat of justice, is 
situated on the right bank of the Lehigh, at the confluence of Mauch 
Chunk creek. It is 12 miles above the Lehigh water gap, 36 from East- 
on, 127 by canal and 96 by land from Philadelphia. The village occupies 
a small area in a narrow and romantic glen at the mouth of the creek, 
and is nearly encircled by mountains, some of which attain an elevation 
of a thousand feet. " The face of these mountains, although covered 
with fragments of rocks, and displaying in many places huge beetling 
precipices, is clothed in summer with verdant trees and shrubs, obscuring 
the rough surface of the mountain, and forming a pleasing contrast with 
the white buildings clustered beneath its shade." There are few spots in 
Pennsylvania where the sublime and the beautiful are displayed in more 
pleasing proximity and contrast — few afford a better opportunity for ad- 
miring the wildness and grandeur of Nature, and the astonishing results 
produced by Art. The annexed view was taken from the Pokono moun- 



CARBON COUNTY. 



193 




Mauch Chunk. 

tiiin opposite to the landing. Mauch Chunk mountain is on the right, 
and stretches away in the distance. 

The number of inhabitants in this place is between 1,000 and 1,200. 
The census of 1840 gives 2,193 for the whole township. The people are 
industrious, and remarkable for their enterprise. There are three 
churches — Presbyterian, Methodist, and , and two others com- 
menced ; and (which indicates the intelligence of the citizens) a splendid 
edifice erected for schools, which will vie with any in the state. There 
are three public schools at the mines, and an Irish Presbyterian congre- 
gation at the summit mines. There is also at Mauch Chunk a large 
foundry, a grist-mill, and several manufacturing establishments in the vi- 
cinity. Three excellent hotels accommodate strangers. 

The principal business of the place is that connected with the coal 
landing and the mining operations in the vicinity. It would require a 
small volume to describe all the curious and interesting objects to be 
seen here. No region will better reward the visit of a stranger than that 
around Mauch Chunk. 

The place was first started about the year 1818, in connection with the 
operations of the Lehigh Coal and Navigation Company, the town hav- 
ing been originally the property of that company, and owing much of its 
vigorous growth and orderly character to the control exercised over it by 
the intelligent managers. 

The following history of that company and its operations is derived 
principally from a communication by Erskine Hazard, Esq., to the His- 
torical Society, and from a pamphlet published by the company in 1840 : 

The coal on the Lehigh was accidentally discovered in the year 1791 by a hunter, who ob- 
served it adhering to the roots of a tree which had been blown down. 

In 1792 a company was formed, called the Lehigh Coal Mine Company, who took up a large 
body of land contiguous to that on which the coal had been found. They opened the mine where 
it is at present worked, made a very rough road from the river to the mine, and attempted to bring 
the coal in arks to the city, in which they but partially succeeded in consequence of the difficul- 
ties of the navigation. A small quantity of coal, however, reached the city ; but the want of 
^owledge of the proper fixtures for its use, togetlier with the difficulties of the navigation, caused 

25 



194 CARBON COUNTY. 

the company to abandon their undertaking. Some of the coal, it is said, was tried under the 
boiler of the engine at the Centre square, but only served to put the fire out, and the remainder 
was broken up and spread on the walks in place of gravel ! 

The legislature were early aware of the importance of the navigation of the Lehigh, and in 
1771 passed a law for its improvement. Subsequent laws for the same object were enacted in 
1791, 1794, 1798, 1810, 1814, and 1816. A company was formed under one of them, which ex- 
pended upwards of $30,000 in clearing out channels ; one of which they attempted to make 
through the ledges of slate which extend across the river, about seven miles above AUentown ; 
but they found the slate too hard to pick, and too shelly to blow ; and at length considered it an 
insuperable obstacle to the completion of the work, and relinquished it. 

The Coal Mine Company in the meanwhile, anxious to have their property brought into notice, 
gave leases of their mines to different individuals in succession, for periods of 21, 14, and 10 
years, adding to the last the privilege of taking timber from their lands for tlje piu"pose of floating 
the coal to market. Messrs. Cist, Miner, and Robinson, who had the last lease, started several 
arks, only three of which reached the city, and they abandoned their business at the close of the 
war, in 1815. 

In 1812, Messrs. White & Hazard, who were then manufacturing wire at the falls of Schuyl- 
kill, induced a number of individuals to associate and apply to the legislature for a law for the 
improvement of the river Schuylkill. The coal which was said to be on the head waters of that 
river, was held up as an inducement to the legislature to make the grant, when the senator from 
Schuylkill county asserted that there was no coal there — that there was a kind of " black stone" 
that was " called" coal, but that it would not burn ! 

During the war, Virginia coal became very scarce : and Messrs. White & Hazard having been 
told by Mr. Joshua Malin, that he had succeeded in making use of Lehigh coal in his rolling- 
mill, procured a cart-load of it, which cost them $1 per bushel. This quantity was entirely 
wasted without getting up the requisite heat. Another cart-load was however obtained, and a 
whole night spent in endeavoring to make a fire in the furnace, when the hands shut the furnace 
door and left the mill in despair. Fortunately one of them left his jacket in the mill, and return- 
ing for it in about half an hour, noticed that the door was red hot, and upon opening it, was sur- 
prised at finding the whole furnace at a glowing white heat. The other liands were summoned, 
and four separate parcels of iron were heated and rolled by the same fire, before it required re- 
newing. The furnace was then replenislied, and as letting it alone had succeeded so well, it 
was concluded to try it again, and the experiment was repeated with the same result. 

In July, 1818, the Lehigh Navigation Company, and in Oct. the Lehigh Coal Company, were 
formed, which together were the foundation of the present Lehigh Coal and Navigation Company, as 
will appear by the preamble to their charter, passed in 1822. The improvement of the Lehigh 
was commenced in Aug. 1818. In 1820, only two years from the commencement, coal was sent 
to Philadelphia, by an artificial navigation, and sold at $8 40 per ton, delivered : 365 tons com- 
pletely stocked the market. 

In 1821 and 1822, the quantities were so much increased, that the pubhc became secure of a, 
supply, and its own good qualities, together with its reasonable price, gave it an extensive and 
rapidly increasing demand. At this period, anthracite coal may be said to be permanently in- 
troduced into use. In 1824, the Lehigh Company reduced the price of coal to $7. In 1825, 
coal first came to Philadelphia by the improved navigation of the Schuylkill — the quantity was 
5,378 tons. In 1826, 16,265 tons of coal were transported on the Schuylkill, and 31,280 tons on 
the Lehigh. And now anthracite coal promises to become the largest and most profitable staple 
of Pennsylvania. 

Nature did not furnish enough water, by the regular flow of the river, to keep the channels at 
the proper depth, owing to the very great fall in the river, and the consequent rapidity of its mo, 
tion. It became necessary to accumulate water by artificial means, and let it off at stated pe- 
riods, and let the boats pass down with the long wave thus formed, which filled uj) the channela 
This was effected by constructing dams in the neighborhood of Mauch Chunk, in which were 
placed sluice-gates of a peculiar construction, invented for the purpose by Josiah Wliite, (one of 
the managers,) by means of which the water could be retained in the pool above, until required 
for use. When the dam became full, and the water had run over it long enough for the river be- 
low the dam to acquire the depth of the ordinary flow of the river, the sluice-gates were let down, 
and the boats, which were lying in tlie pools above, passed down with the artificial flood. About 
12 of these dams and sluices were made in 1819. 

The boats used on this descending navigation consisted of square boxes or arks, from 16 to 18 
feet wide, and 20 to 25 feet long. At first, two of these were joined together by hinges, to allow 
them to bend up and down in passing the dams and sluices ; and as the men became accustomed 
to the work, and the channels were straightened and improved as experience dictated, the num- 
ber of sections in each boat was increased, till at last their whole length reached 180 feet. They 
were steered with long oars, like a raft. Machinery was devised for jointing and putting to- 
gether the planks of which these boats were made, and the hands became so expert that five men 
would put one of the sections together and launch it in 45 minutes. Boats of this description 



CARBON COUNTY. lOg 

'^te used on the Lehigh till the end of the year 1831, when the Delaware division of the Penn- 
sylvania canal was partially finished. In the last year 40,966 tons were sent down, which re- 
quired so many boats to be built, that, if they had all been joined in one length, they would have 
extended more than 13 miles. These boats made but one trip, and were then broken up in the 
city, and the planks sold for lumber, the spikes, hinges, and other iron work, being returned to 
Mauch Chimk by land, a distance of 80 miles. 

The descending navigation by artificial freshets on the Lehigh is the first on record which was 
used as a permanent thing ; though it is stated that m the expedition in 1779, under Gen. Sulli- 
van, Gen. James Clinton successfully made use of the expedient to extricate his division of the 
army from some difficulty on the east branch of the Susquehanna, by erecting a temporary dam 
across the outlet of Otsego lake, which accumulated Water enough to float thera, when let off, 
and carry them down the river. 

The celebrated Summit mines, which have furnished nearly all the 
coal of the Lehigh Goal and Navigation Company for many years, are 
situated nine miles west of Mauch Chunk, on the summit of the 
Mauch Chunk mountain. The coal is brought to the landing by a rail- 
road which was commenced in Jan. 1827, the materials, except the iron, 
(which was in Philadelphia,) being at that time growing in the forest, 
and was completed and in operation within three months from its com- 
mencement ! Most of the route, however, had been previously graded for 
a turnpike. This was the first railroad in the United States, except that 
at Quincy. Every thing about this road — the mine — the descent — the 
scenery — the chute at the landing — is well worthy the attention of a stran- 
ger. The road descends from the mine to the top of the chute at the rate 
of 100 feet per mile, and the descent is accomplished, by means of gravi- 
ty, usually in about half an hour, the empty coal wagons being returned 
to the mines by mules, which ride down with the coal. This novel ar- 
rangement was made at the suggestion of Mr. Josiah White, and enables 
the mules to make two and a half trips to the summit and back, thus 
travelling about 40 miles each day. The mules cut a most grotesque 
figure, standing, three or four together, in their cars, with their feeding 
troughs before them, apparently surveying with delight the scenery of 
the mountain ; and although met/ preserve the most profound gravity, it 
is utterly impossible for the spectator to maintain his. It is said that the 
mules having once experienced the comfort of riding down, regard it as 
a right, and neither mild nor severe measures will induce them to descend 
in any other way. The wagons, both of coal and mules, run down in 
gangs of 16 each, under the charge of one brakeman. It creates thril- 
ling impressions upon the traveller, to stand near the road, and first to 
hear something thundering and rattling through the forest, and then to see 
the dark procession suddenly turn some point in the mountain and dash 
past with irresistible energy towards its destination. When they arrive 
at the head of the inclined plane at Lausanne, each car is detached and 
shot down the plane by itself, its weight drawing up an empty car. A 
rope round a drum at the top regulates the motion ; and other contri- 
vances below direct the cars into the proper track. A strong barrier of 
logs in the form of a blockhouse is placed across the plane to arrest any 
car that might leave the track. About 700 tons are mined, sent down to 
the landing, screened, and shipped in one day. 

The Summit mine lies near the eastern extremity of the great south- 
ern or Pottsville coal basin, which extends from this point nearly to the 
Susquehanna in Dauphin co., where it is divided into two prongs. There 
is every reason to belive that this basin, has received its peculiar shape 



106 CARBON COUNTY". 

h} the upheaving' of the vast ridges of Sharp mountain on the south, afld 
Broad mountain on the north, and the contemporaneous or subsequent de- 
nudation of the tops of these mountains by the action of a deluge. There 
are also several minor ridges, known among geologists as anticlinal 
ridges, crossing the basin in an oblique direction, which imparted to its 
strata those peculiar contortions exposed at the Summit mines and 
other openings. But the limits of this work will not admit of extended 
geological descriptions. Professor Silliman, who visited these mines in 
1830, says— 

This great excavation is at the termination, and nearly on the snmmit of the Mauch Chunk 
mountain. Nothing can be more obvious and inlelhgible than this mine. Tliey have removed 
the soil and upper surface of loose materials, and come directly down upon the coal or upon the 
rocks which cover it. The geological structure is extremely simple. As far as we saw, the up- 
per rock is a sandstone, or a fragmentary aggregate, of which the parts are more or less coarse oi* 
fine in different situations. In this region there is much puddingstone and conglomerate, and 
much that would probahl}' be called gruywackc, by most geologists. In the mechanical aggre-- 
gates, Vi^hich abound so much in this region, the parts are of every size, from that of large peb- 
bles to that of sand. The pebbles are chiefly quartz, and even in the firmest rocks they are usu- 
ally rounded, and exhibit eveiy appearance of having been worn by attrition. The cement ap- 
pears to be a silicious substance, and the masses are frequently possessed of great firmness. Be- 
heath this rock, there is usually some variety of argillaceous slate, which commonly, although not 
universally, forms the roof of the coal : sometimes the sandstone is directly in contact with the 
coal, the slate being omitted ; the slate also forms the floor. 

The mine at Mauch Chunk occupies an area of more than eight acres, and the excavation is 
in platforms or escarpments, of which there are in most places two or three. The coal is fairly 
laid open to view, and lies in stupendous masses, which are worked, under the open air, exactly 
as in a stone quarry. The excavation being in an angular area, and entered at different points 
by roads cut through the coal, in some places quite down to the lowest level ; it has much the 
appearance of a vast fort, of which the central area is the parade-ground, and the upper escarp- 
ment is the platform for the cannon. The greatest ascertained thickness of the coal is stated 
at about 54 feet ; in one place it is supposed to be 100 feet thick ; but that which is fully in view 
is generally from 12 to 2U or 25, and even sometimes 35 feet. Several banks of these dimensions 
are exposed, interrupted only by thin seams of slate running parallel with the strata. The lat- 
ter are inclined generally at angles from 5 to 15 degrees, and they follow, with very great regu- 
larity, the external form of the mountain. In some places they are saddle, or mantle-shaped ; in 
some positions they and the attendant strata are wonderfully contorted, twisted, and broken, and 
in one place, both are in a vertical position, while at a little distance they return to the genera! 
arrangement. It is impossible to avoid the impression that some great force has disturbed the 
original arrangement, and either elevated or depressed some of the strata. 

The various entrances to the mine are numbered. At No. 3 there is a perpendicular section 
through all the strata down to the floor of the coal, and the graywacke, the slate and the coal, 
are all raised on edge ; the strata are in some places vertical, or curved, or waving, and they are 
broken in two at the upper part, and bent in opposite directions. 

Has subterranean fire produced these extraorditiary dislocations ? It would seem to favor this 
view, that the graywacke has, in some places contiguous to the coal, the appearance of having 
been baked ; it appears indurated ; it is harsh and dry, and it is inflated with vesicles, as if gas, 
produced and rarefied by heat, was struggling to escapm. Tiie appearance is, in these respects, 
very similar to that which was described in Vol. XVII, p. lU), of this Journal, [of Science] as 
exhibited in connection with the trap rocks near Hartford, Connecticut, although it is less striking 

Since the visit of Prof Silliman the mine has been much enlarged by 
the additional labors of twelve years, but its general appearance is near- 
ly the same. The annexed view shows an immense mass, or sort of 
island, in the mine, produced by the successive abstractions from its cir- 
cumference. Above the black strata of coal are seen the thinner seams 
of slate ; and above that the thick beds of sandstone, and its superincum- 
bent soil, with the ancient pines of the forest rooted in it. When this 
sketch was taken in ISl^, the workmen were undermining the coal on the 
further side, intending to let the sandstone tumble over into the cavity be- 
hind it, and leave the coal stripped for quarrying. This process, however 



CARBON COUNTY 



197 




Pai't of Summit Coal Mine. 

can only be resorted to when there is some old excavation to receive the 
useless sandstone. From nearly all the remainder of this vast quarry, 
these immense masses of sandstone, clay a.nd rubbish, have actually been 
taken away by the cart-load on temporary railroads from the mine to the 
brow of the hill. Here the rubbish has been deposited by successive 
loads, until nearly a hundred artificial hills have been made, radiating in 
all directions from the centre of the mine. These hills overtop the highest 
trees of the valley below, and have buried many of them alive. Annex- 
ed is a sketch of several of them. On the right is seen Mine hill, stretch- 
ing away towards Pottsville. 




Curious Artificial Hills. 

So much coal has been removed from the Summit mines, and the pro- 
cess of stripping is becoming so expensive, that the company, while they 
do not abandon the system of quarrying, have opened their mines at 
Room run on the Nesquihoning, by means of tunnelling and drifting, and 



198 CARBON COUNTY. ^ 

are about making a tunnel into the Mauch Chunk mountain. The Le* 
high Coal and Navigation Company, frequently called by the people 
along the Lehigh the " Mauch Chunk Company," own the following 
property : 

1. The eastern end of the first coal region, with the improvements thereon, capable of supply- 
ing coal of the best quality at the rate of a million of tons annually for a century. 

2. The water power of the Lehigh, sufficient to drive 200 furnaces for smelting; ore ; which 
would require, annually, to keep them in operation, 1,000,000 tons of coal, 1,500,000 tons of ore, 
and 500,000 tons of limestone. 

3. The strips of land along the navigation, in most cases, which will be required to use the 
Water power upon. 

4. The land in all the leading places along their works necessary for town plots as places of 
business, as South Easton, Mauch Chunk, White Haven, and Nesquihoning. 

5. The slackwater navigation (72 miles) and descending navigation (12 miles) of the Lehigh. 
The former calculated for boats of 120 to 150 tons, and capable of passing more than 2,500,000 
tons annually, connecting with the railroad to Wilkesbarre. The descending navigation penc 
trating into the immense forests of white pine and other lumber. 

6. The railroad of 20 miles connecting the slackwater navigation of the Lehigh with the 
Pennsylvania canal, along the north branch of the Susquehanna. Fifteen miles of this road are 
now in use, and the remaining five miles will be passable in a few months, and capable of trans- 
porting more than 600,000 tons a year. 

Beaver Meadow is a pleasant village of framed white houses, on the 
Mauch Chunk and Berwick turnpike, 12 miles from the former place. It 
contains the office and stores of the Beaver Meadow Co., one or more 
churches, tM^o or three taverns, &c. Near the village are several small 
hamlets occupied by the miners, most of whom are Welsh. The Beaver 
Meadow coal mines are about a mile and a half west of the village. 
The Stafford Co. have a mine a little nearer the village. 

The Beaver Meadow railroad commences at the mines, passes near the 
village, and thence down the valleys of Beaver Meadow and Quakake 
creeks to the Lehigh, and down that river to the landing on the Mauch 
Chunk basin, opposite the Lehigh Coal and Navigation Co.'s landing. 
The railroad was intended to be continued to Easton, and was actually 
constructed as far as Parryville, crossing the river on a fine bridge below 
Mauch Chunk. But the memorable flood of Jan. 1841, swept away the 
bridge, the culvert at Mahoning, and tore up the road in many places. 
The company has not since repaired the road below Mauch Chunk. 
Steam locomotives are used on the road. A railroad was commenced 
and partly completed up the Quakake valley, intended to connect with 
the Susquehanna at Catawissa ; but for want of funds it has never been 
finished, and the design for the present appears to be abandoned. Prof. 
Silliman has the following remarks in relation to this mine : — 

This mine was opened in 1813, and as the title was contested, Mr. Beach of Salem, on the 
Susquehanna, who claimed it, could not give a clear title till last winter, when he gained the 
suit, and sold 550 acres to Judge Barnes of Philadelphia. A company is about to be 
fonned to carry on the business of the mine. A railroad is in contemplation either to the 
Schuylkill or to the Lehigh. If to the latter, it is said that it will be constructed down Beaver cr. 
to the Lehigh, and down the stream to Mauch Chunk ; the whole length to be 18 miles — 11 to 
the Lehigh and 7 down that stream. Active exertions are now making in Philadelphia to ac- 
complish the object of working this mine, and conveying its coal to market. It is well worthy 
of the effort. The coal is imiversally regarded as being of the best quality. All persons whom 
we heard speak of it agreed in that opinion. The appearance of the coal corresponds with that 
impression, and its burning too, as far as We could judge by limited opportunities of observation. 
The mine is in the side of a hill; there is no roof, or only a very thin one. It is worked open to the 
day, like a quarry. It is already fairly disclosed, and there is no apparent impediment to ob- 
taining any quantity of the coal that may be desired. The situation of the mine is not, however, 
much elevated above the general surface of the country in its vicinity ; but there is descent 



CARBON COUNTY. 

enough, as we were assured, to carry off the water. Smiths, it is said, come a great distance to 
obtain the coal of this mine, because it is so free from sulphur, and in every respect so good. 

The mines at Beaver Meadow are now, we believe, worked by means 
of drifts. 

Hazelton is another smart village, 4 miles northwest of Beaver Meadow, 
on the turnpike, which has grown up in connection with the Hazelton 
Co.'s mine, about half a mile west of the village. A railroad takes the 
produce of these mines, and that of the Sugar Loaf and Laurel Hill 
mines, also near the village, to the Beaver Meadow railroad. 

Lausanne is a small village above the coal landing, one mile from 
Mauch Chunk, at the mouth of the Nesquihoning. There is also the vil- 
lage of Nesquihoning, at the mines of that name, 4 miles above Lausanne, 
on the creek. 

LowRYTovvN is an ancient lumbering village, just above the mouth of 
Laurel run ; and Rockport has more recently been laid out, near the 
mouth of the run. 

Taylor's Retreat is at the mouth of Green Mountain run. 

Penn Haven is a village of modern growth, at the mouth of Quakake 
creek. 

Cliffton is about 3 miles northwest of Rockport. There is also quite 
a village at the Summit mine, occupied principally by the miners. 

Lehighton is pleasantly situated on elevated ground overlooking the 
Lehigh, on the right bank of that river, about 3 miles below Mauch 
Chunk. The Beaver Meadow railroad was located through this place. 
The history of Gnadenhutten has been given above. 

Weissport occupies a broad flat opposite Lehighton — once the site of 
Fort Allen and New Gnadenhutten. It is regularly laid out, and has in- 
creased since the completion of the Lehigh canal. A fine large German 
Reformed and Lutheran church adorns the village. Col. Jacob Weiss, 
from whom the place takes it name, was one of the earliest settlers in 
this region. He died in about the year 1840. His aged widow is still 
living, (in 1842.) The following facts were obtained from the Rev. Mr. 
Webster, of Mauch Chunk, who noted them down from conversation with 
the aged Mrs. Weiss : — 

On the night of the 6th Oct. 1786, between 10 and 11 o'clock, they were awakened by a boy 
from the farm-house crying under the windows, " we are surrounded !" Mrs. Weiss thought, of 
course, it was by Indians, and shrieked out in expectation of being massacred or burned alive, 
or taken captive ; but her husband endeavored to calm her fears, and lifting the window beheld, 
to his dismay, the whole flat overflowed with water. The whole family were soon aroused — the 
waters were wildly rushing around ; and what increased their alarm was, tliere had been no heavy 
rain. Mrs. W. determined to stay in the house ; but her husband told her it was not safe, and 
that if she staid it would be alone. They drove the sheep into the kitchen, and put them up in 
the loft ; the cattle were on the hills. Old Mrs. Robinson and the children were put in a wagon 
and carried to the high ground ; and Mrs. Weiss, at about 2 in the morning, mounted behind 
her husband to go on horseback. But the ground was so soaked that the horse sunk up to his 
flanks, and could not disengage himself. Men soon came and brought an armchair, and carried 
her safely to the hill. There was no rain, but it was very dark. Besides their dwelUng-house 
and the farm-house, there was only one small house near the river, where the Lehighton bridge 
now stands. It was swept away with the owner, named Sippy, and his wife on it ; each holding 
a child in their arms. The house striking a tree, the parents caught by the limbs and were saved ; 
but in the act both the children fell off" and were lost. The most remarkable fact is, that by 8 
o'clock in the morning the waters had subsided from the flat ; but the river was high, covered 
with boards, trees, and the wreck of a saw-mill from above Lausanne landing. This singular 
flood was accounted for by the supposition that a cloud or water-spout bad suddenly burat in the 
mountains. 



200 CENTRE COUNTY. 

Within the enclosure around Col. Weiss's house is the site of Fort Allen. The well dug by 
Franklin's direction is still in use. In digging a post-hole, some of the family found the bell 
of the old Moravian chapel. 

Parryville is a small village on the left bank of the Lehigh, at the 
mouth of Big cr., about 6 miles below Mauch Chunk. There is also an- 
other small village called The Gap, at the mouth of Aquanshicola cr., at 
the Lehigh water-gap. Opposite Parryville was the basin and intended 
depot of the Beaver Meadow railroad, which was swept away by the 
flood of 184 L 



CENTRE COUNTY. 

Centre county derives its name from its peculiar geographical position, 
exactly in the centre of the state. It was formed from parts of Lycoming, 
Northumberland, Mifflin, and Huntington counties, by the act of 13th 
Feb., 1800. The county seat was at the same time fixed at Bellefonte. 
It has since been deprived of three townships, by the formation of Clinton 
CO. Area, about 1,060 sq. miles. Population in 1800, 2,705; in 1810, 
10,681 ; in 1820, 13,706 ; in 1830, 18,879; in 1840, 20,492. Centre co. is 
composed of a series of rugged mountain ranges, and luxuriant limestone 
valleys, alternating with each other, and traversing the county from south- 
west to northeast. The mountains are Tusseys and Path Valley moun- 
tain, on the southeastern boundary ; thence, proceeding northwestwardly, 
are encountered successively. Brush, Nittany, Bald Eagle, and the great 
Allegheny mountain, beyond which is a tract of very wild, broken " high- 
lands," composing the western declivity of that mountain. The valleys 
are Penn's, Brush, and Nittany, which are merged into one at the south- 
western end of the co., and the long narrow valley of Bald Eagle cr., 
which is walled in between the Bald Eagle and Allegheny mountains. 
Nittany, the great central valley in which Bellefonte is situated, abounds 
in crystal streams, fed from the mountain, sinking under the limestone 
strata at its northern base, and gushing out in copious springs along Lo- 
gan's and Spring branches of Bald Eagle cr. It is from one of these 
beautiful springs that Bellefonte takes its name. The principal streams 
are Penn's cr.. Bald Eagle cr., Spring branch, and Fishing cr., Beach cr., 
Moshannon cr., which flows along the northwestern boundary, and Half- 
moon, and Beaver Dam cr. The country is richly supplied with iron oie 
of the finest quality, and all the materials for its manufacture. This 
branch of industry has been extensively pursued. Bituminous coal-beds, 
of fine quality, are found near Phillipsburg, northwest of the Allegheny 
mountain. Of wheat, large quantities are exported ; other agricultural 
produce finds the best market among the manufacturers in the co. The 
population is composed chiefly of Germans and Irish, and their descend- 
ants. The Germans prevail most along the limestone districts, particu- 
larly in Penn's valley, where there are several German towns. A singular 
practice in the management of the family estate is said to prevail among 
many of the German farmers in this county. The patriarch labors pa- 
tiently until his eldest son is of age ; he then purchases for him a farm 



CENTRE COUNTY. 201 

adjoining his own, and they labor on together, with a common purse ; 
never keeping any separate accounts until another son is of age and 
provided for, and taken into the partnership in like manner. If a daughter 
is married, she is portioned from the common purse ; and thus they con- 
tinue from generation to generation. This fact was communicated by a 
distinguished jurist of the co. 

The following list of iron works in Centre co. was furnished in 1837, 
for Harris's Pittsburg Directory, by a distinguished gentleman, formerly 
a resident of Centre co. It is sufficiently correct for 1842, with the ex- 
ception that some of the works have changed owners, and several have 
suspended operations on account of the hard times. 

On Bald Eagle creek : Hannah furnace, owned by George McCulIoch and Lyon, Shorb & 
Co. ; Martha furnace, owned by Roland Curtin ; a new furnace, owned by Adams, Irwin, and 

Huston. On Moshannon and Clearfield creeks : Cold Stream forge, owned by Mr. Adams; 

a forge and extensive screw factory, owned by Hardman Phillips. On Spring and Bald Eao-le 
creeks : Centre furnace and Milesburg forge and rolling mill, owned by Irvvin & Huston ; 
Eagle furnace, forge, and rolling mill, owned by Roland Curtin ; Logan furnace, forge, rolling 
mill, and nail factory, owned by Valentine & Tliomas ; Rock furnace and forge, owned by the 
heirs of Gen. P. Bcnner ; forge owned by Irvvin & Bcrgstusser. On Fishing cr., and Bald. Eagle 
cr. : Hecla furnace and Mill Hall furnace and forge, owned by John Mitchell <!^ Co. ; Howard 
furnace, owned by Harris &. Co. ; Washington furnace and forge, owned by A. Henderson. Also, 
in the co. : Tusscy furnace, owned by Lyon, Shorb &- Co., not now in operation ; and a furnace 

owned by Mr. Friedley. In all, 13 furnaces, making annually 11,600 tons pig metal; 10 

forges, making 4,500 tons blooms ; 3 rolling mills, manufacturing 2,300 tons into bar iron and nails. 

Few details of the adventures of the early settlers of Centre co. have 
been preserved. Previous to the revolution most of the county was 
comprised in Bald Eagle and Potter townships, of Northumberland co., 
and its history is interwoven with that of the lower settlements on the 
W. Branch. The treaty with the Six Nations, which conveyed this part 
of the state, south of the W. Branch, was made at Fort Stanwix, in 1768. 
About that time, or as some say, a year or two previous, Andrew Boggs, 
father of the late distinguished Judge Boggs, erected his cabin on the left 
bank of Bald Eagle cr., directly opposite to an old Indian village on the 
flats near where Milesburg is now situated. At this village was the 
" Bald Eagle's nest," a name which has been erroneously supposed to 
mean the nest of that imperial bird ; but it was only the nest of an In- 
dian warrior of that name, who had built his wigwam there between two 
large white oaks. The oaks were standing a few years since. The 
name was given to the creek, to the mountain which towers above it, to 
the valley, the township, and to the early settlement of the whites along 
the valley. 

Daniel and .Tonas Davis, low Dutchmen, settled a few years after Mr. 
Boggs, a little further down the creek. Jonas was a moral and respect- 
able man, and his wife was noted for her piety ; but Dan seems to have 
been a hard subject, who regarded neither law nor gospel. He used to 
make Jonas cut down trees on Sunday, for the purpose of annoying 
his wife. He was abusive and bullying among the neighbors, unless 
they had firearms with them, which he did not use. Andrew Boggs was 
frequently obliged to give him a thorough drubbing, to keep him civil. 
The standard of temperance and good morals at that early day, in the 
Bald Eagle community, seems to have been rather low, if we may judge 
from the two following minutes of the Committee of Safety (see North- 
umberland CO.) of Northumberland co., in Feb. 1777. "Ordered — (dur- 

26 



202 CENTRE COUNTY. 

ing a time of great scarcity of grain in Bald Eagle township,) — ^that no 
stiller in that township shall buy any more grain, or still any more than 
he has by him, during the season." They also interfered with their 
authority to stop a certain Henry Sterrat (who lived on an island near 
Jersey shore) from " profaning the Sabbath in an unchristian and scan- 
dalous manner, causing his servants to maul rails, &c., on that day, and 
beating and abusing them if they offered to disobey such his unlawful 
commands." 

There was a blockhouse at Davis's place, at which a garrison was 
stationed for a while in 1777. One of the soldiers on opening the door 
one day, and shutting it again, was shot by an Indian through the door. 
Not long after Mr. Boggs, Mr. William Lamb settled on Spring cr., about 
a mile below Bellefonte, just above the gap in the mountains. Richard 
Malone was also an early settler in the valley. Richard Gonsalves, a 
low Dutchman, of little worth, always in law with his neighbors, settled 
on Bald Eagle cr. during, or soon after, the revolution. A Mr. Culbert- 
son, who was killed by the Indians, appears also to have been settled 
somewhere in the valley during the revolution. (See Van Campen's ad- 
venture, in Clinton co.) Logan, the celebrated Mingo chief, previous to 
1768, had his cabin in the Kishicokelas valley, and used often to extend 
his hunting excursions into the region around Bellefonte, One of the 
branches of Bald Eagle cr. bears his name ; also Logan's gap, in the Nit- 
tany mountain. 

There is a place on the high table lands of the Allegheny mountain, 
near the forks of Moshannon cr., called Snoeshoe Camp. It took its name 
from the adventure of a party of white hunters, who were out on the old 
Chinklacamoose trail, (to Clearfield,) were overtaken there by a snow- 
storm, waited until their provisions were exhausted, and then made snow- 
shoes and walked into the Bald Eagle settlement. This must have been 
previous to 1773, for in that year Judge Smith, then a surveyor, executed 
land warrants at that place. Soon after the treaty of 1768, James Potter, 
afterwards a brigadier-general under Washington, came up the W. Branch 
and Bald Eagle cr,, to seek for choice lands. He crossed the Nittany 
mountain at Logan's gap, and for the first time set his eyes upon the 
lovely Penn's valley, afterwards his happy home. No traveller who has 
crossed that mountain on the road from Bellefonte to Lewistown, can for- 
get the impression made by a glance from the mountain into that luxu- 
riant valley, spread out before him like a map, checkered with its copses 
of woodland and fertile farms, with their cheerful white cottages. After 
reconnoitering the valley, he descended Penn's cr. in a canoe — but soon 
returned again, took up a large body of land, made a settlement there, 
and erected a stockade fort. Traces of the fort are still seen near 
M'Coy's tavern, which stands at the intersection of the Bellefonte and 
Lewistown turnpike with the Penn's valley and Northumberland road. 
The corners still bear the name of " Potter's fort," and many rich farms 
about it belong to the Potter family ; although their principal residence 
is at Potter's bank, four miles further south. There is a tradition that 
near Potter's fort there occurred a desperate fight between two white 
men and two Indians, in which they grappled and cut each other to pieces, 
the whole four having been killed. 

Gen. Potter, in common with others, was driyen from his settlen^ent by 



CENTRE COUNTY. 



SOS 



the hostile incursions of Indians at the opening of the revolution. He 
entered the service of his country, and was M^ith Gen. Washington during 
the campaigns at Valley Forge, Brandywine, Germantown, and in New- 
Jersey. Many of Washington's orders and letters are preserved among 
Gen. Potter's papers. At the close of the war, another treaty was made 
with the Indians for the purchase of all the territory in the state N. W. 
of the W. Branch ; and Gen. Potter was employed as agent and surveyor 
of a company of land speculators, to visit and superintend the settlement 
of their lands on the Sinnemahoning and W. Branch, above the Allegheny 
mountain.* (See Clinton co.) 

The history of Centre co. since the revolution, is that of a peaceable, 
industrious population, augmenting its numbers and wealth ; it is the 
history of villages built, of farms and mines opened, of manufactories 
established, of academies and churches founded, of roads and canals con- 
structed. Such a history records not details, but happy results ; and yet 
how much more grateful to the philanthropist than the prolix details, in 
relation to other counties, of the desolations of war, and the murderous 
feats of savages, both white and red. 

Bellefonte, the county seat, is delightfully situated on elevated ground 
near Spring cr., in the midst of a limestone valley, abounding in the ele- 
ments of mineral and agricultural wealth. The town, although regularly 
laid out, is so placed on and among the hills, as to present rather an 
irregular, but picturesque appearance. When seen from the hill near the 
academy, it has much the aspect of a European village. The annexed 
view was taken from near the Milesburg road, north of the town. 




Bellefonte. 
The Presbyterian church and the academy are seen on the right. The 
courthouse and Episcopal church on the left ; and one of the main streets 
in front. Spring cr., which flows past the town, never freezes, and main- 
tains throughout the j^ear a steady and unceasing flow, turning in its 
course a great number of mills and iron works. It is fed by beautiful 



* A more thorough research, and carefftl classification of Gen. Potter's papers than I hare 
had time to makf , would probably develop additional facts relating to the history of this region. 



204 CENTRE COUNTY. 

crystal springs that bubble up along its course from under the limestone 
cliffs. One of these springs under the hill upon which tbe town rests^ 
not only supplies water for the use of the citizens, but the power also by 
which it is forced through the hydrants. From this spring the town takes 
its name, composed of two French words, signifying beautiful fountain. 
The scenery near the town is very picturesque, particularly in the direc- 
tion of the gap through which Spring cr. passes Bald Eagle mountain^ 
two and a half miles below the town. Besides an elegant courthouse, 
which adorns the public square, Bellefonte contains Presbyterian, Epis- 
copal, United Brethren, and Catholic churches ; a cotton-factory, several 
mills, a Masonic Hall, and a seminary for males and females, well en- 
dowed by both public and private munificence, and occupying one of the 
most delightful sites in the country ; and another commodious edifice for 
the public schools. 

Considerable trade is carried on with the surrounding agricultural dis^ 
trict, but the attention of the citizens has been more turned to manufac- 
tures than trade. A list of the iron works is given above. Population 
in 1840, 1,032. Bellefonte, including the village of Smithfield, was in- 
corporated as a borough, 18th March, 1814. Turnpikes to Meadville, 
over the Allegheny, to Lewistown, and to Lock Haven, commence here. 
The citizens anticipate much additional business when the canal com- 
munication shall be completed through (24 miles) to Lock Haven. This 
canal is in the hands of a company, who have been aided by the state to 
the amount of $225,000. P'ive miles only out of the 24 remain to be 
completed, which will require 1^60,000. 

Bellefonte was first commenced by Messrs. Dunlop and Harris, who 
owned the site in 1795. When the county was established, in 1800, the 
proprietors gave half of the lots for public purposes ; among which was 
the establishment of the splendid seminary on the hill. 

Among the early settlers in and around Bellefonte, besides those men- 
tioned in the history of the county above, were Gen. Philip Benner, Hon. 
Andrew Gregg, the venerable and Hon. Charles Huston, judge of the su' 
preme court of the state, still living ; Hon. Thomas Burnside, Mr. Lowry, 
treasurer of the county ; and others whose names have escaped us. 

Died in Bellefonte, on the 90th May, 1835, in his 80th year, Andrkw Gregg, Esq. Mr. 
Gregg was ajnong the early settlers in Penn's valley. He was born on 10th June, 1755, at Car- 
lisle. He acquired a classical education at several of the best schools of that day, and was en 
gaged for sbme years as a tutor in the University of Pennsylvania. In the year 1783, Mr. Gregg, 
having saved a few hundred dollars from his salary as a teacher, changed his employment, and 
commenced business as a storekeeper in Middlctown, Daupliin co. In 1787 he married a daugh- 
ter of Gen. Potter, then living near the W. Branch, in Northumberland co. ; and at the earnest re- 
quest of his father-in-law, in 1789, moved with his family to Penn's valley, where he settled down 
in the woods, and commenced the business of farming, about two miles from Potter's old fort. 
On the place he first settled, he continued improving his farm from year to year, pursuhig with 
great industry tl-.e business of a country farmer. There all his children were born and some mar- 
ried, and tlierc he resided until the year IS 14, when he came with his family to reside in this borough ; 
having some years before purchased property in this neighborhood. In 1790 Mr. Gregg was 
elected a member of congress, and by seven successive elections, for several districts, as' they 
were arranged from time to time, including one by a general vote or ticket over tlie whole state — 
was continued a member of that body for sixteen successive years — and during the session of 
1806-7, was chosen a member of the senate of the U. S. At the expiration of this term, on the 
4th of March, 1803, he returned to private life. One principal object of coming to rfeside in this 
borough, was a desire to be convenient to good schools, for the benefit of his younger children. 
Here he lived a retired life, attending to the education of his children and the improvement of 
his farms, until Dec. 1820, when he was called by Gov. Hiester to the situation of secretary of 



CENTRE COUNTY. 205 

the commonwealth. During the administration of Gov. Hiester, the duties of that office were 
executed by him with talent and integrity. Mr. Gregg as a public man, as well as in private 
life, was remarkable for a sound and discriminating mind, agrpcablc and dignified manners, strict 
regard for truth, and unbending and imyielding honesty. — Centre Democrat. 

Died in Aug. 1833, at his residence in Spring township, Gen. Philip Benner, aged 70 years. 
He was among the first settlers iu this county, and made his residence at tlic spot where lie died 
as early as 1792. At that time there were but few inhabitants within the bounds of what is now 
Centre co. He Was born in Chester co. His father was an active whig of the revolution, was 
taken prisoner by tbe British, and imprisoned. Philip, then a youth, took up arms under Gen. 
Wayne, his relative and neighbor. ^Vhcn he went forth to the field. Ills patriotic mother quilted 
in the back of his vest several guineas, as a provision in case he should be taken prisoner by the 
enemy. After the war he became a successful manufactm'er of iron, at Coventry forge, in Ches- 
ter CO. About the year 1790 he purchased the present site of Rock Furnace, and soon after his 
arrival he erected a forge, the first built in the county ; to which he subsequently added another 
forge, a furnace, and a rolling mill. To his example tlie people are mainly indebted for the de- 
velopment of the vast mineral wealth of this county. At that early day the supply of provisions 
for the works had to be transported from a distance, over reads that woidd now be deemed almost 
impassable ; and a market for his iron was to be found alone on the Atlantic seaboard. Unde- 
terred by adverse circumstances, the vigorous mind of Gen. Benner struck out a new channel of 
trade. The rising importance of the west impressed him with the idea of opening a communica- 
tion with Pittsburg, as a market for his iron and nails. He succeeded, and enjoyed for several 
years, without competition, the trade in what was termed by him the ^^ Juniata iron," for the 
western country — a trade now of immense importance. He held the rank of major-general in 
the militia of the state, and was twice an elector of president of the U. S. He was a democrat 
throughout his life. The borough of Bellefonte bears testimony to his enterprise and liberality. 
He has adorned it by the erection of a number of dwelling-houses, and aided in the construction 
of works to give it advantages which nature denied. He established the Centre Democrat, in 
1827. He was remarkable for his industry, enterprise, generosity, and open-hearted hospitality J 
his home was the abode of a happy family. — Abridged from the Centre Democrat, 

Phillipsburg is on the high lands behind the Allegheny mountain, where 
the Bellefonte and Meadville turnpike crosses Moshannon or. This road 
was opened in 1796. In the following year, Henry and James Phillips, 
enterprising and intelligent Englishmen, laid out the town. The first 
house in the village was built by John Henry Simler, an old French sol- 
dier of the revolution, who had served at Yorktown under Lafayette. 
Mr. Hardman Phillips erected here, some years since, very extensive iron 
w^orks, and a screw factory. These works are at present suspended. 
The town contains some 40 or 50 buildings, and a very neat Gothic 
church, erected by the liberality of Mr. Phillips, whose elegant mansion 
is directly opposite, a little east of the village. There is a most valuable 
mineral district around this place, abounding in coal, iron, limestone, and 
fire-clay; and forests of timber almost without limit. The principal 
mines are on the north side of the Moshannon, opposite the village. 
There are three seams of coal, the middle one of which, 4 feet and 4 
inches thick, is extensively wrought to supply the people of Centre co. 
It is of excellent quality throughout, and will afford solid blocks of the 
whole thickness of the bed. A brown iron-ore is found loose in the fields 
throughout the country around Phillipsburg. 

MiLESBUBG is a small, but busy village, 2 miles north of Bellefonte, 
near the confluence of Spring cr. and Bald Eagle. It has in and near it 
two churches, (Baptist and Methodist,) a foundry, iron works, forge, axe- 
factory, and mills. The Bald Eagle canal passes through the place, and 
the turnpike over the Allegheny mountain. Its early settlers have been 
noticed in the history of the county. 

Potter's Bank is a small, but very pleasant and thriving manufacturing 
village on a branch of Sinking cr., at the foot of Path Valley mountain, 12 
miles from Bellefonte. It is owned by James Potter^ Esq., and Gen. Pot- 



20Q CHESTER COUNTY. 

ter, sons df Gen. James Potter. It contains a large flouring-mill, woollen 
factory, store, an excellent tavern, three elegant mansions, and several 
smaller dwellings. The LewistoWn and Bellefonte turnpike passes through 
the village. The heirs of Gen. Potter are here enjoying the fruits of his 
early enterprise and patriotism, and augmenting the property by well-di- 
rected industry. Potter's old fort is on the turnpike, four miles norths 
There is a new Presbyterian church on the site of an old one, between 
the two places. 

BoALSBURG is Si plcasant and flourishing village^ at the upper end of 
Penn's valley, on the main branch of Spring cr., 10 miles southwest of 
Bellefonte. It is principally settled by Germans. It contains about 30 of 
40 dwellings, a Lutheran church, woollen factory, grist-mill, &c. 

Aaronsburg and Milheim are two villages, 20 miles east of Bellefonte, 
on each side of Mill cr., a branch of Penn's cr., and on the road between 
Boalsburg and Northumberland. They contain together about 60 or 70 
dwellings. 

There are several smaller villages in the county — Earleysburg, Pat- 
TONsviLLE, Walkersville, in Penn's and Nittany valley ; and one or two 
villages in the valley of Fishing cr., on the road between Bellefonte and 
Lock Haven. 



CHESTER COUNTY. 

Chester county is one of the three original counties established by 
Wm. Penn in 1682, and included at that time Delaware co., and all the 
territory (except the small portion now in Philadelphia co.) S. W. of the 
Schuylkill, to the extreme limits of the province. Lancaster was sepa- 
rated in 1729; Berks, (partly formed from Chester,) in 1752 ; and Dela- 
ware in 1789. Length 37 miles, breadth 20 ; area 738 sq. miles. Pop- 
ulation in 1790, 27,937; in 1800, 32,093; in 1810, 39,527; in 1820, 
44,451 ; in 1830, 50,910; in 1840, 57,515. 

The county embraces every variety of soil and surface. The northern 
part is rugged ; the Welsh mountain, a sandstone chain of considerable ele- 
vation, belonging to the lower secondary formation, forms the northwestern 
boundary. A wide belt of red shale and sandstone, and a considerable 
area of gneiss rock lies to the south of the mountain, and to this succeeds 
the North Valley hill. The " Great Valley," of primitive limestone, forms the 
most distinguishing feature of the county, and constitutes one of its great- 
est sources of wealth. This valley, which is generally from two to three 
miles wide, crosses the county a little north of the centre, in a southwest 
and northeast direction. It is shut in on both sides by parallel hills of 
moderate elevation, and from either of these the whole width of the val- 
ley may be comprehended at one glance ; presenting, w'th its white cot- 
tages, and broad, fertile, highly cultivated farms, and smiling villages, 
one of the most lovely scenes in the United States. Its numerous qwar- 
ries furnish splendid marble for the palaces and monuments of Philadel- 
phia ; and a great abundance of lime to fertilize the less favored town- 
ships of the CO. It must have received its name of " Great" in the ear* 



CHESTER COUNTY. 207 

Her days of the province, when the greater limestone valleys of the Kit- 
tatinny, and those among the mountains were yet unknown. Compared 
with these it is rather diminutive. To the south of the valley lies the 
extensive primitive formation of gneiss and mica slate, covering the 
whole southern section of the county, and forming a gently undulating 
country, with occasionally a few abrupt elevations. In this formation 
there occur frequent beds of serpentine, hornblende, trap-dykes, and de- 
posits of pure feldspar. The appropriate name of harren-stone has been 
given to the serpentine, on account of the extreme sterility of soil where- 
ever it appears. Many tons of the clay formed from the decomposition 
of feldspar were formerly transported from New Garden township to 
New York, for the manufacture of porcelain. 

The principal streams are the Brandywine, Elk creek, and Octarara 
or., running southwardly ; and Pickering's cr., Valley cr., French cr., and 
Pigeon cr., tributaries of the Schuylkill. The original Indian name of 
the Brandywine is said to have been Suspecough. 

The Columbia railroad passes across the centre of the co. The Valley 
railroad, intended to reach Philadelphia without an inclined plane, has 
been located and partly constructed, down the Great Valley to the 
Schuylkill, but is now in a suspended state for want of funds. A rail- 
road of about nine miles connects Westchester with the Columbia railroad 
at the Paoli. 

Excellent roads cross the county in all directions, of which the princi- 
pal are the Lancaster turnpike, the Downingtown and Harrisburg turn- 
pike, the Strasburg road, and the Chadsford road. The Schuylkill canal 
and the Reading railroad pass along the northeastern boundary. 

There are several localities of iron ore in the northern hills, and very 
extensive iron works at the mouth of French creek. The ancient iron 
works at Yellow Springs and at Valley Forge have been long discon- 
tinued. The principal manufacturing enterprise of the county has its 
location on French cr., and the others tributary to the Schuylkill. There 
are also many mills along the Brandywine and other streams, but they 
are principally for flour and lumber. Agriculture is the great business 
of the county ; and a more intelligent, industrious, thrifty, and orderly set 
of farmers are not to be found in the state. They are generally the lineal 
descendants of the early Welsh and English pioneers, who came over in 
Wm. Penn's time, and of the Germans, who came in at a somew^hat 
later date. The Quakers predominate. 

Chester co. is famous for its excellent schools, which will be noticed in 
another place. 

In the year 1824 there appeared in the Village Record at West Chester, 
then edited by Charles Miner, Esq., a long and elaborate series of com- 
munications written, evidently, after careful research and personal inquiry, 
by Joseph J. Lewis, Esq., then a young law-student, and now one of the 
most distinguished members of the bar of Chester co. The following 
copious extracts have been made from those communications, generally 
in the language of the original ; though the liberty has been sometimes 
taken of condensing some passages, and of changing the arrangement 
of others, to adapt them to the restricted limits of this work. 

The Indians formcrlj inhabiting Chester go, belonged to the Lenni Lenape, more generally 
known as the Delaware nation. They appear to have been most tluckly settled about Peqiia. 



208 CHESTER COUNTY. 

now in Lancaster co., and along the great valley. In other parts of the co. they were evenly 
distributed, and west of White Clay or. rather sparsely. They were scattered through the forests, 
generally near some spring, and on the sunny sides of the hills, in clusters of five or six wigwams 
in a place. They were usually engaged in their natural employment of hunting and fishing, and 
occasionally manufacturing baskets. These baskets were beautifully stained in plaid-work, by 
berries and mineral earths, known only to themselves. Since the natives have retired, the baskets 
have gone out of vogue, and the more trim handywork of the French has taken their place. 

The last of the Lenape, resident in Chester co., died in the person of old Indian Hannah, at 
the poorhouse, in 1803. The circmnstance of her being for many years the sole survivor of her 
people, (in this section of country,) entitles her to a notice, which the merit of her character alone 
would not have procured. She was one of a family that called themselves Freeman, and in- 
habited for a number of years one of a small cluster of wigwams in Marlborough township. Her 
principal abode after she set up for herself in the world, was a wigwam upon the Brandywine, 
but during the summer she travelled much through different parts of the co., visited those who 
would receive her with kindness, and distributed her baskets. She was a doctress, as well as 
basket-maker. Her fame was at one time so great, as to induce the venerable Mr. Parker, of 
Kennet, to seek her prescription for his children, who were ill. She furnished him a few herbs 
and pounded roots, her only medicines, with directions for their use, and charged him five shil- 
lings for her recipe. Though a long time domesticated with the whites, she retained her Indian 
character, with her copper complexion, to the last. She had a proud and haughty spirit, hated 
the blacks, and deigned not to associate even with the lower order of the whites. Without a 
companion of her race — without kindred — surrounded only by strangers, she felt her situation 
desolate ; often spoke emphatically of the wrongs and misfortunes of her people. In her conduct 
she was perfectly moral and exemplary, and by no means given to intemperance, as many of her 
race were. At her death she was over 90 years old. 

There is a place near the Brandywine, on the farm of Mr. Marshall, where there are yet a 
number of Indian graves that the owner of the ground has never suffered to be violated. One 
of them, probabl}' a chiefs, is particularly distinguished by a head and foot stone. Indian 
Hannah wished much to be buried in this ground, and her wish should have been complied with. 

The territory now included in Chester co., together with much lying in other counties, was 
honorably purchased of the Indians by Wm. Penn, and was conveyed in several distinct deeds. 
The first, bearing date June 25, 1683, and signed by an Indian called Wingebone, conveys to 
Wm. Penn all his lands on the west side of Schuylkill, begiiming at the first falls, and extending 
along and back from that river, in tlie language of the instrument, " so far as my right goeth." 
By another deed of July 14th, 1683, two chiefs granted to the proprietary the land lying between 
the Chester and Schuylkill rivers. From Kikitapan he purchased half the land between the 
Susquehanna and Delaware, in September, and from j\IalchaloIa, all lands from the Delaware to 
Chesapeake bay, up to the falls of the Susquehanna, in October. And by a deed of July 30tn 
was conveyed the land between Chester and Pennypack creeks. This last instrument is a 
quaint piece of conveyancing, and will show the value attached by the natives to their lands. 

" This indenture witnesseth that we, Packenah, Jackliam, Sikals, Portquesott, Jervis Essepe- 
naick, Felktrug, Porvey, Indian kings, sachemakers, right owners of all lands from Quing Qingus, 
called Duck cr., unto Upland, called Chester cr., aU along the west side of Delaware river, and so 
between the said creeks backirards as far as a man can ride in iico days with a horse, for and in con- 
sideration of these following goods to us in hand paid, and secured to be paid by Wm. Penn, proprie- 
tary of Pennsylvania and the territories thereof, viz. : 20 guns, 20 fathoms match coat, 20 fathoms 
Stroud water, 20 blankets, 20 kettles, 20 pounds of powder, 100 bars of lead, 40 tomahawks, 100 
knives, 40 pair of stockings, 1 barrel of beer, 20 pounds of red lead, 100 fathoms of wampum, 
30 glass bottles, 30 pewter spoons, 100 awl blades, 300 tobacco pipes, 100 hands tobacco, 20 to- 
bacco tongs, 20 steels, 300 flints, 30 pair of scissors, 30 combs, 60 looking-glasses, 200 needles, 
1 skipple of salt, 30 pounds of sugar, 5 gallons of molasses, 20 tobacco boxes, 100 jewsharps, 
20 hoes, 30 gimlets, 30 wooden screw boxes, 103 string of heeds — do hereby acknowledge, &c. &,c. 
Given under our hands and seals, at New Castle, 2d of the 8th month, 1685." 

Chester co. received its name in the following manner. When Wm. Penn first arrived at Up- 
land, now old Chester, turning round to his friend Pearson, one of his own society, who had ac- 
companied him in the ship Welcome, he said, " Providence has brought us here safely. Thou 
hast been the companion of my perils. What wilt thou that I should call this place ?" Pearson 
replied, " Chester, in remembrance of the city from whence I came." Penn also promised that 
when he divided the territory into counties, he would call one of them by the same name. In the 
beginning of the year 1683, the governor and council established a seal for each of the counties, 
assigning to Chester the plough — the device still indicative of the thrifty agricultural character 
of the inhabitants. 

Before the close of the year 1682, no less than twenty-three ships had arrived in Pennsylvania 
from Europe, conveying more than two thousand souls. They were principally Friends, who had 
purchased allotments, and came to occupy them. Many were of opulent famiUes, upon whom no 
coinmon consideration could have prevailed to leave their homes ; and whom, perhaps, nothing 



CHESTER COUNTY. 209 

but the <Toad of mi<;casincr persecution could have driven entirely away. All were industrious, 
discreet, and prudent, and every way fitted to render a colony prosperous, flourishing and happy. 
Not an inconsiderable number of these settled in Chester co. Some had taken the precaution to 
bring with them frames of houses, and other conveniences : some, who arrived early, were en- 
abled to erect temporary cabins of logs ; and some were compelled to pass the winter in rude 
shanties, or caves dug in the side of a hill. 

At the time the European emigrants first settled in the county, it was principally overshadowed 
by forest, with here and there a small patch cleared by the natives for the purpose of raising corn, 
Owinir to the Indian practice of firing the woods once or twice in the year, the small timber and 
bushes were killed in their growth, and of course the Jorests were but thinly set. One of tlie 
first settlers said, that at the time of his first acquaintance with the country, he could have driven 
a horse and cart from one of its extremities to the other, in almost any direction, without meet- 
ing with any material obstruction. 

The early settlers of Chester co. were from difTcrent parts of Europe, England, Wales, Ireland, 
Holland, and Germany. Of these, the English, as they arrived first, seated the southern parts 
adjoining the Delaware, and a few took up lands bordering upon the Maryland line. They were 
principally from Sussex, (the residence of Wm. Penn,) Cheshire, Derbyshire, Leicestershire, and 
Northamptonshire. The Welsh oecujiied the eastern parts, and settled in considerable numbers. 
The oppression which they suflcred in their native country from the tyranny of the nobles, first 
determined their emigration, and the happy consequence resulting to the first adventurers, from 
their change of situation, induced many to follow them. Soon after their arrival here they gener- 
ally joined the society of Friends, and established meetings. Wm. I'cnn once paid them a visit, 
but as they neither understood his language, nor he theirs, they could only enjoy the satisfaction 
of seeing him. It is said, however, that they were highly gratified with tliis mark of his atten- 
tion and good-will, and took even their little children willi them to the meeting which he attended, 
that they also might have a sight of the great proprietor. Rowlan Ellis was one of their most 
conspicuous characters. 

The Irish emigrants located the north and western sections of the co. Those who first arrived 
were generally men of some standing and character, and were welcomed as an accession of virtue 
and intelligence to the little community. They were almost all Protestants, and many of them 
Friends. The Dutch and Germans, who are now the principal landholders in many of the 
northern townships, arc not the descendants of the original settlers of those parts. Within the 
memory of those now living, they formed the smallest portion of the population in those very 
districts where they are now the most numerous. Their untiring industry, and stubborn perse- 
verance, seem to have peculiarly qualified them to become successful tillers of a soil such as ob- 
tains there — fertile, indeed, but hard of cultivation ; and the posterity of the Irish, who are not 
so remarkable for the patient qualities of character, seem to have gradually relinquished to thcni 
the possession of the land. 

For a number of years the improvements in those parts of the co. seem to have been much in 
the rear of those in other parts of the co. The log-cabins of the early pioneers were still preva- 
lent as late as 1760. This was partly owing to the uncertain tenures by which the real estate 
was held. 

Soul-drivers. — This was a name given to a certain set of men who used to drive redemptioners 
through the country, and dispose of them to the farmers. They generally purchased them in lots 
consisting of fifty or more, of captains of ships, to whom the redemptioners were bound for three 
years' service, in payment for their passage. The trade was brisk for a while, but at last was 
broken up by the numbers that ran away from the drivers. The last of the ignominious set dis- 
appeared about the year 1785. A story is told of his having been tricked by one of his herd 
Tiie fellow, by a little management, contrived to be the last of the flock that remained unsold, 
and travelled about with his master. One night they lodged at a tavern, and In the morning the 
j'oung fellow, who was an Irishman, rose early, sold his master to the landlord, ])nekcted the 
money, and marched off. Previously, however, to his going, he used the prtcaution to tell the 
purchaser, that though tolerably clever in other respects, he was rather sauey, and a little given to 
lying. That he had even been presumptuous enough at times to endeavor to pass for master, 
and that he might possibly represent himself as such to him ! 

The long period of 81) years that elapsed between the settlement of the co. and the war of the 
revolution, was a peaceful era, unfruitful of incident. During all that time the settlers were left 
to pursue their peaceful occupations, uninjured and unmoved by the commotions that shook the 
rest of the world. They plied the arts of commerce, brought new lands into cidture, established 
schools and meeting-houses, and advanced with uniform progress towards a state of superior 
opulence and refinement. The contests indeed of 1736 and 1755 occurred within the period 
mentioned, but these little affected the settlers here. They were principally Friends, took no 
active part in military concerns, and were not molested by them. 

The cloud, however, which had been long gatlieringand rumbling on the horizon, had at length 
spread itself over the land, and the awful moment arrived when it was to burst. The citizens of 
Chester co. were now to see their fields crossed by hostile armies and made the theatre of military 

27 



210 CHESTER COUNTY. 

operations, while they themselves, throwing aside the implements of husbandry, and forgetting 
the employments of peace, were to mingle in the general strife. 

The first military force raised in the co. was a regiment of volunteers, of which Anthony 
Wajme, Esq., was appointed Col., and Richard Thomas, Lieut. Col. Wayne afterwards joined 
the regular army, and the command of the corps devolved upon Thomas. This regiment marched 
to New York previous to the battle of Long Island, but, with the part which joined the flying 
camp, was neither engaged in that, nor in any of the subsequent actions which took place in that 
vicinity. A second regiment was raised and officered principally by the inhabitants of Chester 
CO., soon after the first had been formed. Mr. Atlee, of Lancaster, was a])pointed Col. ; Parry, of 
Chester no., Lieut. Col. ; John Potts, Major; and Joseph McLellan, of Westchester, was among 
the captains. Thus it will be seen that Chester co. contributed a full proportion of men for the 
service, and evinced a spirit scarcely to be expected among a people so generally opposed in 
principle to the practice of war. Early in the contest Chester co. became the scene of active 
operations. 

The battle of Braiidywine took place on the 11th Sept., 1777. The 
following spirited account of the engagement is from Botta's History of 
the American Revolution. Botta was himself a soldier in Napoleon's 
campaigns : he de.«!oribes the manoBuvres of the battle with a soldier's 
enthusiasm. 

Late in August, 1777, Washington was informed that the enemy had appeared with all his 
forces in the Chesapeake. He then saw distinctly the course he had to pursue. He despatched 
orders to all the detached corps to join him, by forced marches, in the environs of Philadelphia. 
The militia of Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware, and the northern parts of Virginia, were 
ordered to repair to the principal army. 

On the 25th of August, the British army, 18,000 strong, was disembarked not far from the 
head of the river Elk. It was plentifully furnished with all the equipage of war, excepting the 
defect of horses, as well for the cavalry as for the baggage. The scarcity of forage had caused 
many of them to perish the preceding winter, and a considerable number had died also in the 
late passage. 

This was a serious disadvantage for the royal troops ; who, in the vast plains of Pennsylvania, 
might have employed cavalry with singular effect. Ou the 27th, the English vanguard arrived 
at the head of the Elk, and the day following at Gray's hill. Here it was afterv.'ards joined by 
the rear guard under Gen. Knyphausen, who had been left upon the coast to cover the debarka- 
tion of the stores and artillery. 

The whole army took post behind the river Christiana, having Newark upon the right, and 
Pencada, or Atkins, on the left. A column commanded by Lord Cornwallis having fallen in 
with Maxwell's riflemen, routed and pursued them as far as the farther side of White Clay cr., 
with the loss of some dead and wounded. 

The x\.merican army, in order to encourage the partisans of independence, and overawe the 
disaffected, marched througli the city of Philadelphia ; it afterwards advanced towards the enemy, 
and encamped behind White Clay cr. A little after, leaving only the riflemen in the camp, 
Washington retired with the main body of his army behind the Red Clay cr., occupying with his 
right wing the town of Newport, situated near the Christiana, and upon the great road to Phila^ 
delphia ; his left was at Hockesen. But this line was little capable of defence. 

The enemy, reinforced by the rearguard under Gen. Grant, threatened with his right the centre 
of the Americans, and extended his left as if with the intention of turning their right flank. Wash- 
ington saw the danger, and retired with his troops bejiind the Brandywine ; lie encamped on the 
rising grounds which extend from Chadsford, in the direction of northwest to southeast. The 
riflemen of Maxwell scoured the right bank of the Brandywine, in order to harass and retard the 
enemy. The militia, under the command of Gen. Armstrong, guarded a passage below the prin. 
cipal encampment of Washington, and tlie right wing lined the banks of the rivtr higher up, 
where the passages were most dittinult. The jiassage of Chadsford, as the most practicable of 
all, was defended by the chief force of the army. The troops being thus disposed, the American 
general waited the approach of the English. Although the Brandywine, being fordable almost 
everywhere, could not serve as a suflficient defence against the impetuosity of the enemy, yet 
Washington had taken post upon its banks, from a conviction that a battle was now inevitable, 
and that Philadelphia could only be saved by a victory. Gen. Howe displaj'cd the front of his 
army, but not, however, without great circumspection. Being arrived at Kennet Square, a short 
distance from the river, he detached his lighthorse to the right upon Wilmington, to the left upon 
the Lancaster road, and in front towards Chadsford. The two armies found themselves within 
seven miles jx each other, the Brandywine flowing between them. 

Early in the morning of the Ilth of Sept., the British army marched to the enemy. Howe 
had formed his anny in two columns ; the right commanded by Gen. Knyphausen, the left bj 



CHESTER COUNTY. 211 

Lord Cornwallis. His plan was, that while the first should make repeated feints to attempt the 
passage of Chadsford, in order to occupy the attention of the republicans, the second should take 
a long circuit to the upper part of the river, and cross at a place wheie it is divided into two 
shallow streams. The English marksmen fell in with those of Maxwell, and a smart skirmish 
Was immediately engaged. The latter were at first repulsed ; but being reinforced from the 
camp, they compelled the English to retire in their turn. But at length, they also were reinforced, 
and Ma.xwcU was constrained to withdraw his detachment behind the river. Meanwhile, Knyp- 
hausen advanced with his column, and commenced a fiuious cannonade upon the passage of 
Chadsford, making all his dispositions as if Ire intended to force it. The Americans defended them- 
selves with gallantry, and even passed several detachments of light troops to the other side, in 
order to harass the enemy's flanks. But after a course of skirmishes, sometimes advancing, 
and at others obliged to retire, they were finally, with an eager pursuit, driven over the river. 
Knyphausen then appeared more than ever determined to pass the ford ; he stormed, and kept up 
an incredible noise. In this manner the attention of the Americans was fully occupied in the 
neighborhood of Chadsford. Meanwnile, Eord Cornwallis, at the head of the second column, 
took a circuitous march to the left, and gained unperccived the forks of the Brandywine. By 
this rapid movement, he passed both branches of the river, at Trimble's and at Jeftfery's fords, 
without opposition, about two o'clock in tiie afternoon, and then turning short down the river, 
took the road to Dilworth, in order to fall upon the right flank of the American army. The re- 
publican general, however, received intelligence of this movement about noon, and, as it usually 
iiappens in similar cases, the reports exaggerated its importance exceedingly ; it being represented 
that Gen. Howe commanded this division in person. Washington therefore decided immediately 
for the most judicious, though boldest measure ; this was to pass the river with the centre and 
left wing of his army, and overwhelm Knj'phausen by the most furious attack. He justly re- 
flected that the advantage he should obtain upon the enemy's right, would amply compensate the 
loss that his own might sustain at the same time. Accordingly, he ordered Gen. Sullivan to 
pass the Brandywine with his division at an upper ford, and attack the left of Knyphausen, while 
he, in person, should cross lower down, and fall upon the right of that general. 

They were both already in motion in order to execute this design, when a second report arrif ed, 
which represented what had really taken place as false, or in other words, that the enemy had 
not crossed the two branches of the river, and that he had not made his appearance upon the 
right flank of the American troops. Deceived by this false intelligence, Washington desisted; 
and Greene, who had already passed with the vanguard, was ordered back. In the midst of 
these uncertainties, the commander-in-chief at length received the positive assurance, not only 
that the English had appeared upon the left bank, but also that they were about to fail in great 
force upon the right wing. It was composed of the brigades of Gen's Stephens, Sterling, and 
Sullivan. The first was the most advanced, and consequently the nearest to the English ; the 
two others were posted in the order of their rank, that of Sullivan being next to the centre. This 
general was immediately detached from the main body, to support the two former brigades, and, 
being the senior ofiicer, took the command of the whole wing. Washington himself, followed by 
Gen. Greene, approached with two strong divisions towards this wing, and posted himself between 
it and the corps he had left at Chadsford, under Gen. Wayne, to oppose the passage of Knyphau- 
sen. These two divisions, under the immediate orders of the commander-in-chief, served as a 
corps of reserve, ready to march, according to circumstances, to the succor of Sullivan or of 
Wayne. 

But the column of Cornwallis was already in sight of the Americans. Sullivan drew up his 
troops on the commanding ground above Birmingham meeting-house, with his left extending to- 
wards the Brandywine, and both his flanks covered with very thick woods. His artillery was 
advantageously planted upon the neighboring hills ; but it appears that Sullivan's own brigade, 
having taken a long circuit, arrived too late upon the field of battle, and had not yet occupied 
the position assigned it, when the action commenced. The English, having reconnoitered the 
dispositions of the Americans, immediately formed, and fell upon them with the utmost impetu- 
osity. The engagement became equally fierce on both sides about four o'clock in the afternoon. 
For some length of time the Americans defended themselves with great valor, and the carnage 
was terrible. But such Was the emulation which invigorated the efforts of the English and Hes- 
sians, that neither the advantages of situation, nor a heavy and well-supported fire of small-arms 
knd artillery, not the Unshaken courage of the Americans, were able to resist their impetuos. 
ity. The light infantry, chasseurs, grenadiers, and guards, threw themselves with such fury 
into the midst of the republican battalions, that they were forced to give way. Their left flank 
Was first thrown into confusion, but the rout soon became general. The vanquished fled into the 
woods in their rear ; the victors pursued, and advanced b}' t!ie great road towards Dilworth. On 
the first fire of the artillery, Washington, having no doubt of what was passing, had pushed for- 
ward the reserve to the succor of Sullivan. But this cocjis, on approaching the field of battle, 
fell in with the flying soldiers of Sullivan, and perceived that no hope remained of retrieving the 
fortune of the day. Gen. Greene, by a judicious mancEuvre, opened his ranks to receive the fugi- 
tives and after their passage, having closed them anew, he retired in good order ; checking the 



212 CHESTER COUNTY. 

pursuit of the enemy by a continual fire of the artillery which covered his rear. Having coftlo 
to a defile, covered on both sides vi^ith woods, he drew up his men there, and agjain faced the 
enemy. His corps was composed of Virginians and Pennsylvanians ; they defended themselves 
with gallantry ; the former, especially, commanded by Col. .Stephens, made an heroic stand. 

Knyphausen, finding the Americans to be fully engaged on their right, and observing that the 
corps opposed to hiin at Chadsford was enfeebled by the troops which had been detached to the' 
succor of Sullivan, began to make dispositions for crossing the river in reality. The passage of 
Chadsford was defended by an intrenchment and battery. Tlie republicans stood firm at first ; 
but upon intelligence of the defeat of their right, and seeing some of the British troops who had 
penetrated through the woods, come out upon their flank, they retired in disorder, abandoning 
their artillery and munitions to the German general. In their retreat, or rather flight, they passed 
behind the position of Gen. Greene, who still defended himself, and Was the last to quit the field 
of battle. Finally, it being already dark, after a long and obstinate conflict, be also retired. The 
whole army retreated that night to Chester, and the day following to Philadelphia. 

There the fugitives arrived incessantly, having effcjctcd their escape through by-ways and 
circuitous routes. The victors passed the night on the field of battle. If darkness had not 
arrived seasonably, it is vei'y probable that the whole American army would have been destroyed. 
The loss of the republicans was computed at about three hundred killed, six hundred wounded, 
and near four hundred taken prisoners. They also lost ten field-pieces and a howitzer. The loss 
in the ro3ral army was not in proportion, being something under five hundred, of which the slain 
did not amount to one fifth. 

The French officers were of great utility to the Americans, as well in forming the troops, as 
in rallying them when thrown into confusion. One of them, the Baron St. Ovary, was made a 
prisoner, to tiie great regret of congress, who bore him a particular esteem. Capt. De Fleury had 
a horse killed under him in the hottest of the action. The congress gave him another a few 
days after. The Marquis De Lafayette, while he was endeavoring, by his words and example, 
to rally the fugitives, was wounded in the leg. He continued, nevertheless, to fulfil his duty, both 
is a soldier in fighting and as a general in cheering the troops and re-establishing order. The 
Count Pulaski, a noble Pole, also displayed an undaunted courage, at the head of the lighthorse. 
The congress manifested their sense of his merit by giving him, shortly after, the rank of briga- 
dier, and tlie command of the cavalry. 

If all the American troops in the action of the Brandywine had fought with the same intre 
pidity as the Virginians and Pennsylvanians, and especially if Washington had not been led 
into error by a false report, perhaps, notwithstanding the inferiority of number and the imperfec- 
tion of arms, he would have gained the victory, or, at least, would have made it more sanguinary 
io the English. However tliis might have been, it must be admitted that Gen. Howe's order of 
battle was excellent ; that his movements were executed with as much ability as promptitude ; 
arid that his troops, English as well as German, behaved admirably well. 

The day after the battle, towards evening, the English dispatched a detachment of light troops 
to Wilmington, a place situated at the confluence of the Christiana and the Brandywine. There 
they took prisoner the governor of the state of Delaware, and seized a considerable quantity of 
«;oined money, as well as other property, both public and private, and some papers of importance. 

Lord Cornwallis entered Philadelphia the 26th of Sept., at the head of a detachment of British 
and Hessian grenadiers. The rest of the army remained in the camp of Germantown. Thus 
the rich and populous capital of the v/hole confederation fell into the power of the royalists, after 
a sanguinary battle, and a sciics of manceuvres, no less masterly than painful, of the two armies. 
The Quakers, and all the other loyalists who had remauied there, welcomed the English with 
transports of gratulation. Washington, descending along the left bank of the Schuylkill, ap- 
proached within sixteen miles of Germantown. He eiicanjped at Skippach cr., purposing to ac- 
commodate his measuies to the state of things. 

The view on the next pag^e was taken from Osborne's hill, one or two 
miles west of the Birmingham meeting-house. It was here that Corn- 
wallis stopped, and after having, with his gla.ss, reconnoitered the move- 
ments of the American troops, he exclaimed, " those rebels form ivell .'" 
The meeting-house may be distinguished in the extreme distance, near 
the centre of the view, with a long white wall (of its grave-yard) con- 
nected with it. The peacelxtl sect who built it, and whose descendants 
still worship under its roof, little dreamed that it would become a scene 
of carnage, and an hospital for the dead and wounded from a bloody bat- 
tle-field. Tlie roads and the fields beyond the meeting-house are said to 
have been strewed with wounded men ; and many cannon balls and bullets 
were annually ploughed up by the farmers in later years. 



CHESTER COUNTY. 



213 




Distant view of Brandywine Battle-ground. 

The movements of the two armies on the Schuylkill, previous to the 
entry of the British into Philadelphia, and the scenes of the winter's en" 
campment at Valley Forge, will be found described under the head of 
Montgomery co. 

Mr. Lewis, who generally followed Marshall in his account of the 
battle, has appended to it some very interesting notes, gathered from 
various sources, some of which are here inserted. 

Squire Chcyncy first gave information to Washington of the near approach of Cornwallis. 
He iiad been within a siiort distance of the enemy, and with difficulty escaped their grasp. 
Washington at first could scarcely credit the account of the Squire, and directed him to alight, 
and draw in the sand a draft of tlie roads. This was done promptly. Wasliington still appear- 
ing to doubt, Cheyncy, who was a strenuous whig, exclaimed, " Take my life, general, if I de- 
ceive you." Washington was at length convinced. 

Major Ferguson, commander of a Small corps of riflemen attached to the British army, men- 
tions an incident which he says took place while his corps was concealed in a skirt of a wood in 
front of Kn37phausen's division. In a letter to Dr. Ferguson he writes, "We had not lain long 
when a rebel officer, remarkable for a hussar dress, passed towards our army witliin one hundred 
yards of my right flank, not perceiving us. He Was followed by another dressed in dark green 
and blue, mounted on a good bay horse, with a remarkably large high cocked hat. I ordered 
three good shots to steal near to them, and to fire at them ; but the idea disgusted me — I recalled 
the order. The hussar, in returning, made a circuit, but the other passed within a hundred 
yards of us ; upon which I advanced from the wood towards him. Upon my calling he stopped, 
but after looking at me proceeded. I again drew his attention, and made signs to him to stop ; 
but he slowly continued his way. As I was within that distance at which, in the quickest firing, 
I could have lodged half a dozen balls in or about him before he was out of my reach, I had only 
to determine ; but it was not pleasant to fire at the back of an unoffending individual who wad 
acquitting himself very coolly of his duty, so I let him alone. The day after, I had been telling 
this story to some wounded officers who lay in the same room with me, when one of our surgeons, 
who had been dressing the wounded rebel officers, came in and told me that Gen. Washington 
Was all the morning witli the ligiit troops, and only attended by a French officer in a hussar 
dress, he himself dressed and mounted in every respect as above described. I am not sorry 
that I did not know at the time who it was." 

At this stand (soon after the first rout) for a few minutes was some very hard fighting. 
Washington himself was present, with Lafayette, and it was here the latter received his wound 
in the leg. (Sec the preceding page, at the top.) 

An interesting anecdote is told of Lord Percy, which I have never seen in history, but which 
I believe is very generally known and accredited. When he arrived, with the rcgimcit he ac- 
companied, in sight of the Americans ranged in order of battle, upon the heights near Birming- 
ham meeting-house, he surveyed the field around him for a moment, and then turning to his ser- 
vant handed him his piu-se and gold watch to take charge of, remarking, " This place 1 saw in a 
dream before I left England, and I know that I shall fall here." The coincidence was striking. 



gl4 ' CHESTER COUNTY. 

The event verified the prediction. His name is not reported among the slain in the BritisL offi^ 
cial account, because he held no commission in the army- He was merely a volunteer. 

Among those who were distinguished by their conduct on this day was Col. Marshall, (father 
of Chief-justice 3Iarshall.) who commanded the 3d Virginian regiment. It is said, cdso, that the 
chief-justice, then quite young, was also present as a volunteer.* 

Maj. Gen. Greene in person Was rather corpulent and above the common size. His complexion 
was fair and florid, his countenance serene and mdd, indicating a goodness which seemed to shade 
and soften the fire and greatness of its expressions. His health was delicate, but preserved by 
temperance and regularity. 

Gen. Wayne was about the middle size, with a fine ruddy countenance, commanding port, 
Emd eagle eye. His looks corresponded well with his character, indicating a soul noble, ardent 
and daring. At this time he was about thirty-two years of age. In his intercourse with his offi- 
cers and men he was affable and aofreeable, and had the art of conmiuiiicating to their bosoms 
the gallant and chivalrous spirit which glowed in his own. 

Gen. Lafayette, then the Marquis Lafayette, at that time was one of the finest-looking men in 
the army, notwithstanding his deep-red hair. The expression of his countenance was stronglj 
indicative of the generous and gaDant spirit which animated him, mingled with something of the 
pride of conscious manliness. His mien was noble, his manners frank and amiable, and his 
movements fight and graceful. He wore his hair plain, and never compUed so far with the fash- 
ion of the times as to powder. 

Major Lee, (not Maj. Gen. Lee.) one of the most vigilant and active partisan officers in the 
American army, was 3hort in stature and of slight make, but agile and active. His face was 
small and freckled, and his look eager and sprightly- He was then quite young, and his appear- 
ance was even more youthful than his years. (See Lancaster co.) 

Sir Wm. Howe was a fine fiein-e, fuli si^ feet high, and admirably well proportioned. In per- 
son he a good deal resembled WashingtOD, and at a little distance might have been easily mista- 
ken for him ; but his features, though good, were more pointed, and the expression of his coun- 
tenance was less benignant. His manners were poUshed, graceful, and dignified. 

Lord Comwallis in person was short and thick-set, but not so corpulent as Sir Henry. He had 
a handsome aqudine nose, and hair, when young, light, and rather inclined to sandy, but at the 
time of his being here it had become somewhat gray. His face would have been a fine one, 
had he not blinked badly with his left eye. With his olEcers he used the utmost familiarity, and 
was greatly beloved by his soldiers, to whom he was always accessible. When busy in making 
preparations for a battle, he had a habit of raising his hand to his head, and sliifting the position 
of his hat every moment, by which signs his men always knew when to expect business. The 
whisper, " Corn-cob has blood in his eve," which ran through tlie ranks on such occasions, 
showed that these signs were perfectly imderstood. 

Lieut Gen. Knyphausen was a good-looking Dutchman, about five feet eleven, straight an 
slender. His features were sharp, and his appearance martial. His command was confined al- 
most exclusively to the German corps, as his ignorance of the English language in a great 
measure disqualified him for any other. 

The action commonly kno^^^l as the Affair at the Paoli, and sometimes 
as the Massacre at the Paoli, took place on the night of the 20th Sept. 
1777, at a place about a mile south of the Warren tavern, on the Lan- 
caster turnpike, and at least two miles southwest from the Paoli tavern. 

After the battle of BrandvAvine. the two armies met again on the 16th 
Sept. near this place, but were prevented from engaging by a hea\"y' rain, 
Washington withdrew across the Schuylkill at Parkers ferry, but sent 
Gen. Wa^^le, with 1,500 men. to join Gen. Smallwood, and annoy the rear 
of the enemy who was posted near Tredyffrin church. 

Wayne had encamped in a very retired position, near the present monument, and at some dis- 
tance from the public roads. The British general, receiving information from traitors who knew 
every defile in die neighborhood, and every movement of the republican troops, detached Gen. 
Gray, a brave and desperate, but cruel officer, to cut oflT Wayne's party. Stealing his way 

* In July, 1776, he was a lieutenant in the 11th Virginia regiment ; in May, 1775, he was ap- 
pointed a captain. His regiment belonged to the brigade of Gen. Woodford, which formed ])art 
of the American right at the battle of Brandvwrne, in front of which was placed the .3d regiment, 
commanded by his gallant father. He was in the battle of Germantown. and in that at Mon- 
mouth. He was one of that body of men who tiacked the snows of Valley Forge with the blood 
of their footsteps in the rigorous winter of 1778. He was in the covering party at the assault 
of Stony Point. 



CHESTER COUNTY. 



215 



llirough the woods, and up the narrow defile below the Paob, l.e drove in tiie American pickets, 
and rushed in upon the camp. " The assailants were received with several close and destructive 
fires, which must liave done great execution, but the American troops were compelled b^- superior 
numbers to retreat. The number of Americans killed and wounded in this action amomited to 
If)!). Gen. Gray, it is said, had ordered his troops to give no quarter. jNIany victims were mas- 
sacred with ruthless barbarity, alter resistance on their part had ceased. The cry for quarter was 
unheeded : the British bayonet did its work with uupitying ferocity." It is said by some that 
the enemy set fire to the straw in tlie camp, thus torturing many sick and wounded victims who 
were unable to escape the flames. 

The whole American corps must have been cut off, if Wayne had not preserved his coolness. 
Tic promptly rallied a few regiments, who withstood the shock of the enemy, and covered the re- 
treat of the others. When this attack commenced Gen. Smallwood was already within a mile 
of the field of battle ; and had he commanded troops to be relied upon, might have given a very 
dift'erent turn to the night. But his raw militia, falling in with a party returning from the pmrsioit 
of Wayne, instantly fled in confusion. 

A few persons are yet living who assisted in burying the dead ; but 53 
were found on the field, whose bodies were decently interred by the neigh- 
boring farmers in one grave, immediately adjoining the scene of action. 

On the 20th of Sept. 1817, being the 40th anniversary of the massacre, 
a monument was erected over the remains of those gallant men by the 
Republican Artillerists of Chfester co.. aided by the contributions of their 
fellow-citizens. It is composed of white marble, and is a pedestal sur- 
mounted by a pyramid. Upon the four sides of the body of the pedestal, 
are appropriate inscriptions. 




Paoli Monument. 

It has often been said, even by some American historians, that this affair 
was a surprise. A court-martial, convened by Washington at Gen. 
Wayne's urgent request, within five weeks after the affair, decided, after 
minute investigation, that "he did every thing that could be expected from 
an active, brave, and vigilant officer, under the orders which he then had." 

Gen. Anthony Wayne was born in the township of Eastown, Chester co., (about 1:| miles 
south of the Paoli tavern,) on the 1st Jan. 1745. He received a thorough education, and was par- 
ticularly skilled in the mathematics. After leaving school he became a surveyor, and also paid some 
attention to astronomy and engineering, by which he attracted the attention of Dr. Franklin, who 
oecame his friend and patron. At the opening of the revolution he was a prominent member of 
the provincial legislature. He entered the army in 1775 as colonel of a corps of volunteers ; and 
was afterwards active on the northern frontier at Ticonderoga. Here he was made brigadier- 
jreneral on the :21st Feb. 1777. In the buttle of Brandywine he commanded the division of 



216 



CHESTER COUNTY. 



Chadsford, resisting the passage of the column under Knyphausen vvitli the utmost gallantry 
until near sunset, when, overpowered by superior numbers, lie was compelled to retreat. His 
conduct at the Paoli is described above. At the battle of Germaiitown he evinced his wonted valor, 
leading his division into tlie thickest of tlie fight. 

In all councils of war he was distinguislicd for supporting the most energetic measures. At 
the battle of Monmouth, he and Gen. Cadwallader are said to have been the only two general 
officers in favor of attacking the enemy. His conduct on that occasion elicited the special ap- 
plause of Gen. Washington. His attack upon the fort at Stony Point, in .Tuly 1779, an almost 
inaccessible height, defended by a garrison of 600 men, and a strong battery of artillery, was the 
most brilliant exploit of the war. At midnight he led his troops with unloaded muskets, flints 
out, and fixed bayonets, and without firing a single gun, completely carried the fort, and took 
543 prisoners. In the attack he received a wound from a musket ball in the head, which, in the 
heat of the conflict, supposing to be mortal, he called to his aids to carry him forward and let 
him die in the fort. In the campaign of 1781, when Cornvvallis surrendered, he bore a conspicu- 
ous part; and he was afterwards actively engaged in Georgia. At the peace of 178.3, he retired 
to private life. In 1789 he was a member of the Pennsylvania Convention, and strongly advo. 
cated the adoption of the Constitution of the United States. In 1793, after Harmar and St. 
(jlair had been repeatedly unsuccessful, Wayne took the command on the northwestern frontier, 
and by his wise and prudent measures, his excellent discipline, and bravery, he gained the deci- 
sive battle of the Maumee, and concluded the war by the treatj of Greenville in 179.5. A life 
of peril and glory was terminated in Dec. 1796, in a cabin at Presqu'islc, then in the wilderness, 
and his remains were deposited, at his own request, under the flagstaff" of the fort on the margin 
of Lake Erie. Hh remains were removed in 1809 by his son, CoL Isaac Wayne, to Radnor 
churchyard, in Delaware county. 

By direction of the Pennsylvania State Society of Cincinnati, an elegant monument was 
erected, of white marble, of the most correct symmetry and beauty. 

South Fnnt. — In honor of the distinguished military services of Major General Anthony 
Wayne, and as an affectionate tribute of respect to his memory, this stone was erected, by his com- 
panions in arms, the Pennsylvania State Society of the Cincinnati, July 4th, A. D. 1809, thirty- 
fourth annivcrsar}' of tlie Independence of the United States of America ; an event which con- 
stitutes the most appropriate eulogium of an American soldier and patriot. 

North Front. — Major General Anthony Wayne, was born at Waynesborough,* in Chester 
county. State of Pennsylvania, A. D. 1745. After a life of honor and usefulness, he died in De- 
cember, 1796, at a military post on the shore of Lake Erie, Commander-in-chief of tiie army of 
the United States. His military achievements are consecrated in the history of his country, and 
in the hearts of his countrymen. His remains are here interred. 




Gen. Wayne's Residence, li miles S. of the Paoli tavern. 

Mr. Lewis gives the following- narrative, which is corroborated by oth- 
ers. Fitz was probably connected with the Doanes of Bucks cb., and 
similar desperadoes in Franklin co. and in Virginia : — 

* This is incorrect ; see the biography on the preceding page. 



CHESTER COUNTY. 217 

Durlno- the winter in whicli the British occupied Philadelphia, and the year following, some 
alarm was created and kept up in the counter by the dariufr depredations of one Jim Fitzpatrick, 
a celebrated desperado of those times. Fitz, as he was commonly called, was born of Irish pa- 
rents, and was apprenticed, when quite a lad, to a respectable blacksmith of Chester co., named 
John Passmore : and he labored faitlifully at his trade (at or near Downington, it is thought,) 
until the end of his apprenticeship. While in his boyhood he practised a good deal in athletic 
exercis(!S, in wliich he manifested great superiority. 

tj)n arriving at his majority, he quit his trade and joined the American army. Not relishing 
the subordination and discipline of the camp, he deserted, and roamed the country for some time, 
working as a day laborer for a maintenance. While thus engaged he was seized unawares, by 
two sohliers, in a meadow in London Grove township. It was proposed to lead their prisoner 
directly to Wilmington, but at his entreaty the men were prevailed upon to go with him first to 
liis mother's to procure some clothes, virhich he said he should want in case of detention. On 
opening his mother's door, he grasjicd his rifle, which stood behind it, and presenting the muzzle 
to tlie soldiers, threatened to shoot them down unless they would leave him instantly. They did 
not think it prudent to dare him to the execution of his threat, and Fitz returned to his labor, 
and continued to pursue it as if nothing had happened. 

To particularize the many adventures related of this singular man — this Rob Roy McGregor 
of the county — would surpass my restricted limits. During the year or more that he infested 
this vicinity, he was extremely active, and every day plotting or achieving some new plan of 
mischief. He however never mole^^ed his tory friends, for, having espoused the British interest, 
he considered the whigs only as his enemies, and himself at liberty, as a partisan chief, by the 
laws of war, to harass them in every possible manner. 

He had his peculiar humor, which he frequently indulged at the expense of others. Even in 
his treatment of those whom he chose to punish, he often proceeded in such a manner as to ren- 
der them objects of ridicule rather than pity. He despised covetousness ; and in all his depreda- 
tions was never known to rob a poor man. Indeed he often gave to the poor what he took from 
the rich. It is related that while lurking in the neighborhood of Cain meeting-house, he met with 
an old woman on her way to the city with all her little stock of money to procure a supply of 
goods. Not knowing the robber, and but little expecting at that time the honor of his company, 
she made known to him her apprehension that, as Capt. Fitz was in the neighborhood, she might 
fall into his clutches, and be deprived of her whole fortune. Fitz, after obtaining her secret, told 
her he was the man she so much dreaded, but there was nothing he would disdain so much as to 
wrong a weak and defenceless woman. At the same time he drew from his pocket a purse of 
guineas, presented it to her, wished her a pleasant journey, and turned off into the woods. 

The whig collectors of public moneys were the special objects of his vengeance, and all the 
public money which he could extort from them he looked upon as lawful prey. One of these 
men he not only plundered of a large sum, but took him otl' to his cave in the woods, where he 
detained hun two weeks, to the great alarm of his family, who supposed him murdered. 

He was often pursued by whole companies of men, but always escaped them by his agility, or 
daunted them by his intrej)idity. On one occasion, 50 or more persons assembled well armed, 
and resolved to take him if possible, dead or alive. They com-sed him for some hours over the 
hills, but becoming weary of the chase, they called at a tavern to rest, and procure some refresh- 
ment. While sitting in the room together, and every one expressing his wish to meet with Fitz, 
suddenly, to their great astonishment, he presented himself before them with a rifle in his hand. 
He bade them all keep their seats, declaring that he would shoot the first man that moved. Then 
having called for a small glass of rum, and drank it off, he walked backwards some paces, 
with his rifle presented at the tavern door, wheeled and took to his heels, leaving the stupified com- 
pany in silent amazement. 

Not long after this occurrence, another party of 18 or 20 men was hunting him with guns and 
rifles upon the South Valley hill. Stepping from behind a tree he presented himself to one of the 
company separated a short distance from the rest, and asked him whom he was seeking. The man 
answered, " Fitz." " Then," said Fitz, " come with me and I will show you his cave where you 
may find him." Tlie bold man-hunter went accordingly. After leading him some distance from 
his companions, Fitz told the fellow who he was, bade him ground arms, tied him to a tree, cut 
a withe, and flogged him severely. He then told him he might go and inform his comrades 
where to find the Fitz they were hunting. When they arrived at the j)lace, he had decamped. 

Shortly after a price had been set upon his head, to show how much he dared, or how heartily 
he despised the cowardice of the multitude, armed with two pistols and a dagger, he deliberately 
walked in open day, from the southern hill opposite Kennett square, through a great company of 
people, who made way for him, to Taylor's tavern, took a glass of grog, and went away with- 
out molestation, though there were men present with arms and muskets in their hands. 

A man from Nottingham, once in pursuit of Fitz, entered the house of his mother, behaved 
rudely, and broke her spinning-wheel. Fitz vowed revenge, and sent the fellow word that he 
would visit him shortly. The man swore he would be glad to see him, and ventured to predict 
that if Fitz appeared he should give a good account of him. The robber kept his promise, and 

28 



218 CHESTER COUNTY. 

having met his mother's injurer at liis own door, ordered him in a peremptory tone to follow him 
to the woods. The man had not the hardiliood to disobey, but did as directed. Fitz then tied 
him to a tree and inflicted on him his favorite punishment — a sore flagellation. 

But this man, who had daunted multitudes, and baffled so long the vigilance of his enemies, 
like Sampson was at length betra}'ed and taken b}' a woman. This Delilah was the mistress 
and confidant of Fitz, and was mainly dependent for the means of suppoil upon his generosity. 
She then lived in a house near the Strasburg road, and a little beyond Crum creek, in a retired 
situation. 

He was apprehended by men concealed in the house, and conducted immediately to Chester, 
where he was tried, condemned, and executed ; behaving throughout with a firmness worthy of 
a hero, and consistently with the character he had sustained. 

The county of Chester contains no very large towns, but is studded over 
with pleasant rural hamlets, which have grown up in the progress of 
years, at the crossings of the great roads, or near the sites of the ancient 
inns, with which the county abounds. Many of these old taverns on the 
Lancaster and Harrisburg turnpikes were famous among the travellers 
of the olden time, and not a few have been distinguished in the annals of 
the revolution. Such were the Spread Eagle, the (Gen.) Paoli, the (Gen.) 
Warren, the White Horse, the Black Horse, the Ship, the Red Lion, &c. 
&c. Near some of these, small villages have grown up. When Gov. 
Pownal visited Lancaster in 1754, he spoke of stopping on his way at 
the Buck, by Ann Miller ; at the Vernon, by Ashton, (now the Warren ;) 
the White Horse, by Hambright ; the Ship, near Downingtown, by Thos. 
Park ; the Red Lion, by Joseph Steer ; the Wagon, by James Way, &c. 

Westchester, the seat of justice, is a pleasant town, rather compactly 
and substantially built, situated in Goshen township, five miles south of 
the Great Valley, and 23 west of Philadelphia, on very high ground, the 
dividing ridge between branches of the Brandywine and Chester creeks. 
In 1800 the population was 374; in 1810, 471 ; in 1820, 552; in 1830, 
1,252 ; and in 1840, 2,152. The town is regularly laid out on streets at 
right angles. The public buildings, especially those erected within the 
last ten years, reflect great credit on the enterprise and taste of the citi- 
zens. Of these the bank, with a magnificent Doric portico of pure white 
marble, the new prison, the Methodist, Presbyterian, and Episcopal 
churches, the Athenaeum, and Mr. Bolmar s seminary, are the most con- 
spicuous. Besides the churches enumerated, there are, a Catholic church 
and two Friends' meeting-houses ; also an academy, a female seminary, 
two or three large boarding-schools, a public library, Athenaeum and 
Cabinet of Natural Science, the courthouse, and public offices. The 
town is remarkable for salubrity, and is surrounded by a beautiful undu- 
lating country. Westchester is pre-eminent among the villages of the 
state for its highly cultivated state of society, and the general diffusion 
of intelligence among its citizens. The geology, mineralogy, and natu- 
ral history of the county had been very fully explored and written upon 
by citizens of the town engaged in the ordinary pursuits of life, long be- 
fore the state geological survey was set on foot ; and with many depart- 
ments of science, literature, and the arts, the great mass of the citizens 
have acquired familiarity, by self-instruction and by lectures at their ad- 
mirable Athenaeum. Among the curiosities deposited in the cabinet here, 
is the telescope of Gen. Wayne, and a collection of autograph letters to 
himself from nearly all the distinguished officers of the revolution, together 
with his own autograph. 

A railroad, nine miles long, constructed in 1832, connects with the Co- 



CHESTER COUNTY. 



219 



iumbia railroad near " the Paoli" — and a branch also at a nearer point 
for the purpose of transporting limestone and lime from " the Great Val- 
ley." The Strasburg road passes through the town. The annexed view 




Central part of Westchester. 

exhibits the entrance to the centre of the borough between the Black 
Bear and Turk's Head taverns. On the left are seen the public offices 
and courthouse ; on the right the " Turk's Head," the bank, &c. 

Westchester became the seat of justice in 1786, by the removal of the 
public offices from Old Chester; it was made a borough in 1799. The 
original plan of the town consisted of four squares. In 1829 several 
streets were opened and new squares formed, on the southwestern side 
of the primitive squares, by Wm. Everhart, Esq. 

The removal of the seat of justice was not made without great oppo- 
sition on the part of the " Upland" or Old Chester people, almost amount- 
ing to a civil war. The first law was passed in 1784, fixing the place at 
some point not more than one mile from the Turk's Head tavern. Col. 
Hannum. an active, efficient man, was one of the commissioners. Before 
the courthouse was half built, the law was repealed by the influence of 
the Chester men ; and not satisfied with this, they came up with a field- 
piece, under Maj. Harper, determined to demolish the walls of the new 
building. 

As the poimlation of the county increased towards the north and west, the great distance of 
the county seat at Chester was considered a serious inconvenience by those in the remote parts 
of the county, and a law was procured to be passed in 1784, authorizing the removal of the coun- 
ty seat to a more central position. The new law provided that it should be fixed at no greater dis- 
tance than one mile from the Turks Head tavern, then occupying the site of the present tavern 
of that name in the centre of the borough of Westchester. Col. Hannum, an active, efficient 
man, was appointed one of the commissioners, and took an efficient part in the proceedings de- 
tailed below. Tlie removal was not without great opposition from the people of Chester and ita 
vicinity ; and before the walls of the new county buildings were completed, they procured an act 
to be passed, repealing the previous one. Not satisfied, however, with the repeal of the law, thcy 
determined to demolish the unfinished building by force of arms. 

" Accordingly a company assembled, armed and accoutred, and having procured a field-piece, 
appointed Maj. Harper commander, and proceeded to accomplish the design. Notice of their 



220 



CHESTER COUNtY. 



object having been giverf by some erf the leaders to the neighborhood of the Turk's Head, prepa- 
rations were immediately made for their reception. Col. Hannum was particularly active. Men 
were collected, arms and cartridges prepared ; grog and rations freely distributed. The windows 
of the courtiiouse were boarded upon each side, the space between being filled with stones, and 
loop-holes left for the musketry. Mr. Marshall and Col. Isaac Taylor commanding in the upper 
story, and Underwood and Patton below, while Col. Hannum had the direction of the whole. 
The non-removalists having passed the night at the Gen. Greene tavern, made their appearance 
early in the morning, and took their ground about 200 yards southeast of the Quaker meeting- 
house. Here they planted their cannon and made preparations for the attack. An accommoda- 
tion, however, was effected, by the intervention of some pacific persons, who used their efforts 
to prevent the effusion of blood. To the non-removalists was conceded the liberty of inspecting 
the defences, on condition that they should do them no injury j and they on their part agreed to 
return peaceably to their homes. 

The cannon was turned .in another direction, and fired in celebration of the treaty. An act of 
indiscretion, however, had nearly brought on a renewal of hostilities. One of Maj. Harper's men 
having entered the fort struck down tlie flag erected by their opponents. Highly incensed at 
this treatment of their standard, the removalists flew to their arms, and were with difficulty pre- 
vented from firing upon the major and his companions. Some exertion, however, on the part of 
the leaders, allayed the irritation of the men, and the parties at length separated amicably, with- 
out loss of life or limb. No prosecution was ever instituted. The removalists were well satis- 
fied with what they considered their victory, and indulged their humor in satirical songs. 

Another law was passed in 1786, again directing the removal; the buildings were completed, 
and tlie scat of justice firmly established at Westchester. 

The county buildings at Old Chester Were sold ; but in 1789 an act was passed dividing the 
county, and establishing the county of Delaware ; and the buildings were re-purchased for the 
use of the new county. By the act, the line of separation between the counties was not permit- 
ted to divide farms. This will account for the very irregular boundary along a part of the line. 

In 1798, the county was authorized to establish a house for the employment and support of the 
poor. A large and valuable fann of 300 acres was purchased, about eight miles from VVestches- 
ter, on the banks of the Brandywine. A commodious two-story brick building, 40 feet by 100, 
and a large barn of almost equal dimensions, and three stories high, were soon erected, at a cost of 
about $16,000. The establishment is under the charge of a steward, subject to the control of a 
board of directors. The number of inmates was at first 118, but has very considerablj^ increased. 
They arc provided with three meals a day, of plain substantial food. The produce of the farm 
contributes considerably to the support of the paupers, but is insutHcient for the whole consump- 
tion, and a balance is always chargeable upon the county. 

For a few years too free an intercourse was permitted among the inmates ; frequent marriages 
took place among the paupers, and the county family was found to increase more rapidly than 
was considered prudent for the interests of the county, or the comibrt and good morals of the 
establishment ; and better regulations were consequently introduced. — Lewis. 




Mr. Bolmar's Seminary. 

The spacious edifice here represented, stands about half a mile from 
town, near the railroad. It was originally built some three or four years 



CHESTER COUNTY. 221 

since by an association for a female seminary, and occupied as such for 
one year. For some reason the female seminary did not succeed, and 
the building was purchased by Mr. Bolmar, who had already for a num- 
ber of years conducted a very successful boys' school in the borough. It 
is now one of the best regulated and most complete institutions for the 
education of young lads in the country. It is capable of accommodating 
without inconvenience 100 boys, although in 1841-42 the number was 
only about 00. Many of these were from the south, and some from Mex- 
ico, South America, and the West Indies. Boys are fitted either for the 
compting-room, or for college, as may be desired. 

Mr. Bolmar is a native of France, and was a pupil in one of her cele- 
brated polytechnic schools. Having been long in this country, he is an 
accomplished English as well as French scholar. It is well worth a visit 
to the establishment to witness its admirable arrangement, and its very 
vigilant and efficient — -but still mild — discipline. There is a place for 
every thing, and every thing is in its place : the eye of the master is eve- 
rywhere. Every boy has his own single bed, at the foot of which is his 
trunk ; in another room is his own basin, soap, towel, toothpowder and 
brush, arranged in a long washing-room ; and in another place is a box 
for his boots, brushes, umbrella, and little etceteras. All is as orderly as 
a military quarters ; the police is as vigilant as that of Paris, and misde- 
meanor is sure to be followed with instant detection and punishment — 
which in ordinary cases is the privation of some privilege or enjoyment. 
Such is the perfection of this police, that even the most common apart- 
ments in the daily use of 60 boys, are not disfigured by the slightest 
scratch or pencil mark. 

There is also near the borough the excellent boarding-school for boys of 
Mr. Joshua Hoopes, which has long enjoyed great celebrity. It was ori- 
ginally commenced at Downingtown in 1817. The number of scholars 
is limited to 20. The Academy in Westchester and the Female Semina- 
ry are also very flourishing. 

Among the most distinguished of the seminaries Of learning in the co., is the old institution 
established by the Society of Friends in Westtown, in 1794, " with a desire, more especially for 
the promotion of piety, than the cultivation of science." It was to be under the patronage of the 
yearly meeting of Philadelphia, and to furnish, " besides the requisite portion of literary instruc- 
tion, an education exempt from the contagion of vicious example, and calculated to establish 
habits and principles favorable to future usefidness in religious and civil society. A farm of 600 
acres was purchased of James Gibbons, and a large brick building erected for the accommoda- 
tion of the students. The farm cost between $16,000 and $19,000, and the building $22,470. 
Pupils were first received in the 5th month, 1799, ten of a sex being admitted until the whole 
imniber amounted to nearly two hundred. In 1802 a large building of stone was erected, origin- 
ally intended to be used as an hospital in case of infectious diseases, but subsequently appropriated 
for the use of teachers with families. 

The immediate charge is intrusted to a superintendent and eight teachers — three men and five 
women. The superintendent attends to the finances of the institution, but has no direct over- 
sight of the literary departments. A library and philosophical apparatus is provided, and the 
usual branches of an English and classical education are taught. For many years the classics 
were omitted. — Lewis. 

The number of pupils admitted during the year ending Oct. 1841, was 
131 — 50 boys, 81 girls; the average number at the school during the 
year, 220. The school is restricted to the children of Friends. Our 
readers are probably aware, that though the Society of Friends cheerful- 
ly contribute their quota of taxes for the purposes of general education, 
yet they seldom, if they can avoid it, send their children to the public 



222 CHESTER COUNTY. 

schools, or to schools taught by persons who are not in membership with 
them, as they believe that religious instruction and school education 
should progress together, and therefore do not wish their children taught 
by persons who hold different tenets from their own. 

The first academy of any note established in the cc, was situated in Nottingfham, under the 
charge of the Rev. Samuel Fiidcy, D.D., afterwards president of Princeton college. Little can 
now be said of this once celebrated seminary, as nearly eighty years (in 1841) have elapsed since 
it was broken up by the rcnioval of the preceptor to Princeton ; but it is well known to have 
flourished for many years, and to have enjoyed the confidence and patronage of the public to an 
extent imprecedented at that time. The immortal Ur. Rush was one of its pupils. — Lewis. 

The following extract relating to the townships in this vicinity, is also 
from Mr. Lewis's history. 

In Birmingham the Brintbn family were among the most considerable, — Edward) the principal 
personage, being one of the judges of the court, magistrate, &c. 

In Westtown the Gibbons family were distinguished as landholders, members of assembly, and 
mill owners. The Westtotvn school is located on a part of their lands. 

Goshen, in which West Chester is situated, was taken up early. Two large tracts adjoining 

Gay-st., each a mile square, were owned by Richard Thomas and Capt. . The eastern 

part of this township was settled by the Ashbridge family — of which the late Geo. Ashbridge, 
for twenty years successively elected a member of assembly, was a branch, — David Jones, and 
others. 

West Whiteland was principally settled by Richard Thomas, in right of original purchase made 
in Wales, by Richard Ap Thomas of Whitford garden in Flintshire, North Wales, from which, 
it is presumed, the name of West Whiteland is derived. The house which this settler built upon 
his allotment was placed near the Valley creek, and in the immediate vicinity of an Indian vil- 
lage ; and the reason assigned for such a situation was, that the dogs of the village would assist 
in keeping the wild beasts, then numerous, at a distance. The place was called, in the Indian 
language, Katamoonchink, signifying Hazlenut grove. 

DowNiNGTowN is a pleasant rural village, extending for about a mile 
along the Lancaster turnpike, where it crosses the Big Brandywine 33 
miles northwest of Philadelphia. It owes its prosperity to its position in 
the heart of the Great Valley, and to the water-power of the creek. It 
contains a number of stores and taverns, a Methodist church, a Friends' 
meeting-house, and an Episcopal congregation who contemplate building. 
There is an excellent Female Seminary here, kept by the daughters of 
the late Zebulon Thomas. Several mills and factories are located along 
the creek. A turnpike to Harrisburg by way of Ephrata commences 
here. The Columbia railroad sweeps past the village, and crosses the 
Brandywine by a splendid bridge. 

Wm. Penn, in a letter of instructions to one of his agents concerning 
Philadelphia, says, " Let every house be placed, if the person pleases, in 
the middle of its plat, as to the breadthway of it, that so there may be 
ground on each side for gardens, or orchards, or fields — that it may be a 
greene country towne, which will never be burnt, and always be whole- 
some." Such is the aspect of Downingtown, with its spacious substan- 
tial houses, shaded by tall pines and elms, and situated in the midst of 
verdant yards and gardens, flanked by fragrant orchards and fields of 
clover. It is one of the very few green spots that has been left un- 
scathed by the mania of modern speculation. Not even the passage of 
the railroad along its southern border, could seduce the old-fashioned citi- 
zens from their quiet, staid, and thrifty ways into the delusive dream of 
making haste to be rich. No water-lots nor corner-lots have ever been 
laid out, and the citizens buy in whatever lots may happen to come into 
market by deaths, &c. No wars, nor mobs, nor bankruptcies, unless of 



CHESTER COUNTY. 



^3 



some transient adventurer, have disgraced the place. Even the tempta- 
tion of being the county seat was resisted ; and although at an early date 
the commissioners had obtained the refusal of a single lot adjoining Mr. 
Hunt's, yet not another lot in the vicinity would any one sell. They 
were opposed both to parting with their homesteads, and to the noise and 
brawling of a county town. The annexed view was taken from Miss 
Thomas's Female Seminary. In the centre, near the street, is seen the 
old mill. 




Downingtown. 

The following facts were derived principally from Messrs. William and 
Joshua Hunt : 

The place and the vicinity was originally settled by English from Birmingham, and the pres- 
ent occupants live generally upon property tliut has been in the families for many generations. 
Mr. Lewis remarks that " Cain township on tiie west, and in the valley, was occupied by Bald- 
wins and Moorcs, Parkes, Mendenhalls, Coates, Pines, Millers, and others." The brick house a 
few rods west of the railroad depot, now occupied by Mes.srs. Joshua and Joseph Hunt, was 
erected in 1728. It was then the first house except the log-cabins of the pioneers. George 
Aston, great-grandfather of the Hunts, took up some 500 acres at this place, and about 1000 
acres of woodland. The deeds are dated in 1682, and the settlement was made probably about 
1700. Roger Hunt, the grandfather of the Hunts, came from Birmingham in England. He 
and Aston were Episcopalians. Roger Hunt was a wagoner under Dunbar in Braddock's expe- 
dition. Some of his descendants have been Quakers. Mr. Moore first took up the land where 
the village now is. Thomas Downing bought of him, and built the mill and the old house near 
it, somewhere about 1730 or '40. The place was known as Milltown for many years. Of the 
Parke family, Robert kept the old " Ship" tavern, west of the Hunts, and the others that 
in the village, where the family still reside. Jason Cloud was an early settler on the south side 
of the valley. During the revolution, the house of the commissary, Mr. Richard Downing, was 
at the east end of the village. Col. Steward's regiment was quartered here in 1781. 

CoATEsviLLE is in the great valley, 3 miles west of Downingtown, and 
exactly half way between Columbia and Philadelphia. It is situated on 
the left bank of the w^est branch of the Brandywine, across which the 
railroad passes on a bridge, towering 73 feet in the air, and stretching 
across a chasm 850 feet. The situation of the village is very pictur- 
esque. In the vicinity there is an abundance of water-power, and several 
manufacturing establishments. The place contains some fifty or sixty 
houses, stores, a Presbyterian church, schools, &c. 



224 CHESTER COUNTY. 

Coatesville and its vicinity was originally settled by the Coateses from 
Montgomeryshire ; by the Bresallons, a French family, who were the an- 
cestors of the Gardners ; and by the Fleming family. The village has 
much increased since the completion of the railroad. 

The Yellow Springs, a noted and beautiful watering-place, are near 
the Morgantown road, about 8 miles nearly north of Downingtown. 
They are in a healthy and picturesque country, and are provided with 
baths, walks, two splendid hotels, and other accommodations for visitors. 
The establishment is kept by Mrs. Holman, the proprietress. The springs 
were discovered as early as 1722, and a rude cabin was erected in 1750 
for the use of visitors. A silversmith of Philadelphia, called "honest 
John Bailey," made considerable improvements; and they afterwards 
passed into the hands of Dr. Kennedy and his son, and then, in 1806, to 
Mr. Bones, who improved them extensively. A splendid new hotel has 
been built within a few years past. Behind one of the hotels stand the 
"old barracks" — a long frame building with a porch, erected by Gen. 
Washington during the revolution, for the sick and wounded of the army. 

It retains many marks of their rough sports. It is very properly pre- 
served by the proprietor of the springs, as an interesting historical relic. 
The regiment of Col. Steward was encamped here in 1780-81. 

Mr. Lewis gives the following history of the townships in this northern 
section of the county: — 

UvvcHLAN was settled principally by Welshmen, under the auspices of David Lloyd, of Old 
Chester; and a Friends' meeting-house was established. The preaching and exliortation were in 
Welsh. The first preachers here were Samuel and Griffith John, brothers ; neither of whom 
could ever speak EngUsh free from a strong tincture of their native tongue. The other settlers 
were Morris Reese, Cadwallader John, (or Jones,) David Cadwallader, David Evans, Humphrey 
Lloyd, David Lloyd, the Phillipses, and other Welshmen. The name signifies higher than, or 
above the valley. 

To one entirely unacquainted with the inhabitants of the county, this catalogue of names may 
be devoid of interest ; but it may not be entirely uninteresting to the families descended from the 
early settlers. 

Tredyffrin was also taken up principally by the Welsh. Its name is indicative of the char- 
acter and situation of the land, signifying stony valley. (Tre, stony; dyffrin, valley.) 

Charleston was purchased in England by a gentleman named Charles Pickering. The town- 
ship took one part of his name, and the creek running through it the other. 

PiKELAND was presented by the proprietor to Pike, in England, in order to induce that gentle- 
to emigrate. It was unseated many years, but at length was leased in small tracts, with the 
right of purchase after twenty years' possession, at a valuation then to be made. Among the 
first settlers were Samuel Lightfoot, Thomas Milhouse, and Michael Lightfoot. This last ten- 
anted the place now (1824) held by Pennypacker, and lived a number of years in a cave, some 
traces of which were visible not long since. Samuel Lightfoot built the first mill in this neigh- 
borhood. The operation of bolting was then performed by hand. 

Vincent was purchased in England by Sir Matthias Vincent, Benj. Furloy, and Dr. Daniel 
Coxe. It was leased and settled much in the same way as Pikcland. The fine stream (French 
or.) passing through it, for many years bore the proud title of Vincent river. Ralston, Jenkin, 
Davis, Thomas, John and Michael Paul, Gordon, Brombac, and Dennis Whelen, the respectable 
ancestor of Col. Dennis Whelen, were among the first settlers. Garret Brombac established 
the first tavern north of the Lancaster road, in a little low house of rude construction, where he 
continued to perform the duties of host many years. He was a merry German, and hved to see 
himself rich. 

Coventry. — A settler by the name of Nutt early built a forge called Coventry within the limits 
of this township, and made other extensive improvements. It went into operation about the 
year 1720, and made the first iron manufactured in Pennsylvania. There was also a furnace 
called Readirtg in this township, belonging to a company of which Branson, Vanleer, and others 
were members. It eventually was abandoned for want of ore. Meredith was an original settler 
in this township. 

Four miles from the Springs, towards PhenixviUe, is the lovely village 



CHESTER COUNTY. 



225 



of KiMBERTON, whicli has grown up around the distinguished female sem- 
nary conducted by Mr. Kimber and his accomplished daughters. 

The Kiiiibcrtoii Female Seminary was established in 1817, "on the broad basis of a pubUc 
school, confined to no particular class of religious professors. It is conducted without any code 
of laws, on the jilan of parental g^ovcrnment. The only law imposed is that of our Saviour — 
' Whatsoever ye would that others siiould do unto you, do ye also unto them.' " The house is 
large, and sufficient lor the comfortable accommodation of 40 scholars. — Lewis. 

Phenixville, which has grown up principally within the last ten years, 
is a smart manufacturing village, pleasantly situated along the hill-sides, 
and in the valley of French cr., at it^ continence with the Schuylkill, It 
contains a large cotton factory, belonging to Messrs. Smith & Garrigues 
of Philadelphia, erected in 1830-31 — the extensive iron works of Messrs. 
Reeves & Whitaker, consisting of furnace, foundry, rolling-mill, and nail 
factory, and giving employment to between 300 and 400 men. Anthra- 
cite coal is successfully used here, in all the operations of making iron. 
There is also the Chester Co. iron works and nail factory, but not now in 
operation. An old flouring-mill was washed away in 1838. The Men- 
nonists, who were the first settlers in the vicinity, have a church and 
grave-yard here. In later years, the Baptists, Methodists, Catholics, and 
Episcopalians have erected churches ; the latter edifice is on the hill 
overlooking the Schuylkill, and does great credit to the good taste of the 
builders. The Reading railroad passes immediately in front of the vil- 
lage, along the Schuylkill, crossing French cr. on a lattice bridge ; and a 
short distance above the village passing through a dark tunnel, 2,043 feet 
long, through solid rock. From this it emerges upon a splendid bridge 
across the Schuylkill, consisting of four arches, each 72 feet span, of solid 
stone masonry. Annexed is a view of the bridge and tunnel. A short 




Railroad Bridge, near Phenixville. 

canal connects the factories with the Schuylkill navigation on the oppo- 
site side of the river. The population of the village is said to be about 
1,000. The annexed view was taken from the opposite side of the 
Schuylkill. 

Where the village now stands, there were some 40 years since only 3 
farm-houses ; and soon afterwards a saw-mill and grist-mill. About the 

29 



226 



CHESTER COUNTY 




Phenixville. 

year 1808, the great water-power of French or, attracted more extensive 
establishments, and a nail factory and rollmg-mill were put into opera- 
tion. These mills were first owned by Mr. Longstreth. Other proprie- 
tors succeeded, among whom was Mr. Lewis Wernwag, the distinguished 
architect of the celebrated wooden bridge at Fairmount, and of several 
others in the U. S. In 1822, Jonah and George Thompson, of Philadel- 
phia, purchased the site, and erected new works, founding them upon the 
rock. Since the opening of the canal and railroad, the place has in- 
creased rapidly. 

Waynesburg is on the Downingtown and Harrisburg turnpike, 13 miles 
from the former place, and 38 from Philadelphia. It contains a Metho- 
dist church, some 50 or 60 houses, and between 200 and 300 inhabitants. 

Among the other villages of Chester co. the more prominent are New 
London, Kennet Square, Cochranville, Unionville, Sadsbury, Parksville, 
Red Lion, Pughtown, Shugarttown, &c. New London township is distin- 
guished as the birthplace of Thomas McKean, a representative in the 
early congress, many years chief-justice of the state, and nine years gov- 
ernor. He was one of the most able statesmen in Pennsylvania. 

Mr. Lewis gives the following facts in relation to the early settlement 
of the southern townships : — 

A considerable part of the land in New London, London Britain, East Nottingham, Penn. and 
London Grove townships, was included in the grant made to the London Co., in the early days 
of the province. The whole amount of land taken up by this company in Pennsylvania was 
65,000 acres, 17,200 of which were in Chester co. The tract in Chester co. was mostly rented to 
different persons, generally at the rate of 40 shillings per 100 acres. A small part was sold. 
The heirs of the company becoming scattered after many years, the title to the lands became a 
subject of dispute between the settlers and some new purchasers ; but the matter was finally com 
promised amicably. 

Newlin was first purchased by, and named after Nathaniel Newlin, an Irishman of good fam 
ily. He himself settled in Concord, Delaware co. 

New Garden. — This township was first settled by John Lowden, John Miller, Michael Light- 
foot, James Starr, Thomas Garnet, and a few others, in 1712. The first of these was an emi- 
nent preacher of the society of Friends, travelled much in the service of the ministry, and died 
in 1714, universally beloved and regretted. John Miller built a mill on White Clay or., long 
known as the Old Mill, which did the grinding for the inhabitants many miles round, even a3 
far as Lancaster. This was the second establishment of the kind in the county. In those prim- 
itive days, while the country was still CQvered with tlie forest, it is said that Miller's wife, having 



CLARION COUNTY. 227 

gone out one cvehing In pursuit of her cows, lost herself, and after wandering about for many hours, in 
complete bewilderment, at length arrived at her own house, and begged for shelter and lodging, with- 
out knowing where she was ; and so completely was her brain bewildered that it was a long time 
before she was convinced of the identity of the place. The first settlers of this township divided 
their farms by ditches, to prevent the ravages of the Indian fires. Many traces of the ditches 
are still visible. The township took its name from the place whence Lowdcn emigrated. 

London Grove. — The first settlements in this township were made in the year 1714, by Fran- 
cis Swain, John Smith, Joseph Pennock, William Pusey, and some others. Richard Flower, Jer- 
emiah Starr, Wilham Downard, and James Ranfro, located themselves in 1720. Ranfro was a 
great lover of hunting wild turkeys and other game. Isaac Jackson arrived from Ireland in 1725, 
and took up the last vacant tract in the township. An old manuscript says, "While they (Jack- 
son and his wife) were under exercise and concern of mind about so weighty an undertaking, and 
desirous that the best wisdom should direct, Isaac had a dream or vision, to this import — that 
having landed with his family in America, he travelled a considerable distance back into the 
country, until he came to a valley through which ran a pretty stream of water. The prospect 
and situation seemed pleasant — a hill rising on the north, and a fine spring issuing near its foot ; 
and in his dream he thought that there he and his family must settle, though then a wilderness 
and unimproved. Isaac, having arrived at Jeremiah Starr's, on relating his dream as aforesaid, 
Was informed of such a place near. He soon went to see it, which to his admiration so resem- 
bled what he had a foresight of, that it was cause of gratitude and humble thankfulness." Here 
he settled, and his posterity hold the tract to tliis day. The spring spoken of is now the centre 
of one of the finest gardens in the state. 

Nottingham. — A settlement was made in this township very early by William Brown, from 
Northamptonshire, England — a man long noted for his benevolence and hospitality. Reynolds, 
Underbill, and some other friends from England, became afterwards his neighbors. Some took 
up their land under Pekm, and some under Baltimore, as the boundary line was then undeter. 
mined. 



CLARION COUNTY. 

Clarion is a new county, formed by the act of 11th March, 1839, 
from parts of Armstrong and Venango, and organized for judicial 
purposes in 1840. During the last eight or ten years, quite an impetus 
had been given to the iron business, and several furnaces were put in 
operation in the townships contiguous to the lower part of Clarion river. 
The lumber business, too, was prosecuted with much vigor both upon 
Clarion and Redbank rivers. A rapid increase in the population of these 
townships was the natural consequence, and they soon found it for their 
interest to have a county seat at a more convenient distance than either 
Franklin or Kittanning. 

Geo. B. Hamilton, Lindsay C. Pritner, and Robert Potter, were the 
commissioners appointed to organize the co., and locate and lay out the 
county seat. Average length of co. 25 m., breadth 24 ; area, 595 sq. 
miles. Population in 1840, by estimate, about 9,500. 

This region was first settled about the years 1801-2, by two different 
bands of emigrants — one from Penn's valley, and the other from West- 
moreland county. They numbered in all nearly one hundred. Those 
from Westmoreland came in under the influence and patronage of Gen. 
Craig of that county, to settle on what they supposed to be vacant land ; 
but they were mistaken, and M^ere afterwards compelled to purchase it 
of the Bingham estate. Old Mr. James Maguire, living near Stratton- 
ville, was from Westmoreland. The Youngs, Rose, Wilson, Corbit, Philip 
Clover, and others, were early settlers. 

The Clarion river, formerly called Toby's creek, a fine large stream^ 



228 



CLARION COUNTY. 



passes directly through the centre of the co., within a mile of the cotinty 
seat. Redbank river forms the southern boundary. Both these streams 
annually float a vast quantity of lumber from their branches and head- 
w^aters in Jefferson county. Most of the land in the co. is adapted to 
farming, and some of very good quality. That along the large rivers is 
deeply indented, and broken into precipitous hills ; but the general surface 
between the large streams is gently undulating, presenting a fine soil, 
with a heavy growth of white-oak timber. There are many fine farms 
opened in different sections of the co. There are 7 furnaces in the co. 
Iron ore is abundant. Coal is also found in many localities near the tops 
of the hills — the outcroppings of the Pittsburg coal basin. All the fur- 
naces, however, use charcoal, which is still abundantly supplied by the 
new lands. The Great Western Iron-works, just out of Clarion co. in 
Armstrong, makes use of coke exclusively ; and when the prejudices now 
existing against the iron made in this way shall have been overcome, the 
other works in the vicinity will probably come into the practice. 

Supplied as Clarion county is most bountifully with water-power, iron 
ore, bituminous coal, charcoal, and other resources for manufacturing, 
together with a soil capable of sustaining a large manufacturing popula- 
tion, it promises to become a wealthy and populous county. 

Clarion, the county seat, was laid out by the commissioners in 1840, 
It is situated on the Bellefonte and Meadville turnpike, 1 mile east of the 
crossing of Clarion river. The land was the joint property of Gen. Levi 
G. Clover, James P. Hoover, Peter Clover, jun. — heirs of Philip Clover 
of Strattanville — and Hon. Christian Myers. These gentlemen made a 
donation of the town site to the co., on condition of receiving half the 
proceeds from the sales of lots. Space for the county buildings and a pub- 
lic square were reserved from sale. The courthouse is an elegant struc- 
ture of brick, surmounted with a cupola ; and the county prison is very 
neatly built of sandstone from the neighboring quarries. The land re- 




Public Square in Clarion. 

served for a public square was shaded with a beautiful grove of oaks, 
part of the original forest, — but it was compelled to bow to the axe of mo 



CLARION COUNTY. 229 

(lerii improvement. The borough is laid out along both sides of the turn- 
pike leading from Bellefonte to Meadville, about a mile east from where 
it crosses the Clarion river. The neatness and good taste which mark 
both the private and public buildings, and a brisk air of enterprise along 
the street, make a favorable impression upon the traveller. There is a 
spacious academy of brick at the eastern end of the village. Presbyte- 
rian, Methodist, and Baptist churches are organized, and the Catholics 
are about organizing ; but none have hitherto erected a house of wor- 
ship. 

Like all new places which spring suddenly into being with a promise 
of great advantages. Clarion was pushed forward perhaps with a little 
too great rapidity. Merchants, mechanics, tavern-keepers, and profes- 
sional men, flocked to it in crowds, all eager for their share of patronage 
and profit from the new county. It was soon ascertained that all could 
not be satisfied, and some retired, leaving the place to acquire a more 
healthy growth, as it is now doing, with the natural development of the 
resources of the county. 

Strattanville, on the turnpike, three miles east of Clarion, was laid 
out by Mr. John Strattan, from New Jersey, about the year 1830. It has 
until recently been the principal place of business for an extensive circle 
of thriving farmers. There is a Methodist church in the place, and a 
Presbyterian church within a short distance. 

Shippensville is also on the turnpike, seven miles west of Clarion. It 
was laid out in 1826 by Judge Shippen of Meadville. The Lutherans 
have just completed the only church in the place. It is a place of con- 
siderable business. 

Caelesville is a small village on the right bank of Licking creek, just 
above the township line, between Redbank and Toby townships. 

Greenville is situated near the head of Piney creek, on the right bank, 
about a mile northwest of the Olean road. 

Callensburg is on the right bank of Licking creek, at its mouth. 

The following incident occurred at Brady's bend, at the southwestern 
corner of the county. Possibly the narrow defile may have been across 
the river, within the limits of Armstrong co. The narrative is copied 
from the numbers by Kiskiminetas in the Blairsville Record. 

The incursions of the Indians had become so frequent, and their outrages so alarming, that it 
was thought advisable to retaliate upon them the injuries of war, and carry into the country oc 
cupied bj' them the same system of destructive warfare with which they had visited the settle- 
ments. For this purpose an adequate force was provided, under tlie immediate command of 
Gen. Broadhcad, the command of the advance guard of which was confided to Capt. Seimuel 
Brady. 

The troops proceeded up the Allegheny river, and had arrived at the flat of land near the 
mouth of Redbank creek, now known by the name of Brady's bend, without encomitering an 
enemy. T3rady and his rangers were some distance in front of the main body, as their duty re- 
quired, when they suddenly discovered a war party of Indians approaching them. Relying on 
the strength of the main body, and its ability to force the Indians to retreat, — and anticipating, 
as Napoleon did in the battle with the Mamelukes, that when driven back they would return upon 
the same route they had advanced on, — Brady permitted them to proceed without hindrance, and 
hastened to seize a narrow pass higher up the river, where the rocks, nearly perpendicular, ap- 
proach the river, and where a few determined men might successfully combat superior numbers. 
In a short time the Indians encountered the main body under Broadhead, and were driven back. 
In full and swift retreat they pressed on to gain the pass between the rocks and the river, but it 
was occupied by their daring and relentless foe, Brady and his rangers, who failed not to pour 
into their flying columns a most destructive fire. 



230 CLEARFIELD COUNTY. 

" At once there rose so wild a yell 
Within that dark and narrow dell, 
As if the fiends from heaven that fell 
Had pealed the banner-cry of hell ! 
Forth from the pass in tumult driven, 
Like chaff before the winds of heaven, 

The savages appear ; 
For life ! for life ! their flight they ply — 
For shriek, and shout, and battle-cry 

Are maddening in the rear." 

Indeed, I have been told by an officer in the American army, who is no stranger to Indian 
battles, that Walter Scott's description of the battle of " Beal An Duine," from which I have 
ventured to make the above extract, would suit very well for that of any battle with the Indians, 
by changing a few names, and substituting plumes for bonnets, bayonets for spears, and so forth. 
Be that as it may, the Indians on this occasion were broken, routed, and forced to jiunp into the 
river. Many were killed on the bank, and many more in the stream. Our aged friend Corn- 
planter, chief of the Senecas, then a young man, saved himself by swimmmg, as did several 
others of the party. 

After they had crossed the river, as Brady was standing on the barik wiping his rifle, an In- 
dian, exasperated at the unexpected defeat and disgraceful retreat of his party, and supposing 
himself now safe from the well-known and abhorred enemy of his race, commenced a species of 
conversation with him in broken EngUsh which we call blackguarding — calling Brady and his 
men cowards, squaws, and the like, and putting himself in such attitudes as he probably thought 
would be most expressive of liis utter contempt of them. 

When Brady had cleaned his rifle and loaded it, he sat down by an ash sapling, and taking 
sight about three feet above the Indian, fired. As the gun cracked the Indian was seen to shrink 
a little, and then limp off. When the main army arrived, a canoe was manned, and Brady and a 
few men crossed to where the Indian had been seen. They found blood on the ground, and had 
followed it but a short distance till the Indian jumped up, struck his breast, and said, " I am a 
man." It was Brady's wish to take him prisoner without doing him further harm. The Indian 

continued to repeat, " I am a man." " Yes," said an Irishman who was along, " by J s, 

you're a purty boy" — and before Brady could arrest the blow, sunk his tomahawk in the In- 
dian's brains. 

The army moved onward, and after destroying all the Indians' corn, and ravaging the Kenjut 
flats, returned to Pittsburg. 



CLEARFIELD COUNTY. 

Clearfield county was taken from Lycoming, by the act of 26th March, 
1804. In 1805 it was placed provisionally under the charge of the com- 
missioners of Centre co. In 1812 the county elected its own commission- 
ers; and by the act of 29th January, 1822, was fully organized for judi- 
cial purposes. In April, 1823, a small triangular piece taken from Ly- 
coming was attached to the eastern side of the county. A part of the 
new county of Elk has been taken from this county in 1843. Length 45 
m., breadth 32; area 1,425 sq. m. Population in 1810, 875; in 1820, 
2,342; in 1830, 4,803; and in 1840, 7,834. 

This county is situated behind the Allegheny mountain, on the sources 
of the West branch of the Susquehanna. Its surface is exceedingly 
mountainous and broken, yet no long and distinct ranges can be traced 
entirely through the county. The ranges are broken into innumerable 
irregular spurs, deeply indented by the streams. 

The county is watered by the West branch of the Susquehanna, here 
comparatively a small stream ; Chest cr., Clearfield cr., Mushannon cr., 
branches of the Susquehanna ; and Bennett's branch of the Sinnemahon 



CLEARFIELD COUNTY. 23. 

ing. Several branches of the Allegheny have their sources within the 
county, west of Elk mountain. 

The soil varies with the surface of the county : the alluvial bottoms 
of the valleys are rich ; the undulating uplands make excellent grazing 
farms, and where limestone strata prevail, approach the fertility of the al- 
luvial lands. Coal, iron, fire-brick clay, and other minerals abound. The 
coal is said to be of superior quality, and while the projects were under 
consideration for extending the state improvements into this region, great 
anticipations were indulged that coal would form a prominent article of 
export. Without such facilities the cost of transportation would exhaust 
the profits long before it reached a market. A large furnace and iron- 
works were established at Karthauss on the West Branch ; but their op- 
erations are now suspended. Lumbering still constitutes the main busi- 
ness of the inhabitants, and agriculture has hitherto been only a second- 
ary pursuit. The hard times, however, have wrought a favorable change 
in this respect ; and the people of Clearfield are opening their lands, and 
discovering that farming, if not a quicker, is at least a surer way to get 
rich than sawing and rafting, or even making iron. The turnpike from 
Bellefonte to Meadville crosses the Susquehanna at Curwensville. An- 
other turnpike has recently been constructed, with part of the bonus of 
the U. S. Bank, through Clearfield town, connecting with the Milesburg 
and Smethport road, which passes through the northeastern portion of 
the county. 

The county is still but partially settled, the population in 1840 being 
only 5 to the square mile. The inhabitants are chiefly from other parts 
of the state, but there are several distinct colonies of Yankees, Germans, 
and French. Until near the close of the last century, Clearfield co. re- 
mained an unbroken wilderness, with the exception perhaps of here and 
there an Indian cornfield. Indian trails, connecting the great eastern and 
western waters, crossed the mountains in various directions. There was 
a trail towards Fort Venango, another towards Kittanning, and one 
towards the sources of Sinnemahoning. 

In the summer of 1772, a remarkable company of pilgrims, 240 indi- 
viduals, of all ages, crossed the Allegheny mountains from Bald Eagle cr., 
and reached some one of the branches of the Allegheny, on their way to the 
Ohio. They were the Moravian missionaries, with their families, and 
the Christian Indians from Wyalusing and Sheshequin, on the North 
Branch. They had with them their children and children's children, 
their household goods, cattle, and horses. What a wilderness for such a 
multitude to penetrate, with no other road than an Indian trail ! (See 
Bradford co.) 

The following facts were gathered from respectable citizens of the 
county : — 

On the site of the present county seat, there was an old Indian town by the name of Chinkla. 
camouse, or, as some have it, Chinklacamoose's old-town. Clearfield was for many years caUed 
Oldtown, and is still by many of the older settlers. A small stream north of the town still re. 
tains the name of Chinklacamoose cr., though sometimes shortened to 'Moose cr. The Seneca 
Indians of Cornplanter's clan used often to hunt around Chinklacamoose. 

Arthur Bell, Daniel Ogden, and Paul Clover, were among the first white settlers in the county. 
Clover settled at Curwensville. In 1796 Gen. Ellicott located the Susquehanna and Waterford 
turnpike, leading from Curwensville, past Fort Franklin and Meadville, to Waterford. In 1797 
the road was opened. 



232 



CLEARFIELD COUNTY. 



Arthur Bell and Daniel Ogden, with his son Matthew, tlien a lad of 18, came up the West 
branch in the spring of 1796, bringing with them the simple tools of the pioneer, with a few po- 
tatoes and seeds for their first crop. Bell settled a few miles above Clearfield ; Ogden near the 
mouth of Chinklacamoose cieek, where, after a year or two, he built the first mill in the county. 
They suffered various trials and hardships in opening their new homes. Provisions were very 
scarce, and the nearest settlement was at Bald Eagle, about 140 miles by water ; nothing of any 
weight could be brought by land. Mr. Bell was at one time compelled to travel tliis whole dis- 
tance to get a plough point repaired ; poling his canoe patiently up the stream, loaded with his 
irons, and some provisions, his provisions by some accident were wet ; the first time he used his 
plough, the point broke again, and his toilsome journey was in vain. For some time before the 
mill was built, they pounded their corn in mortars. Their route by land was the old Indian path 
across the mountains by the Snow-shoe camp to Milesburg. Mr. Ogden once travelled this 
route in winter with snow-shoes, requiring 2 1-2 days to reach Milesburg, 33 miles. 

Among the older residents was John Bell, a brother of Arthur. He had been an old revolu- 
tionary soldier, and when the conflict was over he sought an asylum with his brother. From his 
very diminutive size he commonly bore the name of Johnny Bell. From the force of military 
habits, or for fear of losing the art of fighting by disuse, he used to have an occasional quarrel 
with the friendly Indians about the settlement, and usually came off triumphant. In a frolic of 
this sort two of them attempted to drown him, but he came very near drowning both of them. 

Being an old bachelor, he was rather whimsical, and would sometimes get in a pet ; in some 
such mood he once quit his brother's house, and encamped in the woods, determined to remain 
there ; but Greenwood Bell, his nephew, one day made him a call at his camp, picked the little 
fellow up, slung him over his shoulder, and toted him off home, where he vi^as afterwards content- 
ed to remain. 

Clearfield, the county seat, was laid out by commissioners under the 
act of 4th April, 1805, on lands of Abraham Witmer, Esq., a resident of 
Paradise, in Lancaster co. The first settlers in and about the town were 
Robert Collins, who came in 1807, the widow Leathers, the Valentines, 
Andrew Bowers, Abraham Leonard, our jovial host old John Cuyler, and 
a few others. Mr. Witmer still holds about 500 acres contiguous to the 
town. Clearfield is a smart, improving place, pleasantly situated on a 
broad plain by the side of the Susquehanna, and imbosomed among the 
hills. The annexed view was taken from the Curwensville road, west of 
the river. 




Clearfield. 

The town contains a brick courthouse and county offices, a jail of 
stone, an academy, Catholic, Presbyterian, and Methodist churches. A 
bridge here crosses the Susquehanna. A turnpike road recently com- 
pleted enables the stages between Bellefonte and Erie to pass through 



CLEARFIELD COUNTY. 233 

the town. Mr. Robert Shaw has an extensive flouring and lumber mill 
near town, on Chinklacamoose creek. Population in 1840, about 300. 

CuRvvENSviLLE is a busy little place on the Susquehanna, about six miles 
southwest of Clearfield, on the BelleJbnte and Meadville turnpike. It 
was named after John Cur wen, Esq., of Montgomery co., who was pro- 
prietor of the land, but was never settled here. Paul Clover was the first 
settler, and kept a tavern here about the year '98 or 1800. The village- 
contains some 30 or 40 houses and stores, and one or two churches. A 
fine substantial bridge has just been erected here (in 1842) across the 
Susquehanna. Curwensville is quite a lively place during the lumbering 
season on the creeks above. 

Karthauss is situated on the West branch of the Susquehanna, at the 
mouth of Little Mushannon creek. It derives its name from Peter Kar- 
thauss, Esq., of Baltimore, who established a furnace here about the year 
1820, and carried it on for some years with success. There is a very am- 
ple water-povi^er here. In 1836 a company purchased the works and ex- 
pended upon them about $80,000, but were not equally successful with 
the former owner. Their works were managed with coke, and were ca- 
pable of making 100 tons per week. About the year 1840, their opera- 
tions were suspended by the fluctuations of the times. 

Caledonia is a recent settlement of New Yorkers and New England 
men, in the northern part of the county, at the confluence of Trout run 
with Bennett's branch of the Sinnemahoning, The road from Milesburg 
and Karthauss to Smethport passes through the place, and another road 
runs northwest to Ridgeway. 

LuTHERSBURG is a Small German settlement on the turnpike, 10 miles 
N. W. of Curwensville. The land in the vicinity is rolling, and of good 
quality. There is a deposit of limestone not far from the place. 

MouivTPLEASANT is a Small village in the southern end of the county, on 
the road between Phillipsburg and Ebensburg. Not far from this place, 
in the forks of Clearfield cr., just south of the Cambria line, are the re- 
mains of an ancient circular fortification, the banks of which are four 
or five feet high, and overgrown with large trees. Clear-fields, or open 
patches of prairie, apparently the site of some ancient cornfields, were 
found in this vicinity : hence the name Clearfield. 

On the left bank of the West branch of Susquehanna, below the mouth 
of Trout run, a colony of Frenchmen, from Normandy and Picardy, set- 
tled themselves about the year 1835 or '36. It was a wonder how they 
should have selected so secluded a spot, since there were previously no 
French within a hundred miles. The explanation of the phenomenon shows 
by what singular and apparently trifling causes the destinies of whole com- 
munities may be affected. Some person failed in Philadelphia, in debt to a 
merchant in Paris. Mr. Keating, his agent in Philadelphia, took land on 
the West Branch to settle the debt. The Paris merchant, by means of a 
German agent, to make his lands available, induced a number of families 
to emigrate to these particular lands ; they induced others, until they 
number some 40 or 50 families. Thus the failure of a Philadelphia mer- 
chant planted a little French colony in the wilds of the upper Susque- 
hanna. They have not increased much of late years, the reports of their 
success not having been sufficiently favorable to induce further emigra- 
tion. 

30 



234 CLINTON COUNTY. 



CLINTON COUNTY. 

Clinton county is of recent origin, having been separated from Ly- 
coming and Centre by the act of 1839. Bald Eagle, Lamar, and Logan 
townships were taken from Centre, the others from Lycoming. The co. 
forms an irregular figure, about .50 miles long and 20 wide, with an area 
of about 1,070 square miles. . The population in 1820 (by estimate) was 
3,894 ; by the census in 1840, 8,323. It comprises an important portion 
of the West Branch valley, including the mouths of the Sinnemahoning 
and Bald Eagle creeks, and of several minor tributaries. In the lower 
part of the co. the W. Branch of the Susquehanna breaks through the 
great Allegheny mountain, which at this point seems to lose much of its 
loftiness, as if in courtesy to the beautiful stream. The Bald Eagle 
mountain, a remarkably straight and distinct ridge, runs close along the 
right bank of Bald Eagle cr. and the W. Branch. The valleys of these 
streams below the mountains contain lands that for beauty and fertility 
will compare with any in the state. Northwest of the mountains, and 
on the headlands of the streams, the valleys are narrow, the surface 
broken and precipitous, and the soil but of middling quality, being com- 
posed of the conglomerates and sandstones skirting the great coal forma- 
tion. The Allegheny mountain forms the eastern limit of that formation, 
the coal bearing rocks reposing upon the coarse conglomerate that forms 
the bold eastern front of that mountain throughout the state. This part 
of the CO. will probably never be settled by a dense population. Scat- 
tered settlements of farmers, miners, and lumbermen exist at intervals 
along the margin of the river and on the tributary valleys. 

On Queens and Lick run, and on the Tangascootac, seams of coal have 
been found of excellent quality, together with a thick bed of fire-brick 
clay. Iron ore, also, and limestone occur, but not in quantity and quality 
to justify exploration. The ores and limestone for the great furnace at 
Farrandsville were brought from other counties. The numerous streams 
of this CO., tumbling down as they do along the ravines of the moun- 
tains, furnish an ample amount of water-power. The co. is still but 
thinly settled in proportion to its area ; the greater proportion of the popu- 
lation is concentrated at the lower end. 

In 1768, the treaty of Fort Stanwix conveyed to the proprietary govern- 
ment all the country on both sides of the West Branch, — certainly as far 
up as Lycoming cr., and the fair-play men said as far as Pine cr., — and 
thence all the country upward on the south side of the river to its ex- 
treme southwestern source, &c. The Sinnemahoning and W. Branch 
had constituted one of the great routes by which the hostile parties of the 
Senecas descended upon the infant settlements on the frontier ; and the 
route was equally familiar to the scouts and spies of the whites, by means 
of their frequent excursions to cut off parties of Indians. The fertile 
lands of the W. Branch did not escape the observation of these men. 
At the first return of quiet, subsequent to the treaty, a set of hardy 
pioneers, trusting more to their rifles and their bravery than to the feeble 
institutions of the province for protection, boldly pushed their settlements 
as far up as the mouth of Bald Eagle, and took up the choice lands of the 



CLINTON COUNTY. 235 

valley. Previous to the revolution, Gen. James Potter made an excursion 
in search of lands up the W. Branch, thence up Bald Eagle to Logan's 
Branch, where he crossed the Nittany mountain, and first set his eyes 
upon Penn's valley, afterwards his home. Clinton co. at that time was 
comprised in Bald Eagle township of Northumberland co. When the 
committee of safety for that co. was formed at the opening of the reve- 
lution, Thomas Hewes, Wm. Dunn, and Alexander Hamilton were ap- 
pointed committee-men from Bald Eagle township. This was in Feb. 1776. 
Mr. Dunn owned the Big island, and was probably living on or near it 
at the time. It was not included in the treaty, but he had purchased it 
from an Indian for a suit of clothes ; it would now clothe a regiment. 
This island is a conspicuous landmark in the tales of the early borderers. 
After the treaty of 1768, Richard Penn made a grant to Dr. Francis Alli- 
son of the splendid tract of land at the confluence of Bald Eagle cr. 
Judge Fleming and the M'Cormicks, who were among the earliest settlers 
on the tract, were heirs of Dr. Allison. Wm. Reed, the father of the pre- 
sent aged Mr. Thomas Reed, had a cabin on the site of Lock Haven pre- 
vious to 1778. His neighbors at that time were, 'Squire Fleming and 
Col. Cooksey Long, with their families, and one of the M'Cormicks, a 
young man just married. They had a small stockade fort, or a block- 
house, for the protection of the settlement, at which Col. Long commanded. 
Horn's fort was on the right bank of the river, below Chatham's run ; 
Antes' fort was also on the right bank, at the head of Nippenose bottom. 
Late in the fall of '77, Job Gilloway, a friendly Indian, intimated that a 
powerful descent of marauding Indians might be expected before long 
upon the head- waters of the Susquehanna ; and near the close of that 
season the Indians killed a settler by the name of Saltzburn, on the Sin- 
nemahoning, and Dan Jones, at the mouth of Tangascootac. In the sum- 
mer of 1778, the officer in command at Fort Augusta (Sunbury) ordered 
all the families on the W. Branch to abandon their homes, and repair 
for protection to Northumberland. The flight which followed in obedi- 
ence to this order, is known in the traditions of the W. Branch as the big 
runaway. A more detailed account of it will be found under Lycoming 
county. 

All the old settlers on the Susquehanna are familiar with the names 
of Moses and Jacobus Van Campen, or, as they were usually called, Moses 
and 'Cobus Van Camp. Major Moses Van Campen was still living at 
Dansville, N. Y., in 1838, when he petitioned congress for a pension. His 
petition records deeds of heroism rarely equalled. 
The following passages relate to this region : — 

" My first service was in the year 1777, when I served three months under Col. John Kelly, who 
stationed us at Big island, on the West branch of the Susquehanna. Nothing particular trans- 
pired during that time; and in March, 1778, I was appointed lieutenant of a company of six- 
months' men. Shortly afterwards I was ordered by Col. Samuel Hunter to proceed, with about 
20 men, to Fishing or., on the North branch of Susquehanna, to build a fort." (See Columbia co. 
and Bradford co.) 

" In Feb. 1781, 1 was promoted to a lieutenancy, and entered upon the active duty of an officer 
by heading scouts ; and as Capt. Robinson was no woodsman nor marksman, he preferred that I 
should encounter the danger and head the scouts. We kept up a constant chain of scouts around 
the frontier settlements, from the North to the West branch of the Susquehanna, by the way of 
the head-waters of Little Fishing cr., Chillisquake, Muncy, &c. In the spring of 1781, we 
built a fort on the widow M'Clure's plantation, called M'Clure's fort, where our provisions were 
stored. In the siunmer of 1781, a man was taken prisoner in Buffalo valley, but made his es 
oape. He came in and reported there were about 300 Indians on Siimemahoning, hunting and 



236 CLINTON COUNTS', 

laying in a store of provisions, and would make a descent on t?ic froTitiers ; fliaf they wotrld di ' 
vide into small parties, and attack the whole chain of the frontier at the same time, on the same 
day. Col. Samuel Hunter selected a company of five to reconnoitre, viz. : Capt. Campell, Peter 
and Michael Groves, Lieut. Cramer, and myself. The party was called the Grove party. We 
carried with us three weeks' provisions, and proceeded up tiie West Branch with much cautior* 
and care. We reached the Sinnemahoning, but made no discovery except old tracks. We 
marched up the Sinneniahoning so far that we were satisfied it was a false report. We returned ; 
and a little below the Sinneniahoning, near night, we discovered a smoke. We were confident' 
it was a party of Indians, which we must have i)asscd by, or they got there some other way. 
We discovered there was a large party — how many wc could not tell — but prepared for the at- 
tack." 

" As soon as it was dark we new-primed our rifles, sharpened our flints, examined our tomahawk 
handles ; and all being ready, we waited with great impatience till they all lay down. The 
time came, and with the utmost silence we advanced, trailed out rifles in one hand, and the toni'- 
ahawk in the other. The night was warm : we found some of them rolled in their blankets a 
rod or two from their fires. Having got amongst them, we first handled our tomahawks. They 
rose like a dark cloud. We now fired our shots, and raised the war-yell. They took to flight in 
the utmost confusion, but few taking time to pick up their rifles. We remained roasters of the" 
ground and all their plunder, and took several scalps. It was a party of 25 or 30, which had 
been as low down as Penn's cr., and had killed and scalped two or three families. We found 
several scalps of difl'erent ages which they had taken, and a large quantity of domestic cloth', 
which was carried to Northumberland and given to the distressed who had escaped the tama> 
hawk and knife. In Dec. 1781, our company was ordered to Lancaster. We descended the 
river in boats to Middletown, where our orders were countermanded, and we were ordered ta 
Reading, Berks co., where we were joined by a part of the third and fifth Pennsylvania regi- 
ments, and a company of the Congress regiment. We took charge of the Hessians taken pris- 
oners with Gen. Burgoyne. In the latter part of March, at the opening of the campaign in 1782, 
we were ordered by congress to our respective stations. I marched Robinson's company toi 
Northumberland, where Mr. Thomas Chambers joined us, who had been recently commissioned 
as an ensign of our company. We halted at Northumberland two or three days, for our men to 
wash and rest. From thence Ensign Chambers and myself were ordered to Muncy, Samuel' 
Wallis's plantation, there to make a stand and rebuild Fort Muncy, which had been destroyed by 
the enemy. We reached that station, and built a small blockhouse for the storage of our provi- 
sions. About the 10th or 11th of April, Capt. Robinson came on with Esq. Culbertson, JameS' 
Dougherty, William M'Grady, and a Mr. Barkley. I was ordered to select 20 or 25 men with 
these gentlemen, and to proceed up the West Branch to the Big island, and thence up the Bald 
Eagle cr. to the place where a Mr. Culbertson had been killed. On the 15th of April, at night, 
we reached the place, and encamped for the night. On the morning of the 16tliwewere attacked 
by 85 Indians. It was a hard-fought battle. Esq. Culbertson and two others made their escape. 
I think we had nine killed, and the rest of us were made prisoners. We were stripped of all 
our clothing excepting our pantaloons. When they took off my sliirt they discovered my com- 
mission. Our commissions were written on parchment, and carried in a silk case hung with a 
ribbon in our bosom. Several got hold of it ; and one fellow cut the ribbon with his knife, and suc- 
ceeded in obtaining it. Tliey took us a little distance from the battle-ground, and made the pris- 
oners sit down in a small ring ; the Indians forming another around us in close order, each with 
his rifle and tomahawk in his hand. They brought up five Indians we had killed, and laid thera 
within their circle. Each one reflected for himself — our time would probably be short ; and re- 
specting myself, looking back upon the year 1780. at tiie party I had killed, if I was discovered 
to be the person, my case would be a hard one. Their prophet, or chief warrior, made a speech 
As I was informed afterwards by the British lieutenant, who belonged to the party, he was con- 
sulting the Great Spirit what to do with the prisoners — whether to kill us on the spot, or spare 
our lives. He camo to the conclusion that there had been blood enough shed ; and as to the men 
they had lost, it was the fate of war, and we must betaken and adopted into the families of those 
whom we had killed. Wc were th^n divided amongst thejn, according to the number of fires. 
Packs were prepared for us, and tliry returned across the river, at Big island, in bark canoes. 
They then made their way across hills, and came to Pine cr., above the first forks, which they 
followed up to the third fork, and took the most northerly branch to the head of it — and thence 
to the waters of the Genesee river." 

Van Campcn and his fellow-prisoners were marched through the Indian villages. Some were 
adopted, to make up the loss of those killed in the action. Van Campen passed through all their 
villages midiscovered ; neither was it known that he had been a prisoner before, and only effected 
his escape by killing the party, until he had been delivered up to the British at Fort Niagara. 
As soon as his name was made known, it became public among the Indians. They immediately 
demanded him of the British officer, and offered a number of prisoners in exchange. The com- 
mander on the station sent forthwith an officer to examine him. He stated the facts to the offi- 
cer concerning his killing the party of savages. The officer replied that his case was desperate. 



CLINTON COUNTY. 237 

Van Campen observed that he considered himself a prisoner of war to the British ; that he thought 
they possessed more honor than to dchver him up to the Indians to be burnt at the stake ; and in 
case they did, they might depend upon a retaliation in the life of one of their officers. The offi- 
cer withdrew, but shortly returned and informed him that there remained no alternative for him 
to save his life but to abandon the rebel cause and join the Britisli standard. A firther induce- 
ment was offi'red, that he should hold the same rank in the British service that he now possessed. 
The answer of Van Campen was worthy the hero, and testified that the Ifcart of the patriot never 
quailed under the most trying circumstances : " No, sir, no — jmj life belongs to my country ; give 
me the stake, the tomahawk, or the scalping-knife, before I will dishonor the character of 
an American officer.'" 

In a few days Van Campen was sent down the lake to Montreal, and 
afterwards exchanged, when he returned to the service of his country. 

After the peace of 1783 with Great Britain, the settlers in the Bald 
Eagle country returned with more confidence and in greater numbers. 
Gen. Potter had been engaged, during the revolution, in the campaigns 
with Gen. Washington, in the lower country. After the peace, it appears 
from documents still in possession of the family, he came up the West 
Branch, as agent and smweyor, in the employ of a company of land spec- 
ulators, consisting of Col. Timothy Pickering, Tench Coxe, Ingraham, and 
Hodgdon. Their instructions to him refer to the intended introduction 
of a colony of settlers at some point not mentioned : they speak of al- 
lowing the choice of 200 acres, at a fair price, to the first person who 
would build a saw-mill — set apart lands for a minister, church, &c., with 
the hope that it might entice a moral class of settlers — and speak of a 
road to be made " from second fork of Sinnemahoning to the centre of 
the settlement," &c. This was after the second treaty of Fort Stanwix, 
in 1784, which ceded all the northwestern section of the state. Where 
this new settlement was to be made, whether in Clinton or some more 
remote county, the papers do not show. 

In 1794 Mr. William Dunn laid out Dunnstown, in the hope that it 
might become the county seat of the new county of Lycoming, erected 
in 1795. At the close of the last century, quite a numerous population 
had already gathered into Bald Eagle valley and its vicinity. At that 
date Bald Eagle and Potter townships of Centre co. numbered 1,534, and 
Bald Eagle and Pine Creek tov^^nships of Lycoming co., respectively 697 
and 706; out of which probably 1,500 would fall within the present lim- 
its of Clinton co. The old Presbyterian church, near Lock Haven, was 
erected about that time. 

Lock Haven, the county seat, occupies a charming site on the right 
bank of the Susquehanna, two miles above the confluence of the Bald 
Eagle. The beautiful plain upon which the town is built extends across 
the point between the two streams. Both the town and the county owe 
their existence to the enterprise and perseverance of Jeremiah Church, 
Esq. In the year 1833 he purchased the site, at that time a large corn- 
field, and laid out the town in 1834. The long dam across the Susque- 
hanna, and the cross-cut connecting the West Branch with the Bellefonte 
canal, were constructed in 1833-34. The town acquired at once a vig- 
orous growth, and continued to progress with the impetus of the public 
works, and the anticipation of its being the future county seat. In the 
mean time Mr. Church bent all his endeavors to procure the establishment 
of the county — an achievement of no small magnitude, considering the 
diverse interests to be reconciled. Even after the establishment of the 
county he had to contend against powerful interests, and the combined 



238 



CLINTON COUNTY 




Lock Haven. 

influence of men of great talent and high standing in the community, 
who desired a different location for the county seat. At length, in 1839, 
his exertions were crowned with success. 

The first county commissioners were Col. Kleckner, Hugh White, and 
Robert Bridgens. Mr. Church made a liberal donation of land for the 
public buildings, a few squares back from the river ; upon which there 
has just been completed an elegant courthouse of brick, ornamented with 
a cupola, and a colonnade in front. Near the courthouse is the office of 
Mr. Church, elevated upon posts set in the ground, with a gallery round 
it. It is a unique and original piece of architecture, quite characteristic 
of the owner. 

In addition to the county buildings, the place contains 80 or 100 dwell- 
ings, including stores and taverns ; an academy, endowed by the state 
with $2,000 ; a large steam flouring and saw mill ; and, to use the wor- 
thy founder's expression, " two meeting-houses and one Church ;" the 
meeting-houses being Presbyterian and Methodist : the church rather in- 
clines to the independent order. The dwellings display great neatness 
and taste ; the hotels are spacious and well kept. The principal busi- 
ness street extends along the river bank, and is shaded with the stately 
elms of the primitive forest. Much credit is due to Mr. Church for hav- 
ing preserved these trees, in laying out the town. Most town-makers 
would have commenced operations by levelling them to the ground. Mr. 
Church has built a curious rookery 10 or 15 feet from the ground, under 
the shade of these elms, in which, with his friends, to smoke his cigar and 
read his newspaper in the long summer afternoons, and watch the pas- 
sage of the boats and rafts, and the gentle flow of the lovely Susquehan- 
na. By the construction of the state dam the river is here expanded to 
a capacious basin. The West Branch canal is completed as far as this 
point ; and only five miles remain to be finished to complete a canal com- 
munication with Bellefonte. A long chute, walled with timber, permits 
the numerous rafts of the upper Susquehanna to pass the dam. On the 
side near the town an ample power may be used from the river. It is 



CLINTON COUNTY. 239 

not yet improved. The scenery around is romantic and picturesque. 
Looking down the Susquehanna may be seen one of the most luxuriant 
valleys in the state, with the river and canals meandering through it, the 
high mountains stretching in long perspective on either side, and the 
landscape softened and enriched with the foliage of the graceful locust 
or acacia trees. In the other direction the towering crests of the Alle- 
gheny and the Bald Eagle mountains shut in the landscape, imparting 
grandeur and sublimity to the scene. 

Lock Haven already furnishes a desirable residence, and evidently has 
the elements of becoming a flourishing town. 

Opposite Lock Haven, several large houses and stores are built along 
the river bank, to which the name of Lockport is given, A steep hill 
rising immediately in the rear, prevents the extension of the village. A 
mile or two below, this hill recedes with a gentle slope, upon which 

DuNNSTOWN is situated. It was laid out, as before stated, in 1794, by 
Mr. Wm. Dunn, and was soon afterwards a competitor with Williams- 
port for the county seat of Lycoming. It contains about 20 or 30 dwell- 
ings, stores, taverns, &c. 

Wliile the dam near this place was in progress of erection, a serious 
riot occurred between the Irish laborers, principally Corkonians, and the 
German laborers from Mahantango, who were boating stone for the dam. 
There were some black eyes and flesh Avounds exchanged on the occa- 
sion, and one or two men were wounded with shot guns. Major Colt's 
shantee was torn down, and he had like to have been beaten to death, 
but for the interference of an Irishman who protected him. Capt. Hun- 
ter Wilson's company of horse, and other companies, assembled and re- 
stored quiet. 

Mill Hall is a smart manufacturing village on Fishing cr., just below 
the wild gorge through which it passes Bald Eagle mountain. It was 
started by Mr. Nathan Harvey, who built a saw-mill there in 1802. It 
now contains a forge, furnace, stores, taverns, Methodist church, &c. 

Farrandsville is, or was, a busy manufacturing village nestled among 
the mountains at the mouth of Lick run, on the left bank of the Susque- 
hanna, seven miles above Lock Haven. It had its origin in the specula- 
tive fever of 1830-36, and is but one of many similar monuments in 
Pennsylvania of the misdirected enterprise of those times. It was start- 
ed in the winter of 1831-32, by Mr. Wm. P. Farrand, a gentleman from 
Philadelphia of high scientific attainments, acting as agent for a compa- 
ny of heavy capitalists in Boston. At that time the spot was only ac- 
cessible by a horse-path at low water. Mr. F. broke a path into the 
mountains through snow three feet in depth, returning every night nearly 
three miles to a cabin for his food and lodging. On one occasion he was 
shut in by ice, and provisions were sent to him ; he passed many nights 
in the hills in snow and rain without shelter, and was more than once 
roused by the screams of a panther. The object of Mr. F. w^as to dis- 
cover and open the bituminous coal beds at this point, with a view to the 
extensive shipment of the article to the lower markets ; and to carry on 
the various manufactures of iron, lumber, &c., appropriate to the loca- 
tion. The iron ore and limestone, however, had to be transported from 
points in the lower valley of the Susquehanna. A little steamboat was 
constructed for towing the coal up and down the river, and for some time 



240 COLUMBIA COUNTY. 

she went puffing along the valley. Mr. F., however, having other en 
gagements near Williamsport, left the establishment, and other agents 
w^ere from time to time employed. A visitor to the place in 1835, thus 
describes it : 

The Lycoming Coal Company — the proprietors of Farrandsville — have a good farm of 200 
acres, a short distance above the village ; and progressing up the river, the bottoms are more ex- 
tensive, and settlements closer. 

Lick run is a strong, steady stream. On it is erected a large nail establishment, capable of 
manufacturing from the pig metal ten tons of nails per day : an air and cupola furnace, which 
in the last six months have turned out nearly 300 tons of castings ; mills for sawing diflFerent 
descriptions of lumber, shingles, lath, &.c. ; an establishment for manufacturing railroad cars 
on a large scale. There are now three veins of coal opening, and the shutes in ; 50 coal cars 
finished, and in the best manner, and two miles of railroad, communicating with the different 
mines and the basin, finished. One track of the road leads to the nail-works, which are calcu- 
lated to consume 5,000 tons of coal per year. An extensive rolling-mill is in progress, and a fur- 
nace for smelting iron ore with coke will be erected in a short time, immediately below the nail- 
works. Farrandsville proper is situated on the Susquehanna ; on the mountain where the coal 
mines have been opened, there are a number of buildings, where the miners and their families re- 
side, with a street running between them town-fashion ; and at the foot of this mountain, at Lick 
run, there are also large boarding-houses and habitations for artisans and their families. These 
three separate towns, however, all belong to the community of Farrandsville, which contains a 
large hotel, far advanced in the erection, two reputable taverns, three large boarding-houses, and 
upwards of 90 tenements, each calculated to render a family entirely comfortable. Here are in- 
exhaustible mines of iron, with the bituminous coal for smelting it, and all the elements for build- 
ing up a manufacturing estabUshment capable of supplying iron in all its forms to our widely- 
extended and populous country. 

Operations were driven forward with great rapidity, something like 
$700,000 having been expended by the company ; and to those who re- 
gard only the surface of things, there was something surprising and grat- 
ifying in seeing a large manufacturing village spring up thus in the wil- 
derness. But whether all this could be done with profit to the owners does 
not seem to have been considered. The proprietors in Boston at length 
turned the key on their money-box, and sent out a keen Yankee iron- 
master, whose science was ballasted with practical experience and strong 
common sense, to take charge of the works. He looked over the grounds, 
examined every thing carefully, took his slate and pencil and commenced 
ciphering. He soon reported to the proprietors that there was no money 
to be made ; and that their best course was to quit at once, and pocket 
the loss. They took his advice. 

There are several other small villages in this county ; among which 
the more important are Salona, which is on the road to Bellefonte, not 
far from Mill Hall, New Liberty, and Young Woman's town, on Young 
Woman's creek. 



COLUMBIA COUNTY. 

CoLUMBtA COUNTY was taken from Northumberland by the act of 22d 
March, 1813. It was subsequently enlarged on the west, in 1816, from 
Northumberland co. ; and in 1818 a small portion was cut off by the 
formation of Schuylkill co. Length 25 miles, breadth 23 ; area, 574 
sq. miles. The population of the co. in 1 820, was 1 7,62 1 ; in 1 830, 20,059 ; 
in 1840, 24,267. 



COLUMBIA COUNTY. j^l 

The CO. occupies a part of the Apalachian mountainous belt, between 
the anthracite coal formations on the S. E. and the great Allegheny moun- 
tain on the N. W. The mountain ranges of the co. are not very high, 
and are much broken. Between them are broad fertile valleys of red 
shale, or limestone. Little mountain, Catawissa, and Long mountain, 
Montour's ridge, Mahoney ridge, Limestone ridge, and Knob mountain, 
and the Muncy hills, are the principal elevations. Montour's ridge, which 
touches the right bank of the Susquehanna at Danville, is remarkable for 
the richness and abundance of its iron ores. Encircling Montour's ridge 
on both sides, is a belt of blue limestone, which commences about two 
miles W. of Berwick, This deposit is of immense value to the agricul- 
tural interest of this co., as well as that of Luzerne, which is without any 
extensive deposit of this rock. 

The Susquehanna river crosses the co., entering at Berwick and leav- 
ing at Danville. The other principal streams are Catawissa cr.. Roaring 
cr.. Fishing and Mahoning creeks, tributaries of the North Branch of 
Susquehanna, and the Chillisquaque cr., a tributary of the West Branch. 
The soil varies from the richest river bottoms to the barren, rocky soil of 
the mountains ; red shale, clay, and limestone lands prevail. Agriculture 
is the chief occupation of the citizens : and the manufacture of iron is 
next in importance. The Susquehanna is crossed by substantial bridges 
at Danville, Catawissa, and Berwick. The North Branch canal passes 
along the right bank of the Susquehanna. 

The population of the co. is principally of German descent. 

Danville, the seat of justice, is a pleasant and flourishing town situated 
on the right bank of the Susquehanna, near the mouth of Mahoning cr., 
12 miles above Northumberland. The town is built on an elevated bank 
of the river, and immediately behind it rises Montour's ridge, containing 
one of the most valuable iron mines in the state. In addition to the usual 
county buildings, the place contains an academy, Presbyterian, Episcopal, 
and Methodist churches, and a Baptist congregation, which worships in 
the courthouse. Across the Susquehanna there is a substantial bridge. 
Population in 1840, about 1,000. 

Danville, within a few years past, has become the site of several ex- 
tensive manufactories of iron. At the foot of Montour's ridge is situated 
the Montour Iron Works, an immense double furnace, erected and owned 
by Col. Chambers. It is said to be the most complete and extensive 
establishment of the kind in the U. S., and capable of making 10,000 tons 
of pig metal per annum. In 1841-42, anthracite coal was successfully 
used for making iron at this furnace on a large scale. No establishment 
could be more conveniently situated. The inexhaustible mine is within 
a stone's throw of the furnace. Limestone abounds in the vicinity. Boats 
from the Penn. canal approach by a basin almost to the door of the fur- 
nace, bringing the coal and taking away the iron ; and a rich agricultural 
region supplies cheap food for the laborers. The splendid mansion of 
Col. Chambers is on the rising ground at the foot of Montour's ridge, 
commanding a fine view of the town, the river, and the magnificent sce- 
nery of the valley. 

The annexed view of Danville was taken near this point. A part of 
Col. Chambers' house is seen in the foreground, on the right ; the large 
double furnace just beyond it ; and to the left of that, the extensive 

31 



242 



COLUMBIA COUNTY. 




Danville. 

foundry of Messrs. Heywood & Snyder. There is another furnace near 
the foot of Montour's ridge, also belonging to Col. Chambers. In town 
is the Columbia furnace, owned by Mr. George Patterson, of Pottsville. 
There are also in town two large foundries. 

The following incidents in the early history of Danville were gathered 
from one of the aged citizens of the place. 

The land where Danville now stands was originally taken up, or purchased, by Mr. Francis 
and Mr. Peters, of Philadelphia. During the revolutionary war, but subsequent to the hottest 
period of the contest, Capt. Montgomery, of Philadelphia — the father — and Col., afterward Gen. 
Wm. Montgomery — the uncle — of Hon. Judge Montgomery, now living, resolved to come out 
and settle on the Susquehanna, then a wild and dangerous frontier, still occasionally disturbed by 
Indians. They pm-chased their farms at the mouth of Mahoning from one John Simpson. They 
had but just entered upon the hardships of frontier life, when the storm of savage warfare de- 
scended upon Wyoming. The Montgomerys, just retired from the campaigns of the revolution, 
were no strangers to the alarms of Indian warfare ; but Mrs. Montgomery had been reared amid 
the security and luxury of Philadelphia, and became so terrified in anticipation of being mur 
dered by savages, that her husband was prevailed upon to remove with her, and her little son, 
now the judge, to Northumberland, where the settlements were protected by a fort. Previously, 
liowever, to their removal, they were often annoyed by the lurking foe, and frequent murders were 
committed in the vicinity. Their fears, too, were quite as often excited by merely imaginary 
dangers. Capt. Daniel Montgomery, looking out one evening, about dusk, upon the river, saw a 
fine canoe drifting down the stream, and immediately pushed out witli his own canoe to secure 
the prize. On coming up to it, and drawing it towards him with his hand, he was thunder, 
struck at seeing a very large, muscular Indian lying flat on his back in the canoe, with his eyes 
wildly glaring upon him. He let go his hold and prepared for defence — but in a moment, reflect- 
ing that he had seen water in the bottom of the strange canoe, he again approached it, and found 
the Indian was dead. A paper on his breast set forth that he had been shot near Wyoming, and 
set adrift by some of the Yankees. The captain towed his prize to the shore with a lighter heart, 
and after a hearty laugh with his neighbors, sent the Indian on his mission. The following from 
the " Hazleton Travellers," by Mr. Miner, of Luzerne co., is the counterpart to the story. 

" Among the Indians who formerly lived at Wyoming was one known by the name of Anthony 
Turkey. When the savages removed from Wyoming lie went with them, and returned as an 
enemy at the time of the invasion. With him and the people there had been before a good un- 
derstanding, and it created some surprise when known that he was with the bloody band who had 
come on the errand of destruction. It was Turkey who commanded the party that came to Mr. 
Weeks's the Sunday after the battle, (of 1778,) and taking the old gentleman's hat, shoved his 
rocking-chair into the street and sat down and rocked himself. In the invasion of March follow- 
ing Turkey was here again, and in an engagement on the Kingston flats was shot through the 
thigh and surrounded by our people. ' Surrender, Turkey,' said they, ' we wont hurt you." 
Probably conscious of his own cruelties, he defied them, and fought hke a tiger-cat to the last. 
Some of our boys, in malicious sport, took his body, put it into an old canoe, fixed a dead rooster 



COLUMBIA COUNTY. 24^ 

in the bbVir — fastened a bow and arrow in the dead Indian's hands, as if in the act just to fire- 
put a written ' pass' on his breast to ' let the bearer go to his master King George or the d — 1' 
— and launched the canoe into the river, amid the cheers of men and boys." 

After the expedition of Gen. Sullivan had quieted the frontier and expelled the Indians, the 
Montn-omerys returned to Danville, where Daniel Montgomery, son of William, estabhshed a 
store and laid oft" a few lots on a piece of land given him by his futher. A few other settlers 
came in, and about the year 1806 we find Danville described in Scott's Geography as " a small 
post-town on the east branch of the Susquehanna, at the mouth of Mahoning." Judge Mont- 
gomery was at that time the postmaster — the first in the place who enjoyed that dignity. When 
it was proposed to erect Columbia co., and establish Danville as the county scat, the elder Gen. 
Montgomery was opposed to the scheme, fearing annoyance in his farming operations by the 
proximit}' of the town ; but his son, on the contrary, was eager for the success of the project, 
anticipating large gains from the sale of lots. After the county was fairly estabhshed. Gen. 
Montgomery not only acquiesced, but entered with his whole heart into the enterprise for its 
improvement. He and his relatives endowed and erected an academy, and gave thirty lots as a 
fund for the support of the ministry here. He afterwards took a leading part in getting a charter 
for the Bear-gap road, which opened the place to the Pottsville travel ; and also had great influ- 
ence in inducing Stephen Girard to embark in the enterprise of the Danville and Pottsville rail- 
road. A part of the road was made near Pottsville, and is now rotting in the sun without 
use. Girard and Gen. Montgomery died nearly at the same time — other interests interfered, and 
the Danville aad Pottsville railroad, with the bright visions of augmented wealth associated with 
it, exists only on paper. 

Mr. Wiekersham of Philadelphia, who owned a farm adjoining Danville, made a donation to 
the Presbyterian church of the beautiful knoll where the church and cemetery are now situated. 

Danville began to increase rapidly about the time that the railroad projects were in agitation, 
in 1828. The bridge and the Episcopal church were erected in that year. Some three or four 
years since, the site of the upper furnace was purchased by a gentleman from Pottsville. It 
passed through the hands of various speculators, rising at each transfer, (the immense treasures 
of Montom-'s ridge having become known,) until it finally lodged in the hands of its present 
proprietor. 

Catawissa is a large village on the left bank of the Susquehanna, at 
the mouth of Catawissa creek, about nine miles east from Danville. It 
is situated in the midst of picturesque scenery. The town contains about 
600 or 700 inhabitants, a Methodist church, German Reformed and Lu- 
theran church, and a Friends' meeting-house. The region abounds in 
iron, and there are within a few miles of the town several forges and 
furnaces. There is also a foundry, a paper-mill, and several tanneries in 
and near the place. 

This place, if all the visions of the last ten years had been realized, 
should be now a very large and populous town, instead of a quiet and 
orderly village. It was intended to be the terminus of a railroad con- 
necting the Susquehanna with the Lehigh, and also with the Little 
Schuylkill at Tamaqua, through the Catawissa and Quakake valleys. 
But after the eastern part of the road had been constructed, " the bottom 
fell out" of the Morris Canal Company, and other corporations upon 
whose financial operations its success either directly or indirectly de- 
pended, and the Catawissa railroad has never been completed. If it 
could have been the only channel of connection between the upper Sus- 
quehanna and the Lehigh and Schuylkill, it would undoubtedly have 
commanded an extensive trade in iron, coal, and agricultural produce. 

Redmond Conyngham, Esq., who has devoted much research to the 
aboriginal history of the state, says, " The Piscatawese, or Gangawese, or 
Conoys [Kenhawas ?] had a wigwam on the Catawese at Catawese, now 
Catawissa. It is a good plan to identify the Indian name of a place 
with its present name." 

The German race at present prevails about Catawissa. It was origin- 
ally a Quaker settlement, and on a beautiful shady knoll, a little apart 



244 



COLUMBIA COUNTY 




Ancient Friends^ meeting-house at Catawissa. 

from the dust and din of the village, stands the venerable Quaker meet- 
ing-house, a perishable monument of a race of early settlers that have 
nearly all passed away. " And where are they gone ?" we inquired of 
an aged Friend, sitting with one or two sisters on the bench tinder the 
shade of the tall trees that overhang the meeting-house. " Ah," said he, 
" some are dead, but many are gone to Ohio, and still further west : onco 
there was a large meeting here, but now there are but few of vis to sit 
together." Pennsylvania exhibits many similar instances in which the 
original settlers have yielded to another and more numerous race. 

Catawissa w^as laid out in 1787, by William Hughes, a Quaker from 
Berks CO. Isaiah Hughes kept the tirst store. Among the earlier pio- 
neers were Wm. Collins, James Watson, John Lloyd, Fenton, 

Sharpless, and other Quakers. John Mears, a famous Quaker 

preacher and physician, a man of great energy of character, afterwards 
became proprietor of the town by buying up the quit-rents. In 1790, 
James Watson laid out an addition to the town. Among the Germans, 
Christian Brobst came about '93, and Geo. Knappenberger had previous- 
ly taken the ferry. The place was then noted for its shad fishery. John 
Hauch was one of the first to build a furnace in this region — on Roaring 
creek, in 1816. 

Bloomsburg is a large, well-built, and growing town, about nine miles 
northeast of Danville, and four from Catawissa. Population about (500. 
It is finely situated on the rising grounds about two miles back from the 
Susquehanna. The North Branch canal passes between the river and 
the town. A very extensive trade is carried on here with the fertile val- 
ley of Fishing creek. Montour's ridge rises in the rear of the town, and 
its iron ores at this locality are said to be of superior quality A furnace 
on Fishing cr., with other iron works, was commenced by several heavy 
capitalists within a few years past, and a considerable sum was spent 
upon it, when the state of the times and the iron market arrested the 
progress of the works. There is at Bloomsburg a cocoonery in active 
operation, (1842.) Strenuous efforts have been made to get the county 
seat Femoved to this place, but the project was strongly voted down in 



COLUMBIA COUNTY. 245 

the legislature in Feb. 1843. The town contains a German Reformed 
and Lutheran church, in common ; and Episcopal and Methodist churches. 
The steeple of the German church, which stands on a hill, commands a 
splendid view of the surrounding scenery. In the cemetery of this church 
is a monument with the following inscription : 

" In memory of Ludwig Eyer, born Jan. 8, 1767, died Sept. 20, 1814, in the 48th year of his 
age. He left a widow, six sou3, and four daughters to deplore his loss. He was proprietor of 
Bloomsburg, laid out in 1802, and presented this square to the Lutheran and Presbyterian (Ger- 
man) congregations for a church and burying-ground in 1807." 

Mr. Eyer also gave to the Episcopalians their lot. Bloomsburg was 
for many years known as Eyersburg, or, as it was pronounced, Oyers- 
burg. 

A few years since it is said a tree was cut down near the village, with 
some iron weapon or utensil imbedded in it, and upwards of 150 annual 
growths outside the iron. 

At Mr. McClure's farm, on the Susquehanna, south of the town, was a 
stockade fort erected in 1781. There appears also to have been another 
fort on Fishing cr., about three miles above its mouth. 

Maj. Moses Van Campen, or Van Camp, as it was usually pronounced, 
and his brother Jacobus, or " Cobus Van Camp," were famous in the border 
wars of the Susquehanna. The father of the family was a Low Dutch- 
man, probably from the Minisink settlements on the Delaware. In the 
winter of 1838, then living at Dansville, N. Y., he sent a petition to Con- 
gress for a pension, from which the following passages are extracted : 

My first service was in the year 1777, when I served three months under Col. John Kelly, who 
stationed us at Big Isle, on the West branch of the Susquehanna. Nothing particular transpired 
during that time, and in March, 1778, I was appointed lieutenant of a company of six-months 
men. Shortly afterward, I was ordered by Col. Samuel Hunter to proceed with about 20 men 
to Fishing creek, (which empties into the North branch of the Susquehanna about 20 miles from 
Northumberland,) and to build a fort about three miles from its mouth, for the reception of the 
inhabitants in case of an alarm from the Indians. In May, my fort being nearly completed, our 
spies discovered a large body of Indians making their way towards the fort. The neighboring 
residents had barely time to fly to the fort for protection, leaving their goods behind. The In- 
dians soon made their appearance, and having plundered and burnt the houses, attacked the fort, 
keeping a steady fire upon us during the day. At night they withdrew, burning and destroying 
every thing in their route. What loss they sustained we could not ascertain, as they carried off 
all the dead and wounded, though, from the marks of blood on the ground, it must have been 
considerable. The inhabitants that took shelter in the fort had built a yard for their cattle at the 
head of a small flat at a short distance from the fort ; and one evening in the month of June, 
just as they were milking them, my sentinel called my attention to some movement in the brush, 
which I soon discovered to be Indians, making their way to the cattle yard. There was no time 
to be lost ; I innncdiately selected ten of my sharp-shooters, and under cover of a rise of land, 
got between them and the milkers. On ascending the ridge we found ourselves within pistol- 
shot of them ; I fired first, and killed the leader, but a volley from my men did no further execu- 
tion, the Indians running off at once. In the mean time the milk pails flew in every direction, 
and the best runner got to the fort first. As the season advanced, Indian hostilities increased, 
and notwithstanding the vigilance of our scouts, which were constantly out, houses were burnt 
and families murdered. 

In 1779 Van Campen, as quarter-master, accompanied Gen. Sullivan's 
expedition to ravage the Indian towns on the Genesee. He distinguished 
himself in several skirmishes at Newtown and Hog Back hill. 

On the return of the army I was taken with the camp-fever, and was removed to the fort which 
I had built in '78, where my father was still living. In the course of the winter I recovered my 
health, and my father's house having been burnt in '78 by the party which attacked the before- 
mentioned fort, my father requested me to go with him and a younger brother to our farm, about 
four miles distant, to make preparations for building another, and raising some grair\. But little 
apprehension was entertained of molestations from the Indians this season, as they had been so 
completely routed tlie year before. We left the fort about the last of March, accompanied by my 



246 COLUMBIA COUNTY. 

uncle and his son, about 12 years old, and one Peter Pence. We had been on our farms about 
four or five days, when, on the morning of the 30th of March, we were surprised by a party of 
ten Indians. My father was lunged through with a War-spear, his throat was cut, and he was 
scalped ; while my brother was tomahawked, scalped, and thrown into the fire before my eyes. 
While I was struggling with a warrior, the fellow who had killed my father drew his spear from 
his body and made a violent thrust at me. I shrank from the spear ; the savage who had hold 
of me turned it with his hand so that it only penetrated my vest and shirt. They were then sat- 
isfied with taking me prisoner, as they had the same morning taken my uncle's little son and 
Pence, though they killed my uncle. The same party, before they reached us, had touched 
on the lower settlements of Wyoming, and killed a Mr. Upson, and took a boy prisoner of the 
name of Rogers.* We were now marched off up Fishing cr., and in the afternoon of the same 
day we came to Huntington, where the Indians found four white men at a sugar camp, who for- 
tunately discovered the Indians and fled to a house ; the Indians only fired on them and wounded 
a Capt. Ransom, when they continued their course till night. Having encamped and made 
their fire, we, the prisoners, were tied and well secured, five Indians lying on one side of us and 
five on the otiicr ; in the morning they pursued their course, and, leaving the waters of Fishing 
cr., touched the head-waters of Hemlock cr., where they found one Abraham Pike, his wife and 
child. Pike was made prisoner, but his wife and child they painted, and told Joggo, squaw, go 
home. They continued their course that day, and encamped the same night in the Same manner 
as the previous. It came into my mind that sometimes individuals performed wonderful actions, 
and surmounted the greatest danger. I then decided that these fellows must die ; and thought 
of the plan to dispatch them. The next day I had an opportunity to communicate my plan to 
my fellow-prisoners ; they treated it as a visionary scheme for three men to attempt to dispatch 
ten Indians. I spread before them the advantages that three men would have over ten when 
asleep ; and that we would be the first prisoners that would be taken into their towns and villages 
after our army had destroyed their com, that we should be tied to the stake and suffer a cruel 
death ; we had now an inch of ground to fight on, and if we failed, it would only be death, and 
we might as well die one way as another. That day passed away, and having encamped for the 
night, we lay as before. In the morning we came to the river, and saw their canoes ; they had 
descended the river and run their canoes upon Little Tunkhannock cr., so called. They crossed 
the river and set their canoes adrift. I renewed my suggestion to my companions to dispatch 
them that night, and urged they must decide the question. They agreed to make the trial ; but 
how shall we do it, was the question. Disarm them, and each take a tomahawk, and come to 
close work at once. There are three of us ; plant our blows with judgment, and three times 
three will make nine, and the tenth one we can kill at our leisure. They agreed to disarm them, and 
after that, one take possession of the guns and fiire, at the one side of the four, and the other two 
take tomahawks on the other side and dispatch them. I observed that would be a very uncer- 
tain way ; the first shot fired Would give the alarm ; they would discover it to be the prisoners, 
and might defeat us. I had to yield to their plan. Peter Pence was chosen to fire the guns, 
Pike and mySelf to tomakawk ; we cut and carried plenty of wood to give them a good fire ; the 
prisoners were tied and laid in their places ; after I was laid down, one of them had occasion to 
use his knife ; he dropped it at my feet ; I turned my foot over it and concealed it ; they all lay 
down and fell aSleep. About midnight I got up and found them in a sound sleep. I slipped to 
Pence, who rose ; I cut him loose and handed him the knife ; he did the same for me, and I in 
turn took the knife and cut Pike loose ; in a minute's time we disarmed them. Pence took his 
station at the guns. Pike and myself with our tomahawks took our stations ; I was to toma- 
hawk three on the right wing, and Pike two on the left. That moment Pike's two awoke, and 
were getting up ; here Pike proved a coward, and laid down. It was a critical moment. I saw 

* Died, in Huntington, on the 20th inst., Mr. Jonah Rogers, in the 65th year of his age. The 
deceased was a member of the Baptist church, and died in a full assurance of a glorious immor- 
tality. He was one of the first Connecticut settlers in this country, and was here during 

the hardships experienced in new countries, and the dangers of savage warfare in the troublesome 
times with the enemy in the revolutionary war, and was taken prisoner by the Indians when quite 
a lad, together with Maj. Van Campen and the celebrated Abraham Pike, and assisted to kill off 
the Indians, one of whom only, (John Mohawke, well known to the writer,) escaping with a dan- 
gerous wound in the neck, given by Maj. Van Campen with a tomahawk. In the year 1799, John 
met the major at a public house in the western wilds of New York, and immediately recognised 
him, (although 20 years after the tomahawk wound,) and proffered the hand of friendship, say- 
ing, " You, Van Camp, I know you ; you know me ?" The major shook his head. The savage 
pulled off his blanket and exhibited the wound in his neck. " Now you know me ? — no enemy 
now, Van Camp ; war time den — peace time now — we be very good friend ; come, we take a 
drink !" (A lesson for many a white skin !) The readers of this obituary will excuse the di- 
gression from the subject, which appeared to be necessary to tell out the tale. Mr. Rogers, after 
severe suffering, arrived at the settlement with his older companions in safety, and has now re- 
tired to everlasting rest. — Wilkesbarre Herald, Jaui 29, 1834. 



COLUMBIA COUNTY. 247 

1 

there was no time to be lost ; thcii heads turned up fair ; I dispatched them in a moment, and 
turned to my lot as per agreement, and as 1 was about to dispatch the last on my side ol" the fire, 
Pence shot and did good execution ; there was only one at the off wing that his ball did not 
reach ; his name was Mohawke, a stout, bold, daring fellow. In the alarm he jumped off about 
three rods from the fire ; he saw it was the prisoners who made the attack, and giving the war- 
whoop, he darted to take possession of the guns ; I was as quick to prevent him ; the contest 
was then between him and myself. As I raised my tomakawk, he turned quick to jump from 
me; I followed him and struck at him, but missing his head, my tomakawk struck his shoulder, 
or rather the back of his neck ; he pitched forward and fell ; and the same time my foot slipped, 
and I fell by his side ; we clinched ; his arm was naked ; he caught me round my neck ; at the 
same time I caught him with my left arm around the body, and gave him a close hug, at the 
same time feeling for his knife, but could not reach it. 

In our scuffle my tomahawk dropped out. My head was under the wounded shoulder, and 
almost suffocated me with his blood. I made a violent spring, and broke from his hold : we both ' 
rose at the same time, and he ran ; it took me some time to clear the blood from my eyes ; my 
tomahawk had got covered up, and I could not find it in time to overtake him ; he was the only 
one of the party that escaped. Pike was powerless. I always had a reverence for Christian 
devotion, ' Pike was trying to pray, and Pence swearing at him, charging him with cowardice, 
and saying it was no time to pray — he ought to fight ; we were masters of the ground, and in 
possession of all their guns, blankets, match coats, &c. I then turned my attention to scalping 
them, and recovering the scalps of my father, brother, and others, I strung them all on my belt 
for safe-keeping. We kept our ground till morning, and built a raft, it being near the bank of 
the river where they had encamped, about 15 miles below Tioga Point ; we got all our plunder on 
it, and set sail for Wyoming, the nearest settlement. Our raft gave way, when we made for 
land, but we lost considerable property, though we saved our guns and ammunition, and took to 
land ; we reached Wyalusing late in the afternoon. Came to the narrows ; discovered a smoke 
below, and a raft laying at the shore, by which we were certain that a party of Indians had 
passed us in the course of the day, and had halted for the night. There was no alternative for 
us but to rout them or go over the mountain ; the snow on the north side of the hill was deep ; 
we knew from the appearance of the raft that the party must be small ; we had two rifles each ; 
my only fear was of Pike's cowardice. To know the worst of it, we agreed that I should ascer- 
tain their number, and give the signal for the attack ; I crept down the side of the hill so near as 
to see their fires and packs, but saw no Indians. I concluded they had gone hunting for meat, 
and that this was a good opportunity for us to make off with their raft to the opposite side of the 
river. I gave the signal ; they came and threw their packs on to the raft, which was made of 
small, dry pine timber ; with poles and paddles we drove her briskly across the river, and had got 
nearly out of reach of shot, when two of them came in ; they fired — their shots did no injury ; 
we soon got under cover of an island, and went several miles ; we had waded deep creeks through 
the day, the night was cold ; we landed on an island and found a sink hole, in which we made our 
fire ; after warming we were alarmed by a cracking in the crust ; Pike supposed the Indians had 
got on to the island, and was for calling for quarters ; to keep him quiet we threatened him with his 
life ; the stepping grew plainer, and seemed coming directly to the fire : I kept a watch, and soon 
a noble racoon came under the light. I sliot the racoon, when Pike jumped up and called out, 
" Quarters, gentlemen ; quarters, gentlemen !" I took my game by the leg and threw it down to 
the fire : " Here, you cowardly rascal," I cried, " skin that and give us a roast for supper." The 
next night we reached Wj'oming, and there was much joy to see us ; we rested one day, and it 
being not safe to go to Northumberland by land, we procured a canoe, and with Pence and my 
little cousin, we descended the river by night ; we came to Fort Jenkins before day, where I 
found Col. Kelly and about 100 men encamped out of the fort ; he came across from the West 
branch by the heads of Chillisquake to Fishing cr., the end of the Nob mountain, so called at 
that day, where my father and brother were killed ; he had buried my father and uncle ; my 
brother was burnt, a small part of him only was to be found. Col. Kelly informed me that my 
mother and her children were in the fort, and it was thought that I was killed likewise. Col. 
Kelly went into the fort to prepare her mind to see me ; I took off my belt of scalps and handed 
them to an officer to keep. Human nature was not sufficient to stand the interview. She had 
just lost a husband and a son, and one had returned to take her by the hand, and one, too, that 
she supposed was killed. O 

The day after I went to Sunbury, where I was received with joy ; my scalps were exhibited 
the cannons were fired, &.c. Before my return a commission had been sent me as ensign of a 
company to be commanded by Capt. Thomas Robinson ; this was, as I understood, a part of the 
quota which Pennsylvania had to raise for the continental line. One Joseph Alexander was 
commissioned as lieutenant, but did not accept his commission. The summer of 1780 was spent 
in the recruiting service ; our company was organized, and was retained for the defence of the 
frontier service. In Feb. 1781, I was promoted to a lieutenancy, and entered upon the active 
duty of an officer, by heading scouts ; and as Capt. Robinson was no woodsman nor marksman, 
he preferred that I should encounter the danger and head the scouts ; we kept up a constant chain 



248 COLUMBIA COUNTY. 

of scouts around the frontier settlements, from the North to the West branch of the Susquehan- 
na, by the way of the head-waters of Little Fishing creek, Chillisquake, Muncy, &-c. In the 
spring of 1781, we built a fort on the widow McClure's plantation called McClure's Fort, 
where our provisions were stored. 

Mr. Van Campen, the same summer, went up the West Branch. (-See 
a -part of his narrative under Clinton co.) He was taken prisoner by the 
Indians. On arriving at the Indian village of Caneadia, on the Genesee, 
he says — 

We were prepared to run the Indian gauntlet ; the warriors don't whip — it is the young In- 
dians and squaws. They meet you in sight of their council-house, where they select the prison- 
ers from the ranks of the warriors, bring them in front, and when ready the word joggo is given , 
the prisoners start, tlie whippers follow after ; and if they outrun you, you will be severely whip- 
ped. I was placed in front of my men ; the word being given, we started. Being then young 
and full of nerve, I led the way ; two young squaws came running up to join the whipping par- 
ty ; and wiien they saw us start, they halted, and stood shoulder to shoulder with their whips ; 
when I came near them I bounded and kicked them over; we all came down together; there 
was considerable kicking amongst us, so much so that they showed their under-dress, which ap- 
peared to be of a beautiful yellow color ; I had not time to help them up. It was truly diverting 
to the warriors ; they yelled and shouted till they made the air ring. They halted at that village 
for one day, and thence went to Fort Niagara, where I was delivered up to the British. I was 
adopted, according to the Indian custom, into Col. Butler's family, then the commanding ofRcer 
of the British and Indians at that place. I was to supply the loss of his son, Capt. Butler, who 
was killed late in the fall of 1781, by the Americans. In honor to me as his adopted son, I was 
confined in a private room, and not put under a British guard. My troubles soon began ; the 
Indians were informed by the tories that knew me that I had been a prisoner before, and had 
killed my captors ; they were outrageous, and went to Butler and demanded me, and, as I was 
told, offered to bring in 14 prisoners in my place. Butler sent an officer to examine me on the 
subject ; he came and informed me their Indians had laid heavy accusations against me ; they 
were informed that I had been a prisoner before, and had killed the party, and that they had de- 
manded me to be given up to them, and that his colonel wished to know the fact. I observed, 
" Sir, it is a serious question to answer ; I will never deny the truth ; I have been a prisoner be- 
fore, and killed the party, and returned to the service of my country ; but, sir, I consider myself 
to be a prisoner of war to the British, and I presume you will have more honor than to deliver mc 
up to the savages. I know what my fate will be : and please to inform your colonel that we 
have it in our power to retaliate." He left me, and in a short time returned and stated, that he 
was authorized to say to me that there was no alternative for me to save my life but to abandon 
the rebel cause and join the British standard ; that I should take the same rank in the British 
service as I did in the rebel service. I replied, " No, sir, no ; give me the stake, the tomahawk, 
or the knife, before a British commission ; liberty or death is our motto ;" he then left me. Some 
time after a lady came to my room, with whom I had been well acquainted before the revolution ; 
we had been schoolmates ; she was then married to a British officer, a captain of the queen's 
rangers ; he came with her. She had been to Col. Butler, and she was authorized to make me 
the same offijr as the officer had done ; I thanked her for the trouble she had taken for my safety, 
but coTiId not accept of the offer ; she observed how much more honorable would it be to be an 
officer in the British service. I observed that I could not dispose of myself in that way ; I be- 
longed to the Congress of the United States, and that I would abide the consequence ; she left 
me, and that was the last I heard of it. A guard was set at the door of my apartment. 

I was soon afterward sent doAvn Lake Ontario to Montreal, whence a British ship brought me 
to New York. In the month of March, 1783, I was exchanged, and had orders to take up arms 
again. I joined my company in March at Nortlmmberland ; about that time Capt. Robinson 
received orders to march his company to Wyoming, to keep garrison at Wilkesbarre fort. He 
sent myself and Ensign Chambers with the company to that station, where we lay till Novem- 
ber, 1783. Our army was then discharged, and our company likewise : poor and pennyless, we 
retired ta the shades of private life. 

Berwick is on the right bank of the Susquehanna on the eastern boun- 
dary of the county ; part of the village is in Luzerne co. It is 21 miles 
N. E. from Danville, and 26 from Wilkesbarre. It contains a Methodist 
church, an academy, with the usual stores and taverns. A substantial 
bridge here crosses the Susquehanna to the opposite village of Nesco- 
peck. It is 1,260 feet long, and cost $52,435 ; was commenced in 1814, 
and completed in 1818. The North Branch canal passes along the foot 



CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



249 



of the elevated bank upon which the town is built. Berwick is the ter- 
mination of the important turnpike, made some 20 or 30 years since, 
leading through Bradford co. to Newtown, in New York. The Nesco- 
peck turnpike°Ieading to Mauch Chunk, also terminates here. Annexed 
is a view of the village, taken from the opposite bank of the river. Pop- 
ulation about 800. 




Berwick. 

Berwick was originally settled in 1783, by Evan Owen, who — judging 
by his name — must have been a Welshman, with several other pioneers. 
The population is now principally of German extraction. 

MiFFLiNBURG is ou the left bank of the river, about five miles below 
Berwick. It contains Methodist and Lutheran churches, and some 20 or 
30 dwellings, mills, tanneries, &c. 

Washington is<a village containing some 40 or 50 dwellings, in the fer- 
tile valley of Chillisquake creek. The other villages of the county are 
Fruitstown, at the head of Chillisquake valley, Jerseytown, seven miles 
north of Danville, Williamsburg and Orangeville, on Fishing creek, and 
Whitehall, four miles northeast of Washington. 



CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



Crawford county was taken from Allegheny co. by the act of 12th 
March, 1800. It received its name in honor of Col. Wm. Crawford, one 
of the heroes of the western frontier, who was burned by the Indians at 
Sandusky. Length 41 m., breadth 24 ; area, 974 sq. miles. Population 
in 1800, 2,346; in 1810, 6,178; in 1820, 9,397; in 1830, 16,030; in 1840, 
31,724. 

The land generally is undulating, of good quality ; better adapted, 
however, to the raising of stock than of grain, but there is nevertheless 
an ample proportion suitable for the latter. French cr., formerly known 

32 



250 CRAWFORD COUNTY. 

as Venango river, enters from Erie co., and meandering centrally through 
the CO., passes out through a corner of Mercer into Venango co., empty- 
ing into the Allegheny at Franklin. It is a beautiful stream, navigable 
for large boats and rafts, during high-water, and affords an abundant 
supply, at all seasons, for the various mills along its banks. Several other 
small streams water the co., as Cussewaga, Big and Little Sugar cr., Oil 
cr., Woodcock cr-, Muddy cr., and Conneauttee cr. 

According to the pronunciation of the venerable Cornplanter, the first of these names should 
be spelt Kos-se-wau-ga. Tradition states that the Indians, on coming to the creek for the first 
time, discovered a large black-snake, with a white ring round his neck, among the limbs of a 
tree. The snake exhibited a wonderful protuberance, as if it had swallowed a rabbit. They 
hence called tlie creek Kossewauga, which means big-belly. 

Conneaut, or Conneot, means something about snow, or the snow place. It was noticed that 
the snow remained some time on the ice of the lake after it had disappeared in the vicinity. 
Cou-ne-aut-tee is a diminutive, formed by the Americans from the name of the larger lake. — 
Rev. Mr. Alden. 

There are three handsome lakes in the co. The Conneaut is a beauti- 
ful sheet of water, about four miles by two, abounding with fine fish. 
The other two are of smaller size, but equally picturesque. Agriculture 
is the main object of pursuit. The manufactures of the co. are chiefly 
for the consumption of its own citizens. Iron ore is found in many locali- 
ties. The French creek feeder, which supplies the canal from Pittsburg 
to Erie, and is of the same size, runs from Bemis's dam, 3 miles above 
Meadville, down French cr. 1 1 miles, and then up the valley of Conneaut 
outlet, to the summit level near that lake. Slackwater navigation also 
extends down French cr. to the Allegheny. 

This CO. possesses all the resources in abundance necessary for the sup- 
port and comfort of industrious farmers. It is a healthy and pleasant 
country to live in, and the citizens are remarkable for intelligence and 
enterprise. It is said there were formerly forty distilleries in the co. ; now 
they can scarcely number four. The following notice of curiosities in 
the CO. is from the N. Y. Journal of Commerce of 1830. 

On an extensive plain, there is a vast mound of stones, containing several hundred thousand 
cart loads. This pyramid has stood through so many ages, that it has become covered with 
soil, and from the top rises a noble pine-tree, the roots of which, running down the sides, fasten 
themselves in the earth below. The stones are many of them so large that two men can only 
move them with difficulty, and yet they are imlike any others in the neighborhood. Indeed there 
are not in the neighborhood any quarries from which so large a quantity could ever have been 
taken. This artificial curiosity is on the borders of Oil creek ; a name" derived from a natural 
curiosity no less remarkable than the foregoing. Springs exist on its margin, from which there 
is a constant flow of oil, floating on the surface of the water and running into the creek, which 
may be seen for a great distance down the stream. The oil is burned in lamps, and used in vari- 
ous ways, but is particularly valued for its medicinal qualities. The inhabitants make excava. 
lions in the low and marshy ground, which are immediately filled with water, covered with oil, 
which they skim off". Considerable quantities are annually brought to tliis city and sold to the 
apothecaries. 

The Seneca Indians held sway over this region. The first white men 
whose feet pressed the soil of Crawford co., were undoubtedly the French, 
who availed themselves of the short portage between Presqu'isle and Le 
BoBuf, one of the sources of Venango, or French cr., to extend their chain 
of posts to the Allegheny, and thus control the waters of the Ohio. As 
regards this co., however, they were mere birds of passage ; they had no 
motive to form any establishment here. Their movements in this region 
were principally between 1748 and '58. (See Allegheny, Erie, and Ve- 
nango counties.) 



CRAWFORD COUNTY, 251 

The ancient Indian path from Fort Venango to Fort Le BoBuf, was on 
the eastern side of French cr., not far from the present lower road to 
Meadville, where it crossed and stretched over the island opposite the town, 
and continued on the western side a nmnber of miles, and again crossed 
the creek. Major George Washington followed this path in 1753, on his 
journey to visit the French commander at Le Boeuf. 

After the French had departed, this region remained a cheerless soli- 
tude for many years. In 1788, the cheerful sound of the pioneer's axe 
broke upon the solemn stillness of the forests of Cassawaga. David 
Mead, and his brother John, two brothers of the Randolph family, Stophel 
Seiverling, James Miller, and Cornelius Van Horn, came out from North- 
umberland CO., by the way of Bald Eagle and the old Chinklacamoose 
path to the mouth of French cr., and thence up the creek until they dis- 
covered the beautiful flat where Meadville now stands. Several of these 
gentlemen had held lands in Wyoming valley, under the Pennsylvania 
title, from which they had been driven by Connecticut claimants. Know- 
ing well the quality of land and the value of a good title, they were 
cautious and judicious in their selections, as the fine estates now in pos- 
session of their families will show. Subsequent events, however, threat- 
ened to shake the foundation of their titles, and cast them out upon the 
wilderness for a new selection. The vexed questions, and numerous de- 
lays and lawsuits growing out of the land law of 1792, had a dispiriting 
influence upon the early settlers of Crawford co., until settled by the de- 
cision of the great Holland Land Co. case, and others of a similar nature. 
Besides the gentlemen above mentioned, several others came a few years 
later, among whom were Mr. Heidekoper, Mr. Bennet, Mr. Lord, Mr^ 
Morgan, Mr. Reynolds, on Oil cr., and others. 

The biographies of several of these pioneers have been preserved, and 
furnish an excellent history of the co. The following is abridged from 
Rev. Timothy Alden's Allegheny Magazine, published at Meadville in 
1816. 

The Hon. David Mead, the first settler of the pleasant tillage which bears his name, was bom 
at Hudson, N. Y. His father, Darius Mead, (also an early settler in this county,) when David 
became of age, removed to the Wyoming country, where they both had purchased lands under 
the Pennsylvania title. In consequence of the adverse claims, and the superior force of the Con- 
necticut claimants, they were obliged to abandon their lands, and settled near Northumberland. 
David Mead became a citizen of Sunbury, where he kept an inn for a number of years. After 
various discouraging struggles, with fortune, with the Indians, and the Wyoming boys, Mr. Mead 
resolved to leave that region, seek a new home, and commence a new career on the lands west of 
the Allegheny river. In 1788, he visited this section of the country, then a wUdemess, in com. 
pany with his brother John and several others. In 1789 be removed his family. Some time af- 
terwards he obtained a remuneration from the state in lands, for those of whicli he had been dis- 
possessed at Wyoming. 

After several years of incessant toil and hardship, his prospects began to brighten ; but they 
were soon overcast with a gloomy cloud. Another Indian war menaced the infant settlements 
of the west. Many fled : those who remained were exposed to constant perils and privations. 
Mr. Mead, having an important interest here, continued on his plantation, resolved to brave every 
danger, and bear every privation while the war should exist. The war was at length happily ter- 
minated by Gen. Wayne, in 1795. For several months, in 1791, when the Indians were daily 
expected to attempt the extermination of the people on French cr., Mr. Mead with his family 
resided at Franklin, that he might have it in his power to repair to the garrison in that place as a 
last resort. During this period his father was taken by two Indians, from a field where he was 
at work, and carried to the vicinity of Conneaut lake. Some days afterwards he was found, 
together with one of the Indians, both dead, and bearing such marks of violence as showed they 
had had a contest ; and it was deemed probable that the other Indism had been wounded in the 
encounter, from the circumstance of his companion having been left unburied. 



252 CRAWFORD COUNTY. 

Mr. Mead held the office of justice of the peace both at Wyoming and here. In 1 799 he he. 
came one of the associate judges for Crawford co. He was also a major-general in the militia. 
He was a man of uncommon bodily strength, standing six feet three, and large in proportion — 
in deportment sedate and grave, but atlable, easy of access, and without ostentation. His vigor- 
ous mind was ever actively engaged upon public or private business. His first wife was Agnes 
Wilson, of Northumberland co. ; his second, Janet Finney, daugliter of Robert Finney, Esq, 
His mansion was noted for hospitality, and in his later years the morning and evening sacrifice 
arose from his family altar. He died on the 23d Aug. 1816, in the 65th year of his age. 

The following is from the Crawford Messenger, of July, 1830: — 

Died at his farm, near Meadville, on the 16th inst., Robert F. Randolph, in the 89th year of 
liis age. Tlie deceased was born in Woodbridge township, Essex co., N. J. He married when 
young, and in 1771 removed to Northampton co.. Pa., where he resided two years; from whence 
he removed to Northumberland co., then on the frontier of this state, there being hardly a white 
inhabitant above the spot where Northumberland now stands. There he resided until the year 
1776, wiicn hostilities commenced upon the inhabitants of the county, and they were driven from 
their homes by the savages. He with his family fled to Bucks co., but returned to his residence the 
same year. He then joined the regiment commanded by Col. William Cook, and was with it in 
the memorable battle of Germantown. Shortly after his return from the army, the county of 
Northumberland by one desolating sweep was cut off, and its inhabitants drove out by the cruel and 
unrelenting hand of the savages. Finding no prospect of peace or safety for his family, he re- 
turned to his native state, where they would be at least secure from the terrors of the scalping- 
knlfe. He then reentered the army of the United States, in which capacity he served until the 
close of the war. 

When peace was restored, he returned, in 1783, to Northumberland co., and settled on Shamo- 
kin cr., where he continued to reside until 1789, when he with his family emigrated to this county, 
at that time one entire wilderness ; and on the 6th of July, the same year, arrived on French cr., 
near where the village of Meadville now stands, and settled on the farm upon which, till his death, 
he has ever since resided. When he made his selection and took possession, there were none to 
dispute his right but the tawny sons of the forest, from whose pitiless hands he had much to fear. 
But that spirit of enterprise, with an honest view of procuring a permanent home for himself and 
family, which had induced him to the wilderness and cheered his pathless way into it, continued 
to support him imder every privation, difficulty, and danger incident to the settlement of a new 
country. His zeal in the cause of freedom was unwavering. Of this fact, the following wiU 
serve as an illustration : In one of the alarms occasioned by the approach of the enemy to the 
town of Erie, during the late war, like the patriarch of old, he mustered a strong band of his own 
household, consisting of his four sons and two or three grandsons, put himself at their head, and 
thus armed and equipped marched to meet the expected foe. 

Mr. Cornelius Van Horn has been named as one of the early pioneers. 
He is still (1843) enjoying a quiet old age, on the farm, near Meadville, 
earned and cleared by the toils and exposures of his youth. The follow- 
ing story of his adventures was derived by the compiler of this work, in 
conversation with a member of Mr. Van Horn's family : — 

Mr. Cornelius Van Horn had been a settler in Wyoming valley under the Pennsylvania title, 
and relinquished his possessions there under the compromise, receiving compensation from the 
state. In 1788, he was persuaded by David Mead, (who had also been a Pennamite,) to make 
one of a party of nine to come out and settle in Crawford co. They took the route from Bald 
Eagle, in Centre co., over the Allegheny mountains, nearly on tiie route of the present turnpike ; 
struck the mouth of French cr., and thence followed it up until they discovered the beautiful flat 
upon which Meadville is now seated. They here selected their lands, and entered upon their la- 
bors. Until 1791, nothing of special importance occurred, except that one day, as he was return- 
mg from Pittsburg with })ack-horses, he was overtaken by an Indian near a lonely swamp ; but 
he proved to be friendly. His name was McKee ; and from this friendly interview and exchange 
of provisions, courtesies, &c., commenced an acquaintance, which was afterwards probably the 
means of saving Van Horn's life. ^ 

In the month of May, 1791, Mr. Van Horn, Thomas Ray, and Mr. Gregg, were ploughing on 
the island opposite the town. Gregg and Ray had gone in to fetch the dinner, when Van 
Horn, who continued ploughing, observed his horses take frigiit, and turning suddenly he saw a 
tall Indian about to strike him with his tomahawk, and another just behind. As quick as thought 
he seized the descending arm, and grappled with the Indian, hugging him after the manner of a 
bear. While in this close embrace, the other Indian attempted to shoot Van Horn ; but the lat- 
ter, who was no novice in frontier tactics, kept turning round the Indian in his arms so as to 
present liim as a shield against the bullet — and thus gained time enough to parley for his life 



CRAWFORD COUNTY. 253 

No fine-spun diplomacy was practised in this treaty : a few words of b; hken Indian on one 
side, and broken English on the other, resulted in a capitulation, by which he was to be taken 
prisoner, together with his horses. He was pinioned and taken to the top of the hill above the 
college, where they met the old chief and a fourth Indian. After some parley, the chief mounted 
one of the horses and the prisoner tiie other, and pursued their way towards Conneaut lake ; 
while the three other Indians returned to the island for further adventures. Gregg and Ray had 
just returned to their work, and were deliberating over the meaning of the tracks in the field, 
when they descried the three Indians. Gregg took to his heels, Ray calling to him to stand 
his ground like a man ; but he was pursued, killed, and scalped. Ray was taken prisoner. 

The old eliief had tied Van Horn by a thong to a tree, in a sitting posture, with his arms be- 
hind him ; but the thong working a little loose, the chief pulled it obiicpiely up the tree to tigliten 
it, and laid himself down in the bushes to sleep. Van Horn, by raising himself, loosened 
the thong enough to allow him to get a small knil'e out of his cufT — (lie had previously, to con- 
ciliate his good-will and allay suspicion, presented the chief with his jackknife, powder, flints, 
tobacco, &:.c.) — and cut himself loose from the tree, but could not unpinion his arms. He 
made his way back to the settlement, where he found an officer frdm Fort Franklin, who or- 
dered tlie whole colony to repair for safety to that place, lest there might be a larger force of 
Indians in the vicinity than had yet appeared. Van Horn pleaded hard for permission to re- 
main, and learn the fate of Ray and Gregg; and as the officer's horse had been lost, he was al- 
lowed to remain if he could get another to remain with him. A friendly Indian, by the name 
of Gilloway, agreed to remain ; and for some other reason it was thought necessary (this waa 
to catch the horse) that another friendly Indian, McKee, should remain also. They found the 
horse ; and taking some bear-skins, furs, &.c. in the canoe, embarked for Frankhn. Gilloway, 
as he was the least of the two, volunteered to ride the horse, while the others went in the ca. 
noe ; but he rode the horse a little too far, and in the wrong direction, not being heard of again 
until he had been seen at Sandusky. Van Horn afterwards had reason to think that Gillo- 
way had remained behind to murder him, but that his plan had been frustrated by the deter- 
mination of McKee to stay also ; and he then stole the horse. 

Van Horn and McKee determined to return from Franklin ; and by Way of getting an early 
start, to lodge in a deserted cabin, a mile or two this side of Franklin. The commanding officer 
urged in vain the danger of a surprise and attack from savages. Van Horn and his comrade 
thought themselves competent to the defence of their position. In the night, however, the 
officers and soldiers of the garrison determined to make good their surmises, and have a 
little fun, by raising a whoop, and surrounding the cabin where Van Horn lay. The latter, 
hearing the noise, was on the alert ; and while the soldiers were listening at the door, they 
heard Van Horn make arrangements with his comrade that he should stand by to haul 
them into the cabin, while he cut them down at the door with an axe. This Was a kind 
of sport for which the party was not prepared, and they withdrew, laughing at the frustration of 
their own scheme. Van Horn soon after went to Jersey to attend to his Wyoming business, and 
then returned. Some few parties of Indians skulked about until after Wayne's treaty, when 
they all disappeared. 

When the three Indians with Ray had arrived at Conneaut lake, and waked up the old chief, 
and found his prisoner gone, they told Ray that it was fortunate for him, as they could have taken 
only one prisoner away with them. They took him to Sandusky, where he recognised an Eng- 
lish trader, who bought him off for a keg of whiskey. He returned by the lake to Olean, and 
thence down the Allegheny. On passing Franklin he inquired of those on shore for his " Sally," 
and being told she was in Pittsburg, pursued his way down there, where he found her. 

James Dixon, another old settler, better known as Scotch Jemmy, was surprised by a number 
of Indians in the woods, and shot at several times. He turned his face towards them, levelled 
his rifle, and dared the rascals to come out of the woods like men, and give him fair play — "Noo 
coom on wi' your wee axe," said Jemmy. With his rifle thus presented, he continued to walk 
backwards until out of reach of their fire ; and reached the old blockhouse, that stood where the 
blacksmith's shop is, near Bennett's tavern. This occurred about 1793 or 1794. 

The Rev. Charles Wm. Colson, or Von Colson, who died at Meadville 
28th Dec. 1816, was the founder and pastor of the Lutheran church at 
Meadville, and of several others in the vicinity. He was a native of 
Westphalia in Germany, and had graduated at Gottingen as a Doctor of 
Medicine. He was a man of great promise and usefulness, and would 
probably have been Professor of the German and French languages in 
Allegheny College, if his life had been spared. 

The following letter to Dr. Samuel L. Mitchill, of N. Y., details a most 
remarkable case of alienation of mind. John Reynolds, Esq., the gentle- 



254 CRAWFORD COUNTY. 

man alluded to in the letter, has confirmed the statements of Mr. Alden, 
in a recent conversation with the compiler. 

Meadville, Penn., June 21, 1816. 
Dear Sir — 

I now do myself the pleasure to give you an account of a very singular case. Possibly yoU 
may have met with something analogous to it in your researches, but so far as my inquiries have 
extended, it is without a parallel. 

Mr. Wm. Reynolds, his wife, and children — a respectable family, originally citizens of Bir- 
mingham, in Great Britain — settled in the vicinity of Oil creek, tWenty-seven miles from this vil- 
lage, in the year 1797. Miss Mary Reynolds, one of his daughters — a worthy young lady, and 
an inmate in the family of her brother, John Reynolds, Esq., one of my nearest neighbors — is the 
subject of this communication, upon which I slmll be happy to see your animadversions. Foi" 
five years, she has exhibited the phenomenon of a person vested with a twofold conscious^ness, or, 
more definitely, with two distinct co/tscioiisne.sses. 

I became acquainted with Miss Reynolds soon after my removal to this place, in May, 1815 
when she was in the exercise of her original consciousness, the last evening of which she spenf 
at my house. The following evening I was at her brother's, where there was considerable com 
pany, of which she was one. To my surprise, when I spoke to her, she had no knowledge of me 
I was therefore introduced to her anew. My ciu-iosity was excited ; and it was gratified by a 
history of her singular case — of which you will please to accept the subsequent concise narra- 
tive. 

After arriving at adult age, she was occasionally afflicted with fits, but of what particular tech- 
nical name I have not been able satisfactorily to ascertain. In the spring of 1811, she had a 
very severe visitation of this kind. Her frame was greatly convulsed, and she was extremely 
ill for several days, when her sight and hearing left her, insomuch that she became totally blind 
and deaf. During twelve weeks, from the time of the fit mentioned, she continued in a very 
feeble state ; but at the end of five weeks, the use of her visual and auditory faculties was per- 
fectly restored. 

A more remarkable dispensation of Providence, however, aWaited her. A little before the ex- 
piration of the twelve weeks, one morning, when she awoke, she appeared to have lost all recol- 
lection of every thing, in a manner, she ever knew. Her understanding, with an imperfect know- 
ledge of speech, remained ; but her father, mother, brothers, sisters, and neighbors, were alto- 
gether strangers to her. She had forgotten the use of written language, and did not know a sin- 
gle letter of the alphabet, nor how to discharge the duties of any domestic employment, more 
than a new-born babe. She, however, presently began to regain various kinds of knowledge. 
She continued five weeks in this way, when suddenly she passfed from this second state — as, foi* 
distinction, it may be called — into her first. All consciousness of the five weeks just elapsedj 
was totally gone, and her original consciousness was fully restored. 

Now the cloud which had overspread her mental hemisphere was dissipated. Her kindred 
and friends were at once recognised. Every kind of knowledge which she had ever acquired, 
was as much at her command as at Emy former period of her hfe ; but of the time, and of all 
events, which had transpired during her second state, she had not the most distant idea. Fot 
three weeks, to the comfort of herself and of the family, she continued in her ^rs^ state ; but, iii 
her sleep, the transition was renewed, and she awoke in her second state. As before, so now, aU 
knowledge acquired in her first state was forgotten, and of the circumstances of her three weeks' 
lucid interval she had no conception ; but of the small fund of knowledge she had gained in the 
former second state, she was able to avaU herSelf, and she continued, from day to day, to add to 
this little treasure. 

From the spring of 1811, the subject of this address has been in this wonderful condition, fre- 
quently changing from her first to her second, and from her second to her first state. More 
than three quarters of her time, she has been in her second state. There is no periodical regu- 
larity as to the transition. Sometimes she continues several months, and sometimes a few weeks, 
a few days, or only a few hoiu-s, in her second state ; but, in the lapse of five years, she has been 
in no one instance more than twenty days in her first state. 

Whatever knowledge she has acquired, at any time, in her second state, is familiar to her 
whenever in that state ; and now she has made such proficiency, she is as well acquainted with 
things, and is in general as intelligent, in her second as in her first state. It is about three years 
since an attempt was first made to re-teach her chirography. Her brother gave her her name, 
which he had written, to copy. She readily took a pen, agreeably to his request, and it is a fact 
that she actually began to write it, though in a very awkward manner, from the right hand to the 
left, in the Hebrew mode. It was not long before she obtained a tolerable skill in penmanship, 
and, in her second state, often amuses herself in writing poetry ; yet, in her first state this is 
an exercise which she seldom, if ever, attempts. It may be remarked that she acquires all kinds 
of knowledge, in her second state, with much greater facility than would a person never before 
instructed. 



CRAWFORD COUNTY. 2S5 

In her second stain, she has now been introduced to many persons, whom she always recog- 
nises when in that state, and no one appears to enjoy the society of friends better than this young 
lady ; but if ever so well known to her in her first state, she has no knowledge of them in her 
second till an acquaintance, de novo, is formed — and, in like manner, all acquaintances formed in 
her second state, must be formed in her first also in order to be known in that. 

This astonishing transition, scores of times repeated, always takes place in her sleep. In 
passing from her second to her first state, nothing is particularly noticeable in her sleep ; but in 
passing from her first to her second state, her. sleep is so profound that no one can awake her, 
and it not unfrequently continues eighteen or twenty hours. She has generally some presenti- 
ment of the change, and frequently for several days before the event. Her suflFerings, formerly, 
in the near prospect of the transition from either the one or the other state, were extreme. When 
in one state, she had no consciousness of ever having been in the other ; but of the wonderful 
fact she was persuaded on the representation of her friends. Hence, when about to imdergo the 
transition, fearing she should never revert so as to know again in this world those who were dear 
to her, her feelings, in this respect, were not unlike the feelings of one entering the valley of the 
shadow of death ; but she has now so often passed from one state to tlie other, that she does not 
anticipate the change with that horror, or distressing apprehension, with which, for a considerable 
time, she used to do. 

As an evidence of her ignorance in her second state, at an early period, she was once walking 
at a little distance from her father's house, and discovered a rattlesnake. She was delighted at 
the beautiful appearance of this, to her unknown, dangerous reptile, and sprang forward to catch 
it. Fortunately, the serpent lay near a hole under a log, and, as she seized it by its rattle, thrust 
its head in, and she was not able to draw it out. At another time she was riding in a narrow 
path, alone, in the woods, and met a bear, which did not seem disposed to give her the path. She 
boldly rode up to the huge animal, and in a very imperious style ordered him out of her way ; 
and she was upon the point of disrfiounting to belabor him with her whip, when he peaceably 
" cleared off." 

This young lady is naturally of a cheerful disposition, but thoughtful. In her second state, 
her imagination glows — her wit is keen — her remarks are often shrewd and satirical — and her 
prejudices, conceived without cause, against her best friends, are sometimes very strong. 
I remain, dear sir, your respectful, humble servant, 

TIMOTHY ALDEN. 

The young lady is still living in 1843, is of sane mind and in good 
health, and is teacher in a school. She has had no return of her pecu- 
liar insanity for many years, 

Meadville, the county seat, occupies a beautiful flat on the left bank 
of French creek, nearly opposite the mouth of Cassawaga creek, and in 
the midst of most picturesque scenery. It is 37 miles from Erie, 90 
from Pittsburg, and 25 from Franklin. The town is laid out in streets at 
right angles ; the county buildings, and several of the churches, are ar- 
ranged around a spacious public square, or diamond, of which a view is 
presented on the following page. 

The Gothic edifice in the foreground is the Episcopal church ; the Do- 
ric temple, about the centre of the view, is the Unitarian church ; the 
courthouse is seen on the left, and behind it the cupola of the Presbyte- 
rian church. Both the public and private edifices display the cultivated 
taste of the citizens, and in many instances exhibit pleasing specimens 
of rural architecture. The neat front yards, with shrubbery and shade 
trees, and the green blinds upon the white houses, remind one of a New 
York or New England village. The character of the citizens for intel- 
ligence and urbanity, is in conformity with the external aspect of the 
place ; and they may justly boast, that, in proportion to its population, 
there is no village in Pennsylvania that excels Meadville in the number 
of reading, reflecting, well-cultivated men, Hon. Henry Baldwin, of the 
supreme court of the U. S., has just completed an elegant rural mansion 
on an eminence overlooking the village, where he intends passing the 
evening of his useful life. 

H. J. Huidekoper, Esq., extensively known as the agent of the Hoi- 



256 



CRAWFORD COUNTY. 




Public Square in Meadville. 

land Land Company, keeps the office of the company here. Mr. Huide- 
koper is a native of Holland, but was one of the earlier settlers in Mead- 
ville, and is now one of her more influential citizens. The great case of 
the Holland Land Co., decided by the supreme court of the U. S., in- 
volved not only the rights of that company, but, on account of the great 
principles at issue, the interests and title of a great portion of the settlers 
northwest of the Allegheny river. A succinct sketch of the origin of the 
company, and of the decision upon that case, will be found on page 260. 

Meadville contained, by the census of 1840, 1,319 inhabitants. The 
churches are a Presbyterian, Cumberland Presbyterian, Episcopal, Meth- 
odist, Baptist, and Unitarian, There is also an academy, several paper- 
mills, an oil-mill, an edge-tool manufactory, and quite a number of other 
mills, driven by the ample water-power in the vicinity. ' 

On the northern border of the town. Col. Magaw, the inventor of straw 
paper, had formerly a commodious mill for its manufacture. He had 
previously conducted a rag-paper establishment. On examining some 
straw which had been placed at the bottom of a barrel of leached ashes, 
he observed that it looked soft, and thought it might make paper. Per- 
ceiving its toughness and adhesive quality, he chewed some of it, rubbed 
it on a board, and placed it in the sun to dry. He succeeded in making 
paper on a small scale, obtained a patent-right, and erected his straw 
paper mill. It is said an edition of the New Testament was printed 
upon it, costing only five cents per copy. 

The Crawford Messenger, one of the oldest and best papers in the 
western part of the state, was formerly printed at Meadville. In one of 
the numbers published in Sept. 1828, the editor, T. Atkinson, Esq., says : 

In two months more, twenty-five years will have elapsed since we arrived in this village with 
our printing establishment, being the first, and for several subsequent years, the only one north- 
west of the Allegheny river. How short the period, yet how fruitful of interesting events ! Our 
village at that time consisted of a few scattered tenements, or what might properly be termed 
huts. It is now surpassed by few, if any, in West Pennsylvania, for its numerous, commodious, 
and in many instances, beautiful dwelling-houses, churches, academy, courthouse, with a splendid 
edifice for a college ; all aiFording pleasing evidence of the enterprise, the taste, and the liberality 



CRAWFORD COUNTY. 



2m 



of its inhabitants. Tlien we were without roads, nothuig but Indian paths by which to wind 
our way froiii one point to another. Now turni)ikes and capaciou.s roads converge to it from every 
quarter. Then the mail passed between Pittsburg and Erie once in two weeks — now eighteen 
stages arrive and depart weekly. Tiien we had not untrequently to pack our paper on horseback 
upwards of 1200 miles ; on 130 of this distance there were but three or four houses — now, how- 
ever, thanks to an enterprising citizen of the village, it can be had as conveniently as could be 
desired. Our country ii> marching onward. 

The following facts are derived from Mr. Alden's Magazine. The fir.st 
improvement in Meadville was commenced by Mr. David Mead, in 1788 
and '89. The original plan of the town was conceived in 1790, but was 
matured and much enlarged by the exertions and influence of Major 
Alden and Doctor Kennedy in 1795. A blockhouse built during the In- 
dian wars, remained until a short time since. It stood near Mr. Bennet's 
hotel. The .state arsenal is a conspicuous ornament to the place. It \vas 
erected in 1816, under the direction of the Hon. Wm. Clark, a little with- 
out the town plot, on land presented by the late Gen. Mead. The North- 
western Bank of Pennsylvania was formerly located here. 

In 18 If), the only churches were the Presbyterian and German Lutheran. 
As pastor of the former. Rev. Joseph Stockton settled in 1801. In 1808 
he removed to Pitt.sburg, and Rev. Robert Johnson succeeded him until 
1817, when the latter also removed to the Yough'ogheny. The Rev. 
Timothy Alden then officiated as a preacher, but declined the pa.storaI 
<3harge. He was at that time president of Allegheny college. Bentley 




Allegheny College. 

Hall, the principal edifice of this institution, is situated north of the town, 
on very elevated ground, overlooking a landscape rarely exceeded in 
beauty. The beautiful village, with its spires and Doric temples — the 
glistening waters of French cr., meandering away through the wide 
meadows — the canals and roads winding round the headlands, and the 
hills half cleared and half clothed with the primitive forest — form a fine 
group for the artist. Allegheny college originated in the public spirit of 
a number of intelligent citizens of Meadville, at a meeting held 20th 
June, 1815. Rev. Timothy Alden was appointed President, and Prof, of 
l^anguages and Ecclesiastical History, and Rev. Robert Johnson, Vice- 
president, and Prof, of Moral Science. The institution w^as opened 4th 

?3 



258 CRAWFORD COUNTY. 

of July, 1816. The act of incorporation was passed 24th March, 1817. 
$2,000 were granted by this act, and subsequently a further sum of $5,000. 
On the 28th July of the same year the Rev. Mr. Alden was inaugurated 
amid an astonishing display of the dead languages. The very valuable 
library which the institution possesses, was obtained mainly by the un- 
tiring zeal of Mr. Alden, who performed one or more tours through the 
eastern states to solicit aid from learned and benevolent individuals for 
his infant seminary. The most liberal contributor was the Rev. Dr. 
Bentley, a Unitarian clergyman, of Salem, Mass., who had spent his life 
in amassing one of the most rare collections of theological works in the 
country. Harvard University had set her eyes upon this collection, and 
having bestowed the preliminary plum, in the shape of an LL. D. di- 
ploma, patientl}^ awaited the doctor's demise. She occupied, however, 
the situation of Esau before Isaac, for Mr. Alden had previously prepan d 
the savory dish, and received the boon ; and the name of Bentley Hall 
now records the gratitude of Allegheny College. Hon. Judge Winthrop, 
also of Mass., made a bequest to the institution of nearly the whole of 
his private library, consisting of rare works, valued at $6,500. Isaiah 
Thomas, Esq., of Worcester, Mass., was another distinguished donor. 
Notwithstanding these liberal endowments, the institution languished. 
The country was new, and the inhabitants had but little time or money 
to devote to literary pursuits. More than this, the institutions at Carlisle, 
Canonsburg, and Washington, were its more successful rivals for Presby- 
terian support. 

In 1 829 an attempt was made to introduce the military system of Capt. 
Alden Patridge, and a pupil of his w^as called to the charge of the insti- 
tution — but this effort was also unsuccessful. 

In 1833 the institution was transferred to the patronage of the Pitts 
burg conference of the Methodist Episcopal church. A Roberts profes 
sorship, in honor of the venerable bishop, was endowed, and the college 
re-opened in Nov. of that year, under the charge of Rev. Martin Ruter, 
D. D., President, and Prof of Moral Science ; Rev. Homer J. Clark, Vice- 
president, and Prof, of Mathematics ; and A. W. Ruter, A. B., Prof, of Lan- 
guages. The institution has since been vigorously and judiciously man- 
aged. The Rev. Homer J. Clark has succeeded to the presidency, and 
is now aided by a Vice-president, and Prof of Nat. Phil, and Chemistry, 
a Prof of Latin and Greek and Class. Lit., a Prof of Math, and Civil 
Engineering, a principal in the preparatory department, a teacher of 
Mathematics, and a teacher of French. The number of students, in- 
cluding those in the preparatory department, was, in 1842, 150. 



A canal-boat was launched at Meadville on 28th Nov., 1828, built of materials that were 
growing on the banks of French cr. the day before ! The boat left for Pittsburg on the 30th, 
having on board 20 passengers, and 300 reams of paper manufactured from straw. — Crawford 
Messenger. 



Two respectable farmers met in one of the stores of this village last week. The one accosted 
the other in a familiar way, with " How do you do, George ?" at the same time extending his 
hand. George eyed the party saluting him with inquisitive interest for some time, but not being 
able to recognise him, at length exclaimed, " Sir, you have the advantage of me, although I 
think I have seen you before." Having perplexed George with numerous remarks, calculated 
more and more to excite his curiosity, Isaac Mason at length revealed himself to his brother 
George. The singular fact was then disclosed, that although these brothers reside within the 
distance of six miles, the one north and the other south, of this village, and each of them ahi\ost 



CRAWFORD COUNTY. 259 

weekly in town on business, that they had not met each other during the last fifteen years. It 
is no less remarkable that during this period they had repeatedly visited each other's families, 
but it so happened that the party visited was invariably from home on the occasion." — Crawford 
Messenger, 1831. 

There are several small villages in Crawford co. ; Centrevilee, Titus- 
viLLE, Cambridge, Rockville, Sagerstown, Evansburg, Hartztovvn, Adams- 
viLLB, EspvviLLE, Harmonsburg, Conniotville. Their position and distance 
from the county seat may be best learned from the map. 

The history of the range of counties in Pennsylvania " north and w^est 
of the Ohio and Allegheny rivers, and Conewango cr.," would be incom- 
plete without some notice of the provisions of various laws under which 
the land in those counties was disposed of and settled, and the numerous 
vexatious lawsuits which grew out of those provisions. The following 
very concise summary, which is all that the restricted limits of this work 
will admit, is drawn up principally from the copious notes in the 2d vol. 
of Smith's Laws of Pennsylvania, with the addition of a few facts col- 
lected from other sources. 

Depreciation Lands. — During the revolution, between the years 1777 and 1781, the value of 
the " bills of credit" issued by the state, as well as of those issued by Congress, continued 
gradually to depreciate from one per cent, almost to one hundred. The debts contracted both 
between individuals and public parties, during this period, it was found very difficult to settle 
subsequently, on account of incessant disputes as to the amount of depreciation to be deducted 
from the face of the money paid. The legislature passed a law, 3d April, 1781, fixing a scale of 
depreciation, from 1^ per cent, to 75 per cent., varying for each month between 1777 and 1781, 
according to which all debts should be settled. For the indebtedness of the commonwealth to 
the officers and soldiers of the Pennsylvania troops in the army, certificates were given in con- 
formity with the scale, and these, called depreciation certificates, were receivable in payment for 
all new land sold by the state. The land N. W. of the Allegheny was sold by the Six Nations 
to the commonwealth in Oct. 1784, at Fort Stanwix, and the sale was confirmed by the Dela- 
wares and Wyandots at Fort Mcintosh, (Beaver,) in Jan. 1785. Previous, however, to this pur- 
chase from the Indians, the state, on the 12th March, 1783, more effectually to provide for the 
redemption of the depreciation certificates, ordered to be surveyed and laid off in lots of not less 
than 200, nor more than 350 acres, the district of land bounded by the Ohio and Allegheny on 
the S. E., as far up as the mouth of Mahoning, or MohuUbucteetam cr. ; thence by a line due 
west, and thence by the western boundary of the state — with the reservation of a tract of 3,000 
acres opposite Pittsburg, and another 3,000 at Beaver. These lands were to be sold at such times 
and under such regulations as the executive council might direct. 

Donation Lands. — The same act of 12th March, 1783, which appropriated the depreciation 
lands, also ordered to be located and laid off another district north of the former, bounded by the 
Allegheny river on the S. E. as far up as the mouth of Conewango cr., thence by a line due- N. 
to the New York line, thence by the N. and W. boundaries of the state, and S. by the deprecia- 
tion district. The Erie triangle was not then a part of this state. These lands were appropri- 
ated expressly to fulfil a previous promise of the commonwealth (made 7th March, 1780) " to the 
officers and privates belong^ing to this state in the federal army, of certain donations and quanti- 
ties of land according to their several ranks, to be surveyed and divided off to them severally 
at the end of the war." The lands were surveyed in lots of from 200 to 500 acres each, enough 
of each kind to supply the different ranks. A major-general was entitled to draw four tickets, by 
lottery, of 500 acres each ; a brigadier-general three of the same ; and so on down to the drum- 
mers, fifers, corporals, and " private sentinels," who drew one ticket of 200 acres each. The 
donation districts were distinguished by numbers 1, 2, 3, &.c. The eastern part of donation dis- 
trict No. 2, having been reported by Gen. Wm. Irvine, the agent, as being generally unfit for 
cultivation, the numbers of lots therein were taken out of the wheel, and provision was made 
elsewhere for such officers and soldiers as were thus cut off. The district thus rejected was 
called the Struck district. 

Various regulations and restrictions were made by law regarding the mode of survey, entry, 
transfer of title, and limit of time for perfecting the soldiers' title to their lands ; and the limit of 
time was subsequently extended by various laws from time to time. To fulfil the object of the 
donation and depreciation laws, it did not by any means require all the lands in the region north 
and west of the Ohio and Allegheny, and the n?mainder, the struck district included, reverted to 
the state, to be disposed of to other settlers. 

[The reader is here requested to refer to the Outline History, pages 42 ani 43 of this volume 



260 CRAWFORD COUNTY. 

for several passap^es on this subject, which our restricted limits will not permit trs here to repeat J 
also to Erie, Beaver, Butler, and Warren counties.] 

The Land Law of 1792. — With a view of bringing into market unseated lands, which had 
been rejected on account of high price, and also to encourage an increase of population on the 
remote frontiers of the state, the legislature passed, on the 3d April, 1792, a law throwing open 
for sale all the vacant lands of the state included in the purchase of 1768 and previously, at the 
price of £2 10s. (Pennsylvania currency) per 100 acres ; lands in the purchase of 1784, east of 
the Allegheny and Conewango, at £5 per 100 acres ; and the lands north and west of the rivers- 
Ohio and Allegheny, and Conewango cr., except the donation and depreciation lots, at £1 10s. 
per 100 acres. No condition of settlement was attached to the lands east of the Allegheny ; but 
those northwest of that river, &.C., were only " offered for sale to persons who will cultivate, im- 
prove, and settle the same, or cause the same to be cultivated, improved, and settled," &c., at the 
price above named, " wilh an allowance of 6 per cent, for roads and highways." Any person 
intending thus to settle was entitled, on application and payment, with proper description of the 
land, to receive from the land-office a warrant ordering a survey of the tract, not exceeding 40O 
acres. Surveys could not be made on lands actually settled prerious to the entry of the warrant, 
except for such actual settler himself. The most important section, however, in this celebrated 
law was : — 

" Sect. 9. No warrant or survey, to be issued or made in pursuance of this act, for lands lying 
north and west of the rivers Ohio and Allegheny, and Conewango cr., shall vest any title in or' 
to the lands therein mentioned, imless the grantee has, p/ior to the date of such warrant, made, 
or caused to be made, or shall within the space of two years next after the date of the same, 
make, or cause to be made, an actual settlement thereon, by clearing, fencing, and cultivating at 
least two acres for every hundred acres contained in one survey, erecting thereon a messuage for 
the habitation of man, and residing, or causing a family to reside thereon, for the space of five 
years next following his first settlement of the same, if he, or she, shall so long live ; and that in 
default of such actual settlerOent and residence, it shall and may be lawful to and for this com- 
monwealth to issue new warrants to other actual settlers for the said lands, or any part thereof^ 
reciting the original warrants, and that actual settlements and residence have not been made in 
pursuance thereof, arid so as often as defaults shall be made, for the time, and in the manner 
aforesaid, which new grants shalS be under, and subject to all and every the regulations contained 
in this act. Provided^ always, nevertheless, that if any such actual settler, or any grantee in 
any such original or succeeding icarrant shall, by force of arms of the enemies of the United 
States, be prevented from making such actual settlement, or be driven therefrom, and shall per. 
sist in his endeavors to make such actual settlement as aforesaid, then, in either case, he and his 
heirs shall be entitled to have and to hold the said lands, in the same manner, as if the actual 
settlement had been made and continued." 

Much controversy arose out of this act. The ninth section, and particularly the proviso in 
that section, was the subject of serious and bitter litigation for more than twenty years, before the 
highest courts both of the state and the U. States. Tlie most distinguished lawyers and judges 
repeatedly delivered conflicting decisions on the points at issue, and it was only settled at last, 
in 1805, by the decision of Chief-justice Marshall, of the Supreme Com-tof the U. S. Even this 
decision left open many secondary questions, which perplexed the courts, and, literally, " puzzled 
the Philadelphia lawyers," for many years afterwards ; and many of them were only settled 
eventuallj' by special legislation. During all that time, the improvement of that section of the 
state was retarded, while the regions in New York and Ohio, beyond it, were rapidly increasing 
in population and wealth. It is important to keep in mind, in considering this subject, the dis- 
turbed state of the western frontier at the time of the passage of this law, and for three years 
subsequently. (See Outline History.) Judge Washington says, " Though the great theatre of 
the war lay far to the northwest of the land in dispute, yet it is clearly proved that this country 
during this period was exposed to the repeated eruptions of the enemy, killing and plundering 
such of the whites as they met with in defenceless situations. We find the settlers sometimes 
working out in the daytime, in the neighborhood of forts, and returning at night within their 
walls for protection ; sometimes giving up the pursuit in despair, and returning to the settled 
parts of the country ; then returning to this country, and again abandoning it. We sometimes 
meet with a few men daring and hardy enough to attempt the cultivation of their lands ; associ- 
ating implements of husbandry with the instruments of war — the cliaracter of the husbandman 
with that of the soldier — and yet I do not recollect any instance in which, with this enterprising, 
daring spirit, a single individual was able to make such a settlement as the law required." 

When quiet vA^as again restored to the frontier, by Wayne's treaty in 
1795, pioneers and speculators flocked from all quarters into the districts 
beyond the Allegheny. Some had already made partial settlements there, 
and had been driven off " by the enemies of the United States :" others 
were old soldiers and officers, now for the first time able to make their 



CRAWFORD COUNTY. 261 

locations ; others had purchased for a trifle from the generous and reck- 
less old soldiers their titles to numerous tracts ; others were land-jobbers, 
who furnished means to tenants wherewith to make settlements on the 
jobber's account ; others were the agents of wealthy companies and 
associations, having in view the same object ; and others came in on their 
own account, under the very general impression that, as no one had yet 
been able to complete the five years' residence required by the law, they 
were at liberty to select such tracts as they found untenanted, although 
some previous settler, not yet returned, had made improvements upon 
them. The state of things which ensued when the titles of these various 
classes of people began to conflict with each other, may be readily con- 
ceived. In the numerous lawsuits which followed, those of the great 
land companies were the most important, since they involved a vast ex- 
tent of territory. Of these companies there were three — the Holland 
Land Company, the Population Company, and the North American Land 
Company. Of the latter, little has come to our knowledge, except that it 
was recognised, with the others, in certain legislative provisions. 

The Holland Land Company. — At the close of the revolution several wealthy gentlemen of 
Holland, William Willink, and eleven associates, had a very considerable sum of money to re- 
ceive either from the United States, or from Robert Morris, the distinguished financier of the 
revolution. This money had been borrowed of them, it is believed, for the purpose of carrying 
on the war. Preferring still to keep it invested in this new country, they purchased of Mr. Mor- 
ris, in 1792, an immense tract of land west of the Genesee river, in New York ; and about the 
same time they took up by warrant a great number of tracts east of the Allegheny river, in 
Pennsylvania, under the law of 1792. Many of these tracts they still hold. They also caused 
to be settled, or made endeavors to place settlers on a great number of tracts west of the Alle- 
gheny. Judge Yeates on one occasion said — " The Holland Land Co. have paid to the state the 
consideration money of 1,162 warrants, and the surveying fees on 1,048 tracts of land, [gener- 
ally 400 acres each,] besides making very considerable expenditures by their exertions, honorable 
to themselves, and useful to the community, in order to effect settlements. Computing the sums 
advanced, the lost tracts by prior improvements and interferences, and the quantity of 100 acres 
granted to each individual for making an actual settlement on their lands, it is said that, aver- 
aging the whole, between $230 and $240 have been expended by the company on each tract." 
To those settlers who had been prevented, by the wars on the frontier, from making an actual 
settlement on their lands, a certificate of the fact of prevention had been issued at the land-office. 
These were called prevention certificates, and were supposed to entitle the holder to a patent, 
without any further attempts at completing a settlement and five years' residence after the peace. 

Many of these certificates had been purchased by the Holland Land Co. On some they had 
received patents ; but on a change of administration in the land-ofiice, any further issue was 
refused. This raised the question on which was founded what is known in the law-books as the 
" great case of the Holland Land Co.," and upon which depended a vast number of titles in 
Western Pennsylvania. " The question is, whether the conditions of actual settlement, by rea- 
son of the Indian hostilities for two years after the date of a warrant for lands across the Alle- 
gheny, are extinguished or dispensed with, by the proviso in the 9th section of the act of 1792." 
Our limits will not admit of following the question through the courts. Suffice it to say, that in 
] 805 the Supreme court of the U. S. decided the question in the affirmative, and the Holland Co. 
being thus excused from making further attempts at residence or settlement, were confirmed in 
their titles, and eventually obtained quiet possession of their lands. Many tracts, however, of 
other claimants depended upon ff^^j/aZ seii/cmeni; and the question as to what constituted an 
actual settlement, was not fully settled by the courts for several years after the decision of the 
Holland Co. case. This whole subject is ably and copiously treated in Smith's Laws of Pa., 
vol. 2, and in the general index, vol. 5, — to which those are referred who wish to investigate the ^ 
subject more in detail. 

The Pennsylvania Population Co. was an association of wealthy gentlemen, organized in May, 
1792, of which John Nicholson, the great land speculator, was president, and Messrs. Cazcnove, 
Irvine, Mead, Leet, Hoge, and Stewart, managers. Their stock consisted of 2,500 shares, which, 
as each share represented 200 acres, was vested in 500,000 acres of land. Any one transferring 
to the company a donation tract of 200 acres, was entitled to a share of stock. The title to their 
lands was vested in trustees, to be held in common, and the proceeds divided pro rata among the 
Btockholders. John Nicholson, individually, soon after the passage of the law of 1792, had ap- 



262 CUMBERLAND COUNTY. 

plied for, at the land-office, 390 warrants, to be located in the "triangle" (Erie co.) then known 
as the Lake Erie territory, and for 250 warrants more on the waters of Beaver creek, amounting 
to about 260,000. Before, however, paying the purchase money on these tracts, he transferred 
his applications to the company, (in May, 1792,) who paid for them, and perfected the title. 
They also took up about 500 warrants more in Erie and Crawford counties, on 30th May, 1792. 
The people of this region, in common with those of many other parts of the state, have been re- 
cently (1842) very much alarmed and excited by the revival of an antiquated claim of John 
Nicholson's heirs to certain lands. So far as the claim concerns titles derived through the Popu- 
lation Co., it is thought by learned counsel that no part of the company's land was ever vested 
in John Nicholson individually. 



CUMBERLAND COUNTY. 

Cumberland county, formerly included in Lancaster co», was established 
by the act of 27th Jan., 1750. Its limits, which then included the whole 
country west to the boundary of the state, have been gradually reduced 
by the formation of other counties. Length 34 miles, breadth 16 ; area, 
545 sq. miles. Population in 1790, 18,243 ; in 1800, 25,386 ; in 1810, 
26,757 ; in 1820,23,606 ; in 1830, 29,226; in 1840, 30,953. 

The Kittatinny mountain, like a vast wall of regular height, sweeps 
round the northern boundary of the county ; the South mountain bounds 
it on the southeast. The Susquehanna flows along the N. E. end of the 
CO. The Conodoguinet flows through the whole length of the county. 
The Yellow Breeches creek drains the southern part. The surface of 
the county is, like that of the Kittatinny valley, generally undulating ; the 
southern half being composed of limestone land of most exuberant fer- 
tility, the northern of slate lands. No county in the state can boast more 
beautiful or more highly cultivated farms, than this. The population 
was originally Scotch-Irish, but they have been to a very great extent 
supplanted by the German race. The manufactures, besides those of a 
domestic character, are principally of iron. The county abounds in iron 
ore and forests, along the mountains, and contains some six or seven fur- 
naces, a large rolling-mill, and several forges. There is an extensive 
woollen factory on Mountain creek. The Cumberland Valley railroad 
passes through the centre of the co., touching at the principal towns. 
The Harrisburg and Pittsburg southern turnpike pursues nearly the same 
direction as the railroad. Another turnpike runs from Carlisle south to 
Baltimore. 

Previous to any settlement by the whites in the Cumberland valley, the 
Shawanee Indians had occupied the lands on the Conodoguinet for a 
hunting-ground. It appears from the elaborate researches of Redmond 
Conyngham, Esq., that "about the year 1677 the Shawanees, driven by 
persecution from Carolina and Georgia, came to the mouth of th Cones- 
toga, in Lancaster co., and obtained the consent of the Susquehanna In- 
dians to occupy the flats." "The Shawanees also claim that they were 
permitted to occupy the flats at the mouth of Conestoga, and were prom- 
ised hunting-ground and protection by Markham, and that this promise 
was confirmed by William Penn at Shackamaxon ; that a treaty of pur- 
chase was afterwards concluded with the Shawanees of their claim to 
the lands they occupied on the Susquehanna, they consenting to remove 



CUMBERLAND COUNTY. 263 

to lands on the Conodoguinet, surveyed for their use by order of the pro- 
prietaries. The intrusion of the white settlers upon their hunting-ground 
proved a fresh source of grievance ; they remonstrated to the governor 
and to the assembly, and finally withdrew and placed themselves under 
the protection of the French. Big Beaver, a Shawanee chief, at the 
treaty of Carlisle in 1753, referred to a promise made by William Penn 
at Shackamaxon, of hunting-grounds forever." 

A purchase was made by the proprietaries, in Oct. 1736, from the Six 
Nations, of all the lands west of the Susquehanna '• to the setting sun,'^ 
and south of the Tayamentasacta hills, as the Kittatinny mountain was 
called by the Six Nations. Previous to this, unauthorized settlements 
had been made in a few places on the Conodoguinet and Conococheague, 
by emigrants from the north of Ireland ; and after the purchase, although 
the land was not surveyed, they were rather encouraged to settle here, 
for the purpose of preventing intruders under Lord Baltimore's title. 
These settlements gave rise to the complaints of the Shawanees. 

When the county was erected, in 1750, it contained 807 taxable inhab- 
itants, and was represented in the assembly by Joseph Armstrong and 
Hermanns Alrichs. Robert M'Coy, Benjamin Chambers, David Magaw, 
James M'Intire, and John M'Cormick were the commissioners to select 
the site for a courthouse. Shippensburg was selected as a temporary 
seat of justice. The commissioners of this county and those of York dis- 
agreed in regard to the boundary line ; those of Cumberland wishing it to 
commence opposite the mouth of the Swatara, and run along the ridge 
of the South mountain, while the others claimed that it should follow up 
Yellow Breeches cr. The difficulty was settled by act of assembly, in 
1751, and the present line adopted. 

The courts were first held at Shippensburg, but were removed to Carlisle in 1751, after the 
town was laid out. The orphans' court, during the years 1750 and 1751, seems to have followed 
the judges. At one time it was held at "William Anderson's," another time at "Antrim," some- 
times at " Shippensburg," and then again at " Peterstown." 

The following is a literal copy of the first record in the court of quarter sessions : — 

" At a Court of General Quarter Sessions of the Peace held at Shippensburg for the County 
of Cumberland the twenty-fourth day of July in the twenty-fourth year of the Reign of his Ma- 
jesty King George the Second Annoq. Dom. 1750, 

Before Samuel Smith Esquire and his Brethren Keepers of the Peace of our said Lord the 
King and his Justices assign'd to hear and determine divers Felonies Trespasses &c, 

Dominus Rex 1 Sur Indictmt. for Larceny, not guilty &. now ye deft ret her 

vs > pi and submits to ye Ct. And thereupon it is considered by 

Bridget Hagen 5 the Court and adjudged tiiat ye sd Bridget Hagen Restore the 

sum of Six pounds seventeen shillings & sixpence lawfull money of Penna unto Jacob Long ye 
owner and make fine to ye Governor in ye like sum and pay ye costs of prosecution & receive fif- 
teen Lashes on her bare back at ye Public Whipping post &i- stand committed till ye fine &, fees 
are paid." 

When the courts were removed to Carlisle, great complaint was made 
by the people of Conococheague, which was then quite a populous settle- 
ment. 

Shippensburg they were fully persuaded would have quieted the whole county, though it was 
northeast of the centre ; yet that it had pleased the governor to remove the courts of justice to 
Letort's Spring, almost at one end of the county ; and they asked the assembly to take into con- 
sideration their grievances — the governor, though repeatedly applied to, having refused them re- 
dress. They alleged that it would always impoverish them to carry and expend their money at 
the extremity of the county, whence it would never circulate back again ; that neither the inter- 
ests of the proprietaries nor the prosperity of the town of Carlisle would be advanced by chang- 
ing the seat of justice, and that no good wagon road could be made across the North mountain 
" until beyond Shippensburg up the valley." 



2G4 CUMBERLAND COUNTY. 

The citizens of the eastern end denied the statements of the Conoco- 
cheague men, and the courts remained at Letort's Spring, where it was 
^^ for the proprietary interest that they should be. 

The settlers at that early day had but little regard to the quality of the soil upon which they 
located, if they could but fix their habitations near to running water. A number of them, there- 
fore, settled near Sherman's cr., upon lands not at that time purchased from the natives. In 
1750, Richard Peters, taking with him his majesty's magistrates of Cumberland, and the cele- 
brated Conrad Weiser, dispossessed several families who had there built cabins. Their dwellings 
were burned to the ground, and the trespassers held to appear and answer at the next court at 
iShippensburg ; and to remove immediately with their cattle and effects. 

In the year 175.'>, instructions were given by the proprietaries to their agents, that they should 
take especial care to encourage the emigration of Irishmen to Cumberland co. It was their de- 
sire to people York with Germans, and Cumberland with Irish. The mingling of the two nations 
in Lancaster co. had produced serious riofs at elections. In those primitive times, because of a 
sparse population, the elections were not very regular, but difficulties in these cases were settled 
in a smnmary manner, and at much less expense tlian in this intelligent age ; for in 1756, when 
William Allen was returned a member of the assembly for two counties, CumberlaTld and North- 
ampton, he was merely requested by the speaker to name the county for which he would sit, as 
he could not sei've for both. He chose Cumberland, and a new election was ordered for North- 
ampton, 

Capt. Jack was a noted character in the early days of Cumberland co., 
between 1750 and 1755. From Mr. Conyngham's notes it appears that — 

Capt. Jack — the " black hunter," the " black rifle," the " wild hunter of Juniata," the " black 
hunter of the forest" — was a white man. He entered the woods with a few enterprising com- 
panions, built his cabin, cleared a little land, and amused himself with the pleasures of fishing 
and hunting. He felt happy, for he had not a care. But on an evening, when he returned from 
a day of sport, he found his cabin burnt, and his wife and children murdered. From that mo- 
ment he forsook civilized man, lived in caves, protected the frontier inhabitants from the Indians, 
and seized every opportunity for revenge that offered. He was a terror to the Indians ; a protector 
to the whites. On one occasion, near Juniata, in the middle of a dark night, a family was sud- 
denly awakened by the report of a gun. They jumped from their huts, and by the glimmering 
light from their chimney saw an Indian fall to rise no more. The open door exposed to view the 
"wild hunter." "I saved your lives," he cried ; then turned and was buried in the gloom of 
night. He never shot without good cause. His look was as unerring as his aim. He formed 
an association to defend the settlers against savage aggressions. On a given signal they would 
unite. Their exploits were often heard of, in 1756, on the Conococheague and Juniata. He was 
sometimes called the Half Indian ; and Col. Armstrong, in a letter to the governor, says, " The 
company imder the command of the Half Indian, having left the Great Cove, the Indians took 
advantage and murdered many." He also, through Col. Croghan, proffered his aid to Braddock. 
" He will march with his hunters," says the colonel ; " they are dressed in hunting-shirts, moc- 
casins, &c., are well armed, and are equally regardless of lieat or cold. They require no shelter 
for the night — they ask no pay." 

What was the real name of this mysterious personage has never beer 
ascertained. It is supposed that he gave name to "Jack's mountain" — ar 
enduring and appropriate monument. 

Carlisle is situated in the midst of the Cumberland valley, 17 miles 
W. from Harrisburg, and 117 from Philadelphia. It is an ancient and 
flourishing borough, and is laid out with wide streets, with a spacious 
public square in the centre, around which are several of the churches 
and public buildings. The trees recently planted in the centre of the 
square will, in a few years, add much to the beauty of the place. Le- 
tort's spring, a copious stream, which gushes from the limestone two 
miles south, runs along the eastern border of the town, emptying into the 
Conodoguinet, about three miles below. Through the centre of the main, 
or " High" street, runs the Cumberland Valley railroad, which was com- 
pleted about the year 1838. The great turnpike through Chambersburg 
to Pittsburg also passes through the town, and another runs to Baltimore. 

The public buildings are, courthouse and county offices, jail, market- 



CUMBERLAND COUNTY. iitJ5 

house, town-hall, two common school buildings, Dickinson's college and 
institute, two Presbyterian churches, St. John's Protestant Episcopal 
church, German Reformed church, Lutheran church, Methodist Episcopal 
church, Roman Catholic church. Associate Presbyterian church, three 
African churches, banking-house, and United States Barracks. 

The common school system is in full operation in Carlisle. The whole 
number of schools is 15, in which are taught about 800 scholars, at an an- 
nual expense of not less than 84,000. The schools constitute a progressive 
series, in which " the branches are taught from the alphabet to the higher 
studies of an English education." 

The courthouse, an old-fashioned brick building, was erected about the 
year 1766 — the cupola and clock not having been added until 1809. The 
old stone jail was erected about 1754, and enlarged in 1790. In 1754, 
stocks and a pillory were also erected, and remained on the public square 
until that inhuman punishment was abolished. Some of the old citi- 
zens yet remember having seen the ears of " cropped" culprits nailed to 
the pillory. 

Carlisle was incorporated as a borough on the 13th April, 1782, and the 
charter was amended in 1814. Pop. in 1830, 3,708 ; in 1840, 4,350. 

The citizens of this place are noted for their intelligence and orderly 
habits. It has always been the residence of a circle of distinguished 
professional men, attached to the college, to the army, and to the different 
professions, who impart an elevated tone to the society of the place. 

The late Judge Duncan, of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, was a native of Carlisle. 
His father, who was from Scotland, was one of the first settlers of the county. Young Duncan 
was educated here under Dr. Ramsay, the historian, and studied law in Lancaster, under Judge 
Yeates. His rise was rapid, and in less than ten years from his admission to the bar he was at 
the head of the profession in the midland counties in the state, and for nearly thirty years sus- 
tained this rank. He was appointed to the bench of the Supreme Court, in March, 1817, by 
Gov. Snyder, in place of Judge Yeates, who had died. He shortly after removed to Philadelphia, 
where he resided until his death, which took place on the 16th Nov. 1827. 

At the bar, Mr. Duncan was distinguished by quickness and acuteness of discernment, prompt, 
ness of decision, and accurate and practical knowledge of men and things, and a ready recom"se 
to the rich stores of his own mind and memory. Without the possession of many of the natural 
requisites of oratory, he was a skUful, ardent, and indeed eloquent advocate. During the ten 
years that he sat upon the bench, associated with the late Chief-justice Tilghman, and the pre- 
sent Chief-justice Gibson, he contributed largely to the stock of judicial opinion, and the Reports 
contain abundant memorials of his industry, learning, and talents. Judge Duncan survived his 
excellent friend. Judge Tilghman, but a few months. The decease of these two eminent magis- 
trates was deeply lamented throughout the state. 

Mr. Conyngham says — 

Messrs. Lyon and Armstrong were elected by the proprietaries to lay out a town on the road 
from Harris's ferry, leading through the rich valley of Cumberland, including the old stockade 
and blockhouse, and extending over the big spring called Le Tort, (now Letort,) after James Le 
Tort, a French Swiss, who acted as Indian interpreter and messenger to government, and who 
had erected a cabin at its source as early as the year 1735. Carlisle was laid out in pursuance 
of their directions in 1750, and in 1753 the seat of justice was permanentl}' located at CarHsle. 

James Le Tort, by some of the manuscripts, is stated to have penetrated to Cumberland valley 
as early as 1731. His first cabin was burnt by the Indians. It stood at the head of the spring. 
He received for his services twelve pounds annually. 

Gov. Hamilton, in his letter of instructions, April 1, 1751, " to Nicholas 
Scull, surveyor-general, which will serve likewise for Mr. Cookson," states 
that he had been led to select the site on account of there being among 
other advantages " about it, a wholesome dry limestone soil, good air, and 
abundance of vapant land, well covered with a variety of wood," and 

34 



'2(}G CUMBERLAND COUNTY. 

charged his agents " to take into consideration the following matters" in 
selecting the site, viz. 

— the health of the citizens, the goodness and plenty of ater, witli the easiest method of com 
ing at it, its commodiousness to the great road leading from Harris's ferry to the Potowmac, and 
to other necessary roads, as well into the neighboring county as over the passes in the Blue 
mountains. 

When you have examined the country about this place, so as to consult these necessary points 
in the best manner possible, then you may proceed to mark the place of the centre and tlie out- 
lines, conforming yourselves in all things to the proprietaries' plan and instructions herewith de- 
livered to you, but in doing this you are to have a special regard to tlie situation of the proprietary 
lands, so as that upon the increase of the town, the lots may all be within lands belonging to the 
proprietaries, and the roads to the town pass through them in the most advantageous manner ; 
and to the end that I may fonn my own judgment of this, you are not absolutely to fix or publish 
any particular place, but to lay down on a draught the site, as in your judgment, of the town, 
with the proprietary lands and places contiguous, the courses of the creek, of the great road, as 
it goes from the ferry to Shippensburg, and other necessary roads, the courses and distance of the 
river Conedogwinet, and Yellow Breeches, together with the quality of the soil, at and near the 
town, and between it and those rivers. You are likewise to survey what other vacant lands 
there are within five miles of the town for the use of the proprietaries on your general warrant, as 
I am informed by them that the surveyors have strangely neglected their interest in this county. 

In May, 1753, John O'Neal, who had been sent to Carlisle by Gov. 
Hamilton, for the purpose of repairing the fortifications, thus writes — 

" The garrison here consists only of twelve men. The stockade originally occupied two acres 
of ground square, with a blockhouse in each corner : these buildings are now in ruin. Carlisle 
has been recently laid out, and is the established seat of justice. It is the general opinion that a 
number of log-cabiiis will be erected during the ensuing summer on speculation, in which some 
accommodation can be had for the new levies. The number of dwelling-houses is five. The 
court is at present held in a temporary log building, on the northeast corner of the centre square. 
If the lots were clear of the brushwood, it would give a different aspect to the town. The situ- 
ation, however, is handsome, in the centre of a valley, with a mountain bounding it on the north 
and south at a distance of seven miles. The wood consists principally of oak and hickory. The 
limestone will be of great advantage to the future settlers, being in abundance. A limekiln 
stands on the centre square, near what is called the deep quarry, from which is obtained good 
building stone. A large stream of water runs about two miles from the village, which may at a 
future period be rendered navigable. A fine spring runs to the east, called Le Tort, after the In- 
dian interpreter who settled on its head about the year 1720. The Indian wigwams, in the vicin- 
ity of the Great Beaver Pond, are to me an object of particular curiosity." 

In the same year, 1753, another stockade of very curious construction was erected, whose 
western gate was in High street, between Hanover and Pitt streets, opposite lot 100. This for- 
tification was thus constructed. Oak logs about seventeen feet in length, were set upright in a 
ditch dug to the depth of four feet. Each log was about twelve inches in diameter. In the in- 
terior were platforms made of clapboards, and raised four or five feet from the ground. Upon 
these the men stood and fired through loopholes. At each corner was a swivel gun, which was 
occasionally fired " to let the Indians know that such kind of guns were within." Three wells 
were sunk within the line of the fortress, one of which was on lot 125 ; another on the line be- 
tween lots 109 and 117 ; and the third on the line between lots 124 and 116. This last was fof 
many years known as the " King's Well." Within this fort, called " Fort Louther," women and 
children from Green Spring and the country around, often sought protection from the tomahawk 
of the savage. Its force, in 1755, consisted of fifty men, and that of Fort Franklin, at Shippens- 
bvu-g, of the same number. At a somewhat later day, or perhaps about the same time, breast- 
works were erected a little northeast of the town — as it was then limited — by Col. Stanwix, some 
remains of which still exist. 

The following extracts are from a pamphlet recently published at Car- 
lisle, containing the charter and ordinances of the borough. 

When the town was first located, it extended no further than the present North, South, East and 
West streets. All the surrounding country now within the borough limits was purchased back 
by Mr. Cookson from the settlers, for the proprietaries, and was designed as commons. Subse- 
quently, however, principally in the years 1798, 1799, and 1800, the "additional lots" and "out- 
lots" were laid out and sold to the citizens, but not without the remonstrance of a number of the 
inhabitants, who held a town meeting, and declared that the original lots had been purchased from 
the proprietaries upon a condition verbally expressed, that the proprietaries' lands adjoining the 
tp^p should remain commons forever for the benefit of the poor. Because of this dissatisfaction, 



CUMBERLAND COtNTY. 267 

Ihe payment of quit-rents, which had been annually collected by the agjents of the Penns, was in- 
terrupted for many years, and eventually their recovery was judiciously determined to be barred 
by lapse of time. 

" In October, 1753, a treaty of " amity and friendship" was held at Carlisle with the Ohio Indians 
by Benjamin Franklin, Isaac Morris, and William Peters, commissioners. The expenses of this 
treaty, including presents to the Indians, amounted to fourteen hundred pounds. 

Shortly after this period, the dispute arose between the governor and council, and the assembly, 
on the subject of a complaint made by the Shawanee Indians, that the proprietary government 
had surveyed all the lands on the Conodoguinet into a manor, and driven them from their hunt- 
ing-ground, without a purchase, and contrary to treaty. 

The first weekly post between Philadelphia and Carlisle was established in 1757, intended the 
better to enable his honor the governor and the assembly to communicate with his majesty's sub- 
jects on the frontier. 

The town of Carlisle, in 1760, was made the scene of a barbarous murder. Doctor John, a 
friendly Indian of the Delaware tribe, was massacred, together with his wife and two children. 
Capt. Callcnder; who was one of the inquest, was sent for by the assembly, and, after interroga. 
ting him on the subject, they offered a reward of one hmidred pounds for the apprehension of each 
person concerned in the murder. The excitement occasioned by the assassination of Doctor 
John's family was immense, for it was feared that the Indians might seek to avenge the murder 
on the settlers. About noonday, on the 4th of July, 1763, one of a party of horsemen, who were 
seen rapidly riding through the town, stopped a moment to quench his thirst, and communicated 
the information that Presqu'isle, Le Beuf, and Venango had been captured by the French and 
Indians. The greatest alarm spread among the citizens of the town and neighboring country. 
The roads were crowded in a little while with women and children, hastening to Lancaster for 
safety. The pastor of the Episcopal church headed his congregation, encouraging them on the 
way. Some retired to the breastworks. Col. Bouquet, in a letter addressed to the governor, da- 
ted the day previous, at Carlisle, urged the propriety of the people of York assisting in building 
the posts here, and " sowing the harvest," as their county was protected by Cumberland. 

The terror of the citizens subsided but little, until Col. Bouquet conquered the Indians in the 
following year, 1764, and compelled them to sue for peace. One of the conditions upon which 
peace was granted, was that the Indians should deliver up all the women and children whom they 
had taken into captivity. Among them were many who had been seized when very young, and 
had grown up to womanhood in the wigwam of the savage. They had contracted the wild habits 
of their captors, learned their language and forgotten their own, and were bound to them by ties 
of the strongest affection. Many a mother found a lost child ; many were unable to designate 
their children. The separation between the Indians and their prisoners was heart-rending. The 
hardy son of the forest shed torrents of tears, and every captive left the wigwam with reluc- 
tance. Some afterwards made their escape, and returned to the Indians. Many had in- 
termarried with the natives, but all were left to freedom of choice, and those who re- 
mained unmarried had been treated with deUcacy. One female who had been captured at the 
age of fourteen, had become the wife of an Indian, and the mother of several children. When in- 
formed that she was about to be delivered to her parents, her grief could not be alleviated. "Can 
I," said she, " enter my parents' dwelling ? Will they be kind to my children ? Will my old 
companions associate with the wife of an Indian chief ? And my husband, who has been so 
kind — I vnll not desert him !" That night she fled from the camp to her husband and children. 

A great number of the restored prisoners were brought to Carlisle, and Col. Bouquet advertised 
for those who had lost children to come here and look for them. Among those that came was 
an old woman, whose child, a little girl, had been taken from her several years before ; but she 
was unable to designate her daughter or converse with the released captives. With breaking 
heart, tlie old woman lamented to Col. Bouquet her hapless lot, telling him how she used many 
years ago to sing to her little daughter a hymn of which the child was so fond. She was re» 
quested by the colonel to sing it then, which she did in these words : 
" Alone, yet not alone am I, 

Though in this solitude so drear ; 
I feel my Saviour always nigh. 
He comes my every hour to cheer," 
and the long-lost daughter rushed into the arms of her mother. 

Quietude being secured to the citizens by the termination of the Indian war, they directed theit 
attention to the improvement of their village and the cultivation of the soil. No important public 
e>cnt disturbed them in their peaceful occupations, until the disputes which preceded the war of 
the revolution arose between the colonies and the mother country. The tyrannical sway of the 
British sceptre over the colonists, found but few advocates among the inhabitants of Carlisle, and 
when a resort to warfare became necessary, many of them imhesitatingly obeyed their country's 
call, and bore arms in her defence. 

During the war Carlisle was made a place of rendezvous for the American troops ; and m 
consequence of being located at a distance from the theatre of war, British prisoners were fre- 



268 



CUMBERLAND COUNTY. 



quently sent hither for secure confinement. Of these, Maj. Andre and Lieut. Despard, who had 
been taken by Montgomery, near Lake Champlain, while here, in 1776, occupied the stone house 
at the corner of South Hanover street and Locust alley, and were on a parole of lionor of six 
miles ; but were prohibited goings out of the town except in military dress. Mrs. Ramsey, an un- 
flinchincr whig, detected two torics in conversation with these officers, and immediately made 
known the circumstance to William Brown, Esq., one of the county committee. The tories were 
imprisoned. Upon their persons were discovered letters written in French , but no one could be 
found to interpret them, and their contents were never known. After this, Andre and Despard 
were not allowed to leave the town. 'I'iiey had fowling-pieces of superior workmanship, but now, 
being unable to use them, they broke them to pieces, declaring that " no d — d rebel should ever 
burn powder in them." During their confinement, one Thompson enlisted a company of militia 
in what is now Perry county, and marched them to Carlisle. Eager to make a display of his 
own bravery and that of his recruits, he drew up his soldiers at night in front of the house of An- 
dre and his companion, and swore lustily he would have their lives, because, as he alleged, the 
Americans who were prisoners of war in the hands of the British, were dying by starvation. 
Through the importunities, however, of Mrs. Ramsey, Captain Thompson, who had formerly 
been an apprentice to her husband, was made to desist ; and as he countermarched his company, 
with a menacing nod ol' the head he bellowed to the objects of his wrath, " You may thank my old 
mistress for your lives." They were afterwards removed to York, but before their departure, sent to 
Mrs. Ramsey a box of spermaceti candles, with a note requesting her acceptance of the donation, 
as an acknowledgment of her many acts of kindness. The present was declined, Mrs. Ramsey 
averring that she was too stanch a whig to accept a gratuity from a British officer. Despard 
was executed at London in 1803, for high treason. With the fate of the unfortunate Andre, 
every one is familiar. 

The town of Carlisle was incorporated, and its present boundaries fixed, by an act of assembly, 
passed on the I3th of April, 1782 ; but the charter was supplied by a new enactment of the 4th of 
March, 1814. Under the old charter, the style of the corporation was, "The Bui-gesses and In- 
habitants of the town of Carlisle." Having no council, all corporate business was transacted in 
town meeting. The early borough records are somewhat imperfect, and the aiTairs of the corpo- 
ration appear to have been loosely managed. When the yellow fever, however, in 1793, was com- 
mitting its ravages in Philadelphia, there was no lack of active exertion, by the inhabitants of 
Carlisle, to keep from among them the scourges of the epidemic. 

In 1794, the army raised to quell the whiskey insurrection in the West, rendezvoused at Car- 
lisle. Gen. Washington was with them here for some time, and liad his quarters in Hanover 
street, in the second house south of the markei square. 




Dickinson College. 

The college is situated alt the west end of the town, fronting on High- 
street. The following history of the institution is derived from the pam- 
phlet referred to above. 

The original charter of Dickinson College was granted by the legislature in 1783. By that 
instrument it was determined — " that in memory of the great and important services rendered to 
his country by His Excellency John Dickinson, Esquire, President of the Supreme Executive 
Council, and in commemoration of his very liberal donation to the institution, the said college 
shall be forever hereafter called and known by the name of Dickinson College." The faculty 
was first organized in 1784, by the election of the Rev. Charles Nisbet, D. D., of Montrose 



CUMBERLAND COUNTY. 269 

Scotland, as President, and the appointment of Mr. James Ross, as Professor of Languages ; to 
whom were added in the following year, the Rev. Robert Davidson, D. D., as Professor of Belles- 
Lettres, and Mr. Robert Johnston, Instructor in Mathematics. The college, under the adminis- 
tration of Dr. Nisbet, flourished, as much, perhaps, as the times would allow. 

The first edifice erected in 1803, was destroyed by fire in 1804, but another was completed in 
September, 1805, and is now known as the west college. The college sustained a heavy loss in 
the death of Dr. Nisbet, which occurred on the I4th of February, 1804. The office of President 
was exercised pro tempore by Dr. Davidson, until, in 1809, the Rev. Jeremiah Atwater, D. D., 
was elected. The institution was prosperous under his direction, and the class of 1812 was the 
largest that had graduated for twenty years. In 1815, President Atwater resigned, and the fol- 
lowing year the operations of the college were suspended, and were not renewed till 1821, when 
the Rev. John M. Mason, D. D., was called to preside, and during the first part of his adminis- 
tration, there was a considerable influx of students ; but previously to his resignation, wliich took 
place May 1, 1824, the college began to decline, and continued to languish, except for brief 
mtervals, while under the presidency of Drs. Neill and Howe, until 1832, when the trus- 
tees determined that the operations of the institution should cease. In 1833, the control 
of the college was transferred to the Baltimore, Philadelphia, and New Jersey annual confer- 
ences of the Methodist Episcopal church by tlie resignation, from time to time, of some of the 
trustees, and by the election of others, named by the said conferences, in their stead, until finally 
a complete change was effected in the management of the institution. By this change, the col- 
lege took a fresh start, and the organization of the faculty was commenced by the election of the 
Rev. John P. Durbin as President, and the establishment of a law department under the charge 
of the Hon. John Reed. About the same time, a grammar school was opened under the direction 
of Mr. Alexander F. Dobb. 

Dickinson College, under the auspices of the Methodist Episcopal church, and under the direc- 
tion of its able faculty, has hitherto been prosperous, and bids fair to realize the hopes of its early 
founders. A new and commodious edifice has been erected for the accommodation of the faculty 
and students, and a suitable building for the use of the grammar school, called Dickinson Insti- 
tute. A large addition has been made to the libraries, to the chemical and philosophical appara- 
tus, and to the mineralogical cabinet. The number of students has gradually increased, and at 
this time there are in the college proper 118, in the grammar school, 60. Total, 178. The Board 
of Instruction is as follows : — Rev. John P. Durbin, D. D., President and Prof, of Moral Phi- 
losophy. Merritt Caldwell, A. M., Prof, of Metaphysics and Political Economy. WiUiam H, 
Allen, A. M., Prof, of Chemistry and Experimental Philosophy. Rev. John McClintock, A. M., 
Prof, of Languages. Thos. E. Sudler, A. M., Prof, of Mathematics. Hon. John Reed, LL.D., 
Prof, of Law. Rev. Levi Scott, A. M., Principal of the Grammar School. Rev. Thomas Bow- 
man, A. M., Assistant. 

The early settlers of the valley being generally from the north of Ire- 
land, brought with them their attachment to the Presbyterian church ; 
and upwards of a century since, the Presbyterians built a log church on 
the Conodoguinet, at the " Meeting-house springs." " The first pastor was 
Rev. Samuel Thompson." No vestige of the building remains. In the 
burying-ground are to be seen several ancient grave-stones emblazoned 
with coats of arms. The pamphlet mentioned above contains the follow- 
ing notices of the churches in the borough. 

Shortly after Carlisle was laid out, a Presbyterian congregation was organized in it. A church 
^vas built, and George Duffield, D. D., ordained pastor in 1761. About 1760, a license was ob- 
tained from Gov. Hamilton, authorizing the congregation to raise by lottery " a small sum of mo- 
ney to enable them to build a decent house for the worship of God," and in 1766, the minister 
and others petitioned the Assembly for the passage of an act to compel the " managers to set- 
tle," and the " adventurers to pay ;" the settlement of the lottery having been for a " considera- 
blij time deferred" by reason of the " confusions occasioned by the Indian wars." The act 
prayed for was passed. A short time afterwards, the congregation in the country, then luider the 
care of the Rev. Mr. Steele, constructed a two-story house of worship in town ; and some time 
before the revolution erected the present " First Presbyterian church," on the northwest corner 
of the centre square. The two church parties differed somewhat in doctrinal views, and were 
called the " Old Lights," and " New Lights." Mr. Duffield's congregation erected a gallery in 
Mr. Steele's church, and the two parties worshipped separately. After the removal of Mr. Duf- 
field to Philadelphia, and the death of Mr. Steele, the two congregations united, and called, in 
1785, the Rev. Robert Davidson. In 1786, the congregation thus united was incorporated. In 
1833, a portion of the congregation, by reason of a doctrinal dispute, organized another congre- 
gation, and worshipped in the county-hall till 1834, when they built the " Second Presbyterian 



270 CUMBERLAND COUNTY. 

church," on the corner of South Hanover and Pomfret streets. The new corigteg&Vjon Was b* 
corporated in the latter year. The First church is at present under the care of Rev. WilUam T. 
Sprole ; and the Second, under that of Rev. Alexander T. McGill. 

_ St. John's church is on the northeast corner of the public square. Its corner-stone was laid 
m 1825. Robert Callfender, George Croghan, Thomas Smallnian, and Thomas Butler, presented 
to the Assembly, m 1765, a petition in behalf of the "members of the Church of England m 
Cumberland county," representing that they had " in part erected a church in Carlisle, wherein 
to worship Almighty God ; but from the smallness of their number, and distressed state of the 
country consequent upon the Indian wars," they were unable to finish it ; and praying the house 
to " consider tlieir condition, and grant them such relief as they in their wisdom" should deem 
meet. The same year an act was passed authorizing them to raise a sufficient sum for the de- 
sired purpose by lottery ; but whether they availed themselves of it, does not appear. The 
church then erected stood until the present one was built near tlie same spot. An itinerant mis- 
sionary for the counties of York and Cumberland, was maintained by the " Society for the Prop- 
agation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts," for several years after these counties were founded. 
This office, as late as 17GG, was held by the Rev. William Thompson, son of the first Presbyte- 
rian pastor at the " Meeting-house Springs." The present rector is the Rev. P. H. Greenleaf. 

The German Reformed and Evangelical Lutheran congregations were organized about 1765 ; the 
latter under the pastoral care of the Rev. Mr. Butler, They worshipped on alternate Sabbaths 
in the same church,— which stood on the present German Reformed burying-ground, — until 
1807, when each congregation erected a house of worship for its own use. The Lutheran church 
was incorporated in 1811, and is now under the care of the Rev. John Ubich. 

The German Reformed church was located on the lot now occupied by the Preparatory school- 
building of Dickinson College. Having sold it, they built, in 1827, a church at the comer of 
High and Pitt streets, which they afterwards sold to the Methodists, and in 1835 erected the one 
wluch they now occupy in Louther-street. They were incorporated in 1811. Their pastor is the 
Rev. Henry Aurand. 

Soon after the revolution, the Methodist ministers commenced their labors in CarUsle, worship, 
pmg first in the market-place, then in the com-thouse, and subsequently in a small frame-building 
in Pomfret-street, in which last place they formed a class of about 12 members, in 1792 or 
1793. Their number increased, and in a few years afterwards they built a small stone house 
in Pitt-street, in which they worshipped a short time, and then erected a brick edifice in 
Church alley. Having sold this in 1835, they purchased from the German Reformed congre. 
gation the stone church on the comer of Pitt and High streets, which they have much improved 
and beautified. In this they now worship, under the pastoral charge of the Rev. Henry Sheer. 
The congregation was incorporated in 1838. 

The Catholic chapel is built in the figure of a cross. It was erected in 1807, and enlarged in 
1823. The lot was at an early day owned by the Jesuits of Conewago, who had upon it a small 
log church, in which the Catholic congregation worshipped until the present one was built. Their 
officiating priest is the Rev Patrick Maher. 

The Associate Presbyterian congregation of Carlisle was organized in 1798. The lot on West- 
street, upon which the church is built, was conveyed, in consideration of £6, by the Messrs. Penn, 
in 1796, to " Wm. Blair, Wm. Moore, John Smith, and John McCoy, trustees of the Associate 
Presbyterian congregation, adhering to the subordination of the Associate Presbytery of Penn- 
sylvania, of which the Rev. John Marshall and James Clarkson" were then members. The 
bmlding was put up in 1802, and the Rev. Francis Pring:le, their first pastor, called the same 
year. They have now no stationed minister, but the pulpit is occasionally filled by supplies. 
There are also three Afi-ican churches in the borough. 

" The United States barracks are located about half a mile from the 
town, but within the borough limits. They were built in 1777. The 
workmen employed were Hessians captured at Trenton. The barracks 
will garrison 2,000 men. A school of cavalry practice has recently been 
established at them, by the government, and the buildings handsomely 
fitted up under the direction of Captain E. V. Sumner, commanding the 
post." 

There is a remarkable limestone cave 1 1-2 miles from town. The 
entrance, which is on the banks of the Conodoguinet, is a semi-circular 
archway, about 7 feet high, wrought by nature's own hand. It contains 
a number of curious passages and antechambers, and several pools of 
M^ater, supposed by some to be springs, but probably formed by the drip- 
pings from the roof, or by the occasional overflowing of its subterranean 
waters. " It is supposed by some that the Indians formerly used this cave 



CUMBERLAND COUNTY. 271 

as a place of refugo from danger, a deposit for their spoils, and a place 
of interment for the dead. Human bones have been found in it, but none 
of those articles usually buried with the Indians." 

About four miles north of Carlisle, on a branch of the Conodoguinet, 
are the Sulphur Springs, in a very healthy, retired spot, surrounded with 



Carlisle Springs. 
the fine scenery of the Blue mountain. The grounds are ornamented in 
good taste, and the accommodations for strangers are ample. It was 
formerly a place of great resort. The water bubbles up from the slate 
formation, from which it derives its strong impregnation of sulphur. 

Shippensburg, the most ancient town in the co., is situated near the 
western boundary, on the turnpike and the railroad. It is in the heart of 
a fertile limestone country, cultivated principally by German farmers, 
w^ith a few descendants of the ancient Scotch-Irish pioneers. It was 
formerly rendered very brisk by the wagoners' business, which has been 
broken up by the railroad. Means' run, a branch of the Conodoguinet, 
turns a number of mills at the town. The borough was incorporated 
21st Jan. 1819. This place, in 1750, was for a time the seat of justice 
of the county. Population in 1810, 1,159 ; in 1820, 1,410; in 1830, 1,808; 
in 1840, 1,473. The region around Shippensburg was settled at a very 
early day. The old Presbyterian church at Middle Spring, (2 miles out,) 
was one of the first established in the valley, under the old presbytery of 
Donnegal. The venerable Mr. Moody, the present pastor, has been in 
charge about forty years. He was preceded by the Rev. Dr. Robert 
Cooper, who remained in charge about thirty-five years, and before him 
was the Rev. Mr. Blair, who had been in charge but a short time. The 
Presbyterian church in town is of more recent origin, the records extend- 
ing no further back than the last war, (1812-14.) Rev. James Walker, 
who retired in 1820, was the first clergyman ; Rev. Thomas M. Strong, 
Henry R. Wilson, and James Harper — still there — have since succeeded 
each other. The Seceders appear to have founded the earliest church in 
town, and have recently ejected the others in a suit at law for the church 
property on an ancient title deed. The earlier settlers here were Messrs. 
Bard, M'Ewen, M'Connell, Reynolds, and McClay, about 100 years since. 



272 DAUPHIN COUNTY. 

John Brady, the father of Capt. Samuel Brady, was born in the state of Delaware, A. D 
1733. Hugh Brady, the father of John, had emigrated from Ireland. At a very early period, 
Hugh Brady settled within five miles of where Shippensburg now stands. The country was then 
a wilderness, thinly settled by Irish emigrants, simple, sincere, and religious. Many anecdotes 
are collected, evincive of this, but they would be out of place here. During the French and In- 
dian wars, that part of the country was much harassed by the Indians. John Brady and several 
other young men had been active against them, and as a mark and reward of merit, he was ap- 
pointed captain in the provincial line, which at that time was no small distinction. He married 
Mary Quigly, and Samuel, their first child, was born in the town of Shippensburg, A. D. 1758. 
After the war, and a purchase had been made from the Indians in 1768, John Brady moved with 
his family to the West branch of the Susquehanna, where Samuel resided with him till June, 
1 775. Capt. John Lowden, a widower, raised a company of volunteer riflemen, seventy in num- 
ber, and all unmarried, and marched to Boston. Samuel Brady was one of this band, and the 
captain intended that he should be an oflicer ; but his father objected, saying, " Let liim first 
learn the duty of a soldier, and then he will know how to act as an officer." 

Newville is a pleasant borough with 654 inhabitants, on the railroad 
and on Big Spring creek, 14 miles west of Carlisle. It contains Presby- 
terian and Seceders' churches. The borough was incorporated 26th Feb. 
1817. 

Died, on Sunday, the 19th Dec. 1830, at his residence in Mifflin township, Cumberland co., 
Pa., WilUam Denning, in the 94th year of his age. The deceased was an artificer in the army 
of the revolution. He it was, who, in the days of his country's need, made the only successful 
attempt ever made in the world to manufacture wrought iron cannon ; two of which he com- 
pleted, at Middlesex in this county, and commenced another and larger one at Mount Holly, but 
could get no one to assist him who could stand the heat, which is said to have been so great as 
to melt the lead buttons on his clothes. This unfinished piece, it is said, lies as he left it, at either 
Holly Forge or the Carlisle Barracks. One of those completed was taken by the British at the 
battle of Brandywine, and is now in the tower of London. 

The British government offered a large sum, and a stated annuity, to the person who would 
instruct them in the manufacture of that article ; but the patriotic blacksmith preferred obscurity 
and poverty in his own beloved country, to wealth and affluence in that of her oppressors ; al- 
though that country for which he did so much, kept her purse closed from the veteran soldier till 
near the close of his long life — and it often required the whole weight of liis well-known charac- 
ter for honesty, to save him from the severest pangs of poverty. When such characters as the 
deceased are neglected by a rich government, it is no wonder that some folks think Republics 
ungrateful. 

The strength of his good constitution continued till near his last ; and he was able to walk to 
the village of Newville, (two miles from his residence,) until about six months before his de- 
cease. — Hazard^s Register, vol. 7. 

Mechanicsburg is a flourishing borough, incorporated 12th April, 1828, 
on the railroad, 9 miles east of Carlisle. Population in 1830, 554 ; in 
1840, 670. 

New Cumberland, borough, incorporated 21st March, 1831, is situated 
at the mouth of Yellow Breeches creek, on the right bank of the Susque- 
hanna, 3 miles below Harrisburg. Population in 1840, 284. 

WoRMLEYSBURG and Fairview are two villages opposite Harrisburg,— 
the former at the end of the bridge, and the latter two miles above, at 
the mouth of the Conodoguinet. There are several other small villages 
in the county among which are Kingstown, Stoughstown, Springfield, &;c, 



DAUPHIN COUNTY. 

Dauphin :;ounty was separated from Lancaster by the act of 4th 
March, 1785 ; by the establishment of Lebanon county, in 1813, it was 
reduced to its present limits. Length 33 miles, breadth 16; area, 533 



DAUPHIN COUNTY. 273 

sq. miles. Population in 1790, 18,177 ; in 1800, 22,270 ; in 1810, 31,883 ; 
in 1820, (part of Lebanon off,) 21,653 ; in 1830, 25,243 ; in 1840, 30,118. 

That part of the co. below the Kittatinny mountain, and forming a 
part of the Kittatinny valley, consists of undulating slate and limestone 
lands, beautiful, fertile, and highly cultivated. The other part of the co. 
is very mountainous, but contains a few narrow and pleasant red-shale 
valleys, and several fertile flats along the Susquehanna. The mountain- 
ous region abounds with anthracite coal, especially Lyken's valley, at the 
southwestern termination of the great southern coal field of Pottsville 
and Mauch Chunk. This coal field, in the vicinity of Pine grove, " di- 
vides into two branches, — the northern one, under the name of Wiconis- 
co mountain, extending westwardly several miles beyond the county line 
of Schuylkill and Dauphin counties, to Lyken's valley — and the other, 
embraced between the Stony mountain and a continuation of the Sharp 
mountain, reaching nearly to the Susquehanna river." Commencing 
with the Kittatinny mountain and traversing the co. in a northwestern 
direction, the principal ranges crossed are the Second and Third, Peters', 
Berry's, and Mahantango mountains. Between Peters' and Berry's are 
Short mountain, and several minor ridges and broken spurs ; and several 
of a similar character between Berry's and the Mahantango mountains. 
In these minor elevations the coal beds generally occur. In the southern 
part of the co. are Round-top, near Middletown, and other isolated 
knobs, apparently belonging to the Conewago range. 

The Susquehanna runs a distance of 48 miles along the western edge 
of the CO., its western bank being the boundary line. The scenery along 
its banks is grand and picturesque, especially where the river breaks 
through the great mountain ranges : at Harrisburg and Duncan's Island, 
the grandeur and beauty of nature are enhanced by magnificent struc- 
tures of art. The other prominent streams are, the Swatara river or 
creek, entering the Susquehanna at Middletown, Conewago cr., the 
southern boundary, Paxton cr., Fishing cr., Stony cr., Clark's cr., Powell's 
cr., Armstrong cr,, Big and Little Wiconisco crs., and Mahantango creek, 
the northern boundary. 

The public improvements within the co. are — the Union canal, along 
the Swatara, — the Pennsylvania canal, along the Susquehanna, as far up 
as the mouth of the Juniata, — and the Wiconisco canal, above the mouth 
of the Juniata, connecting with the coal mines, — the Harrisburg and 
Lancaster railroad, — the Lykens Valley railroad, to the Susquehanna, — 
and the three magnificent bridges, at Harrisburg and Duncan's Island. 
On one of those at Harrisburg, which is one mile long, crosses the Cum- 
berland Valley railroad. Several excellent stone turnpikes pass through 
the CO., to Lancaster, Lebanon, Duncan's Island, &c. 

The population of the agricultural portion of the co, is principally of 
German descent, retaining the language, manners, and patient industry 
of that race. Of the descendants of the original Irish settlers, but few 
remain. At Harrisburg, and in the coal districts, the population is of 
various races. 

Coal and agricultural products are the chief exports. A very extensive 
lumber trade is carried on at Middletown and Harrisburg, Some iron is 
also made in the county. 

Dauphin co, was origin3.11y Paxton township, (or Pextang, as some 

35 



274 DAUPHIN COUNTY. 

called it in the olden time,) of Lancaster co. The name of the county 
was given in honor of the son of Louis XVI., king of France. It was 
originally settled by emigrants from the north of Ireland — an enterprising 
and daring race, who for many years defended the frontier against the 
Indians, and were conspicuous in many of the sanguinary scenes of bor- 
der warfare. The first settlers appear to have been John Harris, who 
came to the mouth of Paxton cr., near Harrisburg, about the year 1726 ; 
and James, Robert, Joseph, and Benjamin Chambers, who emigrated from 
Antrim co., in Ireland, between the years 1726 and 1730, and took up land 
and built a mill shortly afterwards, at the mouth of Fishing cr., (M'Ales- 
ter's.) All the brothers except Joseph removed a few years afterwards to 
the Conococheague settlements. (See Franklin co.) 

The names of the subsequent settlers for several years do not appear, 
yet there appears to have been quite an extensive body of settlers in this 
region during the old French war of 1755 to 1758. Fort Halifax, one of 
the line of forts built by the provincial government, was erected at the 
mouth of Armstrong's cr. early in 1756. Gov. Morris in person visited 
the Susquehanna about that time, to inspect the defences of the frontier. 
Fort Hunter was situated at the mouth of Fishing cr. During the 
autumn of 1755, after Braddock's defeat, hostile savages came down in 
parties upon the whole frontier. Many murders were committed by them 
in Paxton township. 

Dec. 16. — Accounts from Bethlehem and Nazareth, that about 200 Indians had broke into 
Northampton co., beyond the Blue mountains, murdering and burning. 

From Conrad Weiser, Reading, Dec. 13. — This country is in a dismal condition. It can't 
hold out long. Consternation, poverty, confusion, everywhere. 

Dec. 25. — Accounts from C. Weiser, who had been sent to Harris's ferry, that he had gone up 
the West branch of the Susqueharma ; and the Delawares at Nescopec had given that place to 
the French for a rendezvous. That the Paxton people had taken an Indian and shot and scalped 
him in the midst of them, and threw his body into the river. 

Oct. 18. — A party of the Indians fell upon the inhabitants of Mahanahy cr., that rims into 
the river Susquehanna, about five miles lower than the Great Fork made by the junction of the 
two main branches of that river ; and carried off 25 persons, and burnt and destroyed their build, 
ings and improvements, and the whole settlement was deserted. 

Oct. 23. — Forty-six of the inhabitants on Paxton cr., led by John Harris, went to Shamokin 
to inquire of the Indians there who they were who had so cruelly fallen upon and ruined the set. 
tlements on Mahanahy cr. ; but as they were repassing Mahanahy cr., on their return from Sham, 
pkin, they were fired upon by some Indians who lay in ambush, and four were killed, four drowned, 
and the rest put to flight — on which all the settlements between Shamokin and Hunter's mill, for 
the space of 50 miles along the river Susquehanna, were deserted. — Provincial Records. 

The people from the north of Ireland, or the Scotch-Irish as they are 
usually termed, were Presbyterians ; and the venerable churches of Don- 
negal, Paxton, Derry, and Hanover, were among the earliest in Pennsyl- 
vania. That of Paxton, about three miles east of Harrisburg, is said to 
have been erected about the year 1740. Rev. Mr. Elder was the first 
pastor of that and the Derry church, and continued to officiate for 60 
years. He was also colonel of the Paxton Rangers, whose duty it was 
to protect the settlement against the incursions of the Indians. 

David Brainerd, the devoted missionary, was one of the earliest trav- 
ellers through this region who has left any record of his tour. Notwith- 
standing the early establishment of the Presbyterian church, the growth 
in grace of such as he met with appears to have been very feeble. Some, 
however, might perhaps think David Brainerd's too rigid a standard by 
which to try rude pioneers. His first journey was made in May, 1745, 



DAUPHIN COUNTY. 275 

when he passed down the river from a visit to the Indians, (the Ganga- 
wese probably,) on " Juneauta island" — now Duncan's, He was again 
at Shamokin in Sept. 1745, and "travelled down the river southwest- 
ward." 

Sept. 19, 1745. — Visited an Indian town, called Juneauta, situate on an island in the Susque- 
hanna. Was much discouraged with the temper and behavior of the Indians here ; although they 
appeared friendly when I was with them the last spring, and then gave me encouragement to 
come and see them again. But they now seemed resolved to retain their pagan notions, and per- 
sist in their idolatrous practices. 

Sept. 20. — Visited the Indians again at Juneauta island, and found them almost universally 
very busy in making preparations for a great sacrifice and dance. Had no opportunity to get 
them together, in order to discourse with them about Christianity, by reason of their being so 
much engaged about their sacrifice. My spirits were much sunk with a prospect so very dis- 
couraging ; and especially seeing I had this day no interpreter but a pagan, who was as much 
attached to idolatry as any of them, and who could neither speak nor understand the language 
of these Indians ; so that I was under the greatest disadvantages imaginable. However, I at- 
tempted to discourse privately with some of them, but without any appearance of success : not- 
withstanding, I still tarried with them. 

In the evening they met together, nearly 100 of them, and danced around a large fire, having 
prepared ten fat deer for the sacrifice. The fat of the inwards they burnt in the fire while they 
were dancing, which sometimes raised the flame to a prodigious height ; at the same time yelling 
and shouting in such a manner that they might easily have been heard two miles or more. They 
continued their sacred dance nearly all night, after which they ate the flesh of the sacrifice, and 
so retired each one to his own lodging. 

I enjoyed little satisfaction ; being entirely alone on the island, as to any Christian company, 
and in the midst of this idolatrous revel ; and having walked to and fro till body and mind were 
pained and much oppressed, I at length crept into a little crib made for com, and there slept on 
the poles. 

Lord's day, Sept. 21. — Spent the day with the Indians on the island. As soon as they werfe 
well up in the morning I attempted to instruct them, and labored for that purpose to get them to- 
gether ; but soon found they had something else to do ; for near noon they gathered together all 
their powaws, or conjurers, and set about half a dozen of them playing their juggling tricks, and 
acting their frantic, distracted postures, in order to find out why they were then so sickly upon 
the island, numbers of them being at that time disordered with a fever and bloody flux. In this 
exercise they were engaged for several hours, making all the wild, ridiculous, and distracted mo- 
tions imaginable, sometimes singing, sometimes howling, sometimes extending their hands td 
the utmost stretch, and spreading all their fingers ; they seemed to push with them as if they de- 
signed to push something away, or at least keep it off at arm's end ; sometimes stroking their 
faces with their hands, then spurting water as fine as mist ; sometimes sitting flat on the eeirth, 
then bowing down their faces to the ground ; then wringing their sides as if in pain and anguish, 
twisting their faces, turning up their eyes, grunting, puffing, 6i,c. 

Their monstrous actions tended to excite ideas of horror, and seemed to have something in 
them, as I thought, peculiarly suited to raise the devd, if he could be raised by any thing odd, 
ridiculous, and frightful. Some of them, I could observe, were much more fervent and devout 
in the business than others, and seemed to chant, peep, and mutter with a great degree of warmth 
and vigor, as if determined to awaken and engage the powers below. I sat at a small distance, 
not more than thirty feet from them, though undiscovered, with my Bible in my hand, resolving, 
if possible, to spoil their sport, and prevent their receiving any answers from the infernal world, 
and there viewed the whole scene. They continued their iiideous charms and incantations for 
more than three hours, until they had all wearied themselves out ; although they had in that space 
of time taken several intervals of rest ; and at length broke up, I apprehended, without receiving 
any answer at all. 

After they had done powawing, I attempted to discourse with them about Christianity ; but 
they soon scattered, and gave me no opportunity for any thing of that nature. A view of these 
things, while I was entirely alone in the wilderness, destitute of the society of any one who so 
much as " named the name of Christ," greatly sunk my spirits, and gave me the most gloomy 
turn of mind imaginable, almost stripped me of all resolution and hope respecting further attempts 
for propagating the gospel and converting the pagans, and rendered this the most burdensome 
and disagreeable Sabbath which I ever saw. But nothing, I can truly say, sunk and distressed 
me like the loss of my hope respecting their conversion. This concern appeared so great, and 
seemed to be so much my own, that I seemed to have nothing to do on earth if this failed. A 
prospect of the greatest success in the saving conversion of souls under gospel light would have 
dene little or nothing towards compensating for the loss of my hope m this respect ; and my spirits 
now were so damped and depressed, that I had no heart nor power to make any further at- 



276 DAUPHIN COUNTY. 

iampts amon^ them for that purpose, and cotdd not possibly recover my hope, resolaticn, and 
courage, by the utmost of my endeavors. 

The Indian^ of this island can, many of them, understand the English language considerably 
■well, having formerly lived in some part of Maryland, among or near the white people ; but are 
very drunken, vicious, and profane, although not so savage as those who have less acquaintance 
with the Englisli. Their customs, in various respects, ditlcr from those of the other Indians up- 
on this river. They do not bury their dead in a common form, but let their flesh consume above 
the ground, in close cribs made for that purpose. At the end of a year, or sometimes a longer 
space of time, they take the bones, wlien the flesh is all consumed, and wash and scrape them, 
and afterwards bury them with some ceremony. Their metliod of charming or conjuring over 
the sick, seems somewhat difitrent from that of the other Indians, though in substance the same. 
The whole of it among these and others, perhaps, is an imitation of what seems, by Naaman'a 
expression, (2 Kings v. 11,) to have been the custom of the ancient heathen. It seems chiefly 
to consist in their " striking their hands over the diseased," repeated!}? stroking them, " and call- 
ing upon their god ;" except the spurting of water like a mist, and some other frantic ceremonies 
common to the otlier conjurations which I have already mentioned. 

When I was in this region in May last, I had an opportunity of learning many of the notions 
and customs of the Indians, as well as observing many of their practices. I then travelled more 
than 130 utiles upon the river, above the English settlements ; and in that journey met with in- 
dividuals of seven or eight distinct tribes, speaking as many different languages. But of all the 
sights I ever saw among them, or indeed anywhere else, none appeared so frightful, or so near 
akin to what is usually imagined of infernal powers, none ever excited such images of terror in 
my mind, as the appearance of one who was a devout and zealous reformer, or rather restorer of 
what he supposed was the ancient religion of the Indians. He made his appearance in his pon- 
tifical garb, which was a coat of bearskins, dressed with the hair on, and hanging down to his 
toes ; a pair of bear-skin stockings, and a great wooden face painted, the one half black, the 
other half tawny, about the color of an Indian's skin, with an extravagant mouth, cut very much 
awry ; the face fastened to a bear-skin cap, which was drawn over his head, lie advanced to- 
wards me with the instrmncnt in his hand which he used for music in his idolatrous worship ; 
■Which was a dry tortoise-shell with some corn in it, and the neck of it drawn on to a piece of 
■wood, which made a very convenient handle. As he came forward he beat his tone with the 
rattle, and danced with all his might, but did not suffer any part of his body, not so much as his 
fingers, to be seen. No one would have imagined from his appearance or actions, that he could 
have been a human creature, if they had not had some intimation of it otherwise. When he 
came near me I could not but shrink away from him, although it was then noonday, and I knew 
who it was ; his appearance and gestures were so prodigiously frightful. He had a house conse- 
crated to religious uses, witii divers images cut upon the several parts of it. I went in, and found 
the ground beat almost as hard as a rock, with their frequent dancing upon it. I discoursed with 
him about Christianity. Some of my discourse he seemed to like, but some of it he disliked ex- 
tremely. He told me that God had taught him his religion, and that he never would turn from 
it, but wanted to find some who would join heartily with him in it ; for the Indians, he said, were 
grown very degenerate and corrupt. He had thoughts, he said, of leaving all his friends, and 
travelling abroad, in order to find some who would join with him ; for he believed that God 
had some good people somewhere, who felt as he did. He had not always, he .qaid, felt as he 
now did ; but had formerly been like the rest of the Indians, until about four or five j^ears before 
that time. Then, he said, his heart was very much distressed, so that he could not live among 
the Indians, but got away into the woods, and lived aloae for some months. At length, he said, 
God comforted his heart, and showed him what he should do ; and since that time he had known 
God, and tried to serve him ; and loved all men, be they who they would, so as he never did be- 
fore. He treated me with uncommon courtesy, and seemed to be hearty in it. I was told by 
the Indians, that he opposed their drinking strong liquor with all his power; and that, if at any 
tmie he could not dissuade them from it by all he could say, he would leave them, and go crying 
mto the woods. It was manifest that he had a set of religious notions which he had examined 
for hnnself, and not taken for granted upon bare tradition ; and he relished or disrelished what- 
ever was spoken of a religious nature, as it either agreed or disagreed with his standard. While 
I was discoursing, he would sometimes say, " Now that I like ; so God has taught me," &.c. ; and 
some of ills sentiments seemed ver)' just. Yet he utterly denied the existence of a devil, and de- 
clared there was no such creature known among the Indians of old times, whose religion he sup- 
posed he was attempting to revive. He likewise told me that departed souls went southward, 
and that the difference between the good and the bad was this ; that tiie former were admitted 
into a beautiful town with spiritual walls, and that the latter would for ever hover around these 
walls in vain attempts to get in. He seemed to be sincere, honest, and conscientious in his own 
way, and according to his own religious notions ; which was more than I ever saw in any other 
pagan. I perceived that he was looked upon and derided among most of the Indians as a pre- 
cite zealot, who made a needless noise about religious matters ; but I must say that there was 



DAUPHIN COUNTY. 277 

eomething in his temper and disposition whicli looked more like true religion than any thing I 
ever observed among other heathens. 

But, alas ! how deplorable is the state of the Indiana upon this river! The brief representa- 
tion which I have here given of their notions and manners is sufficient to show that they are 
"led Captive by Satan at his will," in the most eminent manner; and methinks might likewise 
be sufficient to excite tiie compassion and engage the prayers of God's children for these their 
fellow-men, who " sit in the region of the shadow of death." 

Sept. 22. — Made some further attempts to instruct and Christianize the Indians on this island, 
but all to no purpose. They live so near the white people that they are always in the way of 
strong liquor, as well as of the ill examples of nominal Christians ; which renders it so un- 
speakably difficult to treat with them about Christianity. — Braineid's Journal, in Evangelical 
Family Library. 

In the ensuing summer Brainerd again passed up the river to Shamo- 
kin. He says — ' 

Aug. 19. — Lodged by the side of the Susquehanna. Was weak and disordered both this and 
the preceding day, and found my spirits considerably damped, meeting with none that I thought 
godly people. 

Aug. 21 — Rode up the river about 15 miles and there lodged, in a family which appeared quite 
destitute of God. Labored to discourse with the man about the life of religion, but found him 
very artful in evading such conversation. O what a death it is to some, to hear of the things of 
God ! Was out of my element, but was not so dejected as at some times. 

Aug. 22. — Continued my course up the river, my people now being with me who before were 
parted from me. Travelled above all the English settlements ; at night lodged in the open woods, 
and slept with more comfort tlian while among an ungodly company of wliite people. Enjoyed 
some liberty in secret prayer this evening ; and was helped to remember dear friends, as well as 
my dear flock, and the church of God in general. 

His health, previously feeble, soon failed him amid the exposures of the 
wilderness, and he returned down the river in Sept. and went home, la- 
. boring under a confirmed consumption, scarcely at times able to ride. He 
died in New England, Oct. 9, 1747. On his return he says — 

Sept. 9. — Rode down the river near 30 miles. Was extremely weak, much fatigued, and wet 
with a thunder-storm. Discoursed with some warmth and closeness to some poor ignorant souls, 
on the life and power of religion : what were, and what Were not the evidences of it. They 
eeemed much astonished when they saw my Indians ask a blessing and give thanks at dinner, 
concluding that a very high evidence of grace in them ; but were equally astonished when I in- 
sisted that neither that, nor yet secret prayer, was any sure evidence of grace. O the ignorance 
of the world ! How are some empty outward forms, that may all be entirely selfish, mistaken 
for true religion, infallible evidences of it ! The Lord pity a deluded world ! 

Sept. 11. — Rode homeward ; but was very weak, and sometimes scarce able to ride. Had a 
very importunate invitation to preach at a meeting-house I came by, the people being then gath- 
ered ; but could not by reason of weakness. Was resigned and composed under my weakness ; 
but was much exercised with concern for my companions in travel, whom I had left with much 
regret, some lame, and some sick.* 

The scenes of the French war, and the border wars of 1763, infused a 
military and adventurous spirit into the young men of Paxton, incompat- 
ible with' the quiet habits of agr.icultura.1 life ; and we find them, in time 
of peace, roaming through the mountain wilds as traders, or seeking out 
rich lands yet unpurchased from the Indians ; and in time of war, or of 
frontier disturbance, they were ranging the border, watching the move- 
ments of the Indians, cutting off occasional parties, and breaking up 
their haunts. Being beyond the reach often of the laws of the province, 
as well as beyond the protection and sympathy of the lower counties, 
M^hose influence predominated in the assembly, the Paxton men were un- 
der the necessity of protecting themselves, and were governed by usages — 
they could scarcely be termed laws — of their own. Many of their fami- 

* See further particulars in Brainerd's Lifej in Evangelical Family Library, Am. Tract Soc. 
edition ; pp. 286^ 292, 293, &,c. 



278 DAUPHIN COUNTY. 

lies had suffered by the Indian tomahawk, and it was suspected by them 
that the hostile Indians were harbored, if not encouraged, by the friendly 
Indians at Conestoga and among the Moravians. A deadly animosity 
was thus raised among the Paxton men against all of Indian blood, and 
against the peaceful and benevolent Moravians and Quakers, who were 
disposed to conciliate and protect the Indians — frequently, as the Paxton 
men thought, at the expense of the lives of the settlers. It was during 
the height of this feeling that the bloody and utterly unjustifiable outrage 
was perpetrated by the Paxton men upon the Conestoga Indians. As 
this affair is fully described under the head of Lancaster co., it will not 
be enlarged upon here. This act was probably committed by the 
younger and more hot-blooded members of the Rev. Col. Elder's corps 
of Rangers, led on by Lazarus Stewart, a daring partisan, and a man 
of considerable influence and standing in the Paxton settlement. 
He soon afterwards joined the Connecticut men, and became very con- 
spicuous in the civil wars of Wyoming. He was once taken prisoner 
there, and delivered to the sheriff of York co. for safe-keeping ; but his 
Rangers rescued him, and he suddenly appeared with them again at Wy- 
oming. He was slain there during the revolution, in the disastrous battle 
of 3d July, 1778. The following extracts are from a series of historical 
numbers in the Lancaster Intelligencer and Journal, 1843, by Redmond 
Conyngham, Esq. Many of the numbers consist of extracts from ancient 
pamphlets and documents. 

Imagination cannot conceive the perUs with which the settlement of Paxton was surrounded 
from 1754 to 1765. To portray each scene of horror would be impossible — the heart shrinks 
from the attempt. The settlers were goaded on to desperation ; murder followed murder ; scouts 
brought in the intelligence that the murderers were traced to Conestogue. Rifles were loaded, 
horses were in readiness. They mounted ; they called on their pastor to lead them. He was 
then in the 57th*year of his age. Had you seen him then, you would have beheld a superior be- 
ing. He had mounted, not to lead them on to the destruction of Conestogue, but to deter them 
from the attempt ; he implored them to return, he urged them to reflect ; " pause, pause, before 
you proceed." It was in vain ; " the blood of the murdered cries aloud for vengeance ; we have 
waited long enough on government ; the murderers are within our reach, and they must not es- 
cape." Mr. Elder reminded them that the " guilty and the innocent could not be distinguished." 
" Innocent ! can they be called innocent who foster murderers ?" Mr. Elder rode up in front, 
and said, " As your pastor, I command you to relinquish your design." " Give way, then," said 
Smith, " or your horse dies," presenting his rifle ; to save his horse, to which he was much at- 
tached, Mr. E. drew him aside, and the rangers were off" on their fatal errand. 

A palliating letter was written by the Rev. Mr. Elder to Gov. Penn, in which the character of 
Stewai s represented as humane, liberal, and religious. 

The i^"v. Mr. Elder died at the advanced age of 86 years, in 1792, on his farm adjoining Har- 
risburg, be ed in life, and in death lamented. He frequently visited the Indians at Conestogue, 
Pequehan, aid the Big Island, and was much respected by them. He had frequently represented 
to the Christian Indians the wrong they were doing to the whites by admitting stranger Indians 
among them ; conduct which made them suspected of treachery. — R. C. 

Extract from a letter of the Rev. Mr. Elder, to Governor Hamilton, dated Sept. 13th, 1763 : 

" I suggest to you the propriety of an immediate removal of the Indians from Conestogue, and 
placing a garrison in their room. In case this is done, I pledge myself for the future security of 
the frontier." 

Extract from a letter of the Rev. Mr. Elder to Gov. Penn, January 27th, 1764 : 

" The storm which had been so long gathering, has at length exploded. Had government re- 
moved the Indians from Conestogue, which had frequently been lorged, without success, this 
painful catastrophe might have been avoided. What could I do with men heated to madness ? 
All that I could do, was done ; I expostulated ; but life and reason were set at defiance. And 
yet the men m private life are virtuous and respectable ; not cruel, but mild and merciful. 

" The time will arrive when each palliating circumstance will be calmly weighed. This doedi 
magnified into the blackest of crimes, shall be considered as one of those youthful ebullitions of 
wrath caused by momentary excitement, to which human infirmity is subjected " 



DAUPHIN COUNTY. 279 

Complaints of the people of Lancaster co. — Feb. 27th, 1764. Extract from a remonstrance 
presented to John Penn, governor, from inhabitants of Lancaster co., by their agents. 

" We consider it a grievance, that we are restrained from electing more than ten representatives 
in the frontier counties : Lancaster four ; York two ; Cumberland two ; Berks one ; Northamp- 
ton one ; while the city and county of Philadelphia, and comities of Chester and Bucks, elect 
26. A bill is now about to be passed into a law, that any person accused of taking away the 
life of an Indian, shall not be tried in the county where the deed was committed, but in the city 
of Philadelphia. We can hardly believe the legislature would be guilty of such injustice as to 
pass this bill, and deprive the people of one of their most valuable rights. We protest against 
the passage of such a law, as depriving us of a sacred privilege. 

"We complain that the governor laid before the General Assembly letters without signatures, 
giving exaggerated and false accounts of the destruction of the Indians at Coiiestogue, and at 
Lancaster — That he paid but little attention to the communications received from om- representa- 
tives and Mr. Shippen — That certain persons in Philadelphia are endeavoring to rouse the fury 
of the people against the magistrates, the principal inhabitants of the borough of Lancaster, and 
the Presbyterians of Paxton and Donegal, by gross misrepresentations of facts — That we are not 
allowed a hearing at the Bar of the House, or by the governor — That our rangers have never 
experienced any favors from government, either by remuneration of their services, or by any act 
of kindness — That although there is every reason to believe that the Indians who struck the 
blow at the Great Cove, received their arms and ammunition from the Bethlehem Indians, gov- 
ernment protects the murderers at Philadelphia — That six of the Indians now in Philadelphia, 
known to have been concerned in recent murders, and demanded by us that they may be tried in 
the county of Northampton, are still at liberty — That Renatus, an Indian, who was legally ar- 
rested and committed on the charge of murder, is under the protection of government, in Bucks 
coimty, when he was to be brought to trial in the county of Northampton, or the county of Cum- 
berland. Shall these things be ?" 

(Signed,) MATTHEW SMITH, 
JAMES GIBSON. 



Smithes Narrative. — I was an early settler in Paxton, a member of the congregation of the 
Rev. Mr. Elder. I was one of the chief actors in the destruction of Conestogue, and in storm- 
ing the workhouse in Lancaster. I have been stigmatized as a murderer. No man, unless he 
were living at that time in Paxton, could have an idea of the sufferings and anxieties of the peo- 
ple. For years the Indians had been on the most friendly terms ; but some of the traders were 
bought by the French ; these corrupted the Indians. The savages unexpectedly destroyed our 
dwellings and murdered the imsuspicious. When we visited the wigwams in the neighborhood, 
we found the Indians occupied in harmless sports, or domestic work. There appeared no evi- 
dence that they were any way instrumental in the bloody acts perpetrated on the frontiers. 

Well do I remember the evening when stopt at my door ; judge my surprise when I 

heard his tale : " Tom followed the Indians to the Big Island ; from thence they went to Cones. 

togue ; as soon as we heard it, five of us, , , , , , rode off for the village. 

I left my horse under their care, and cautiously crawled where I could get a view ; I saw In- 
dians armed ; they were strangers ; they outnumbered us by dozens. I returned without being 
discovered ; we meet to-night at ; we shall expect you, with gun, knife, and ammuni- 
tion." We met, and our party, under cover of the night, rode off for Conestogue. Our plan 
was well laid ; the scout who had traced the Indians was with us ; the village was stormed and 
reduced to ashes. The moment we were perceived an Indian fired at us, and rushed forward, 
brandishing his tomahawk. Tom cried, " mark him," and he fell by more than one ball ; — ran 
up and cried out, " it is the villain who murdered my mother." This speech roused to vengeance, 
and Conestogue lay harmless before us. Our worst fears had been realized ; these Indians, who 
had been housed and fed as the pets of the province, were now proved to be our secret foes ; ne- 
cessity compelled us to do as we did. 

We mounted our horses and returned. Soon we were informed that a number of Indians were 

in the workhouse at Lancaster. was sent to Lancaster to get all the news he could. He 

reported that one of the Indians concerned in recent murders was there in safety. Also, that 
they talked of rebuilding Conestogue, and placing these Indians in the new buildings. 

A few of us met to deliberate ; Stewart proposed to go to Lancaster, storm their castle, and 
carry off the assassin. It was agreed to ; the whole plan was arranged. Our clergyman did not 
approve of our proceeding further. He thought every thing was accomphshed by the destruc- 
tion of Conestogue, and advised us to try what we could do with the governor and council. I 
with the rest was opposed to the measure proposed by our good pastor. It was painful to us to 
act in opposition to his will, but the Indian in Lancaster was known to have murdered the parent 
of , one of our party. 

The plan was made. Three were chosen to break in the doors, five to keep the keepers, &c., 
from njeddling ; Capt. Stewart to remain outside, with about twelve men, to protect those within, 



280 DAUPHIN COUNTY. 

to prevent surprise, and keep charge of the horses. The three were to secure the Indian, tie him 
with strong cords, and deliver him to Stewart. If the tliree were resisted, a shot was to be fired 
as a signal. I was one of them who entered ; you know the rest ; we fired ; the Indians were 
left without life ; and we rode hastily from Lancaster. Two of the Indians killed in Lancaster 
were recognized as murderers. 

This gave quiet to the frontiers, for no miu-der of our defenceless inhabitants has since hap. 
pened. 

The foregoing was communicated by a father to his son, in Carlisle, and by that gentleman to 
the writer. — R. C. 

[Note. — Mr. Smith of Carlisle, was not the son of Matthew Smith of Paxton. Matthew 
Smith, after the revolution, went to Milton, Northumberland county ; his son, Wilson Smith, 
removed to Erie, and represented that district in the Senate of Pennsylvania in 1812-13, &-c.] 



" Declaration. Let all hear. — Were the counties of Lancaster, York, Cumberland, Berks, 
and Northampton, protected by government ? Did not John Harris of Paxton ask advice of Col. 
Croghan, and did not the colonel advise him to raise a company of scouters, and was not this 
confirmed by Benjamin Franklin ? And yet when Harris asked the Assembly to pay the scout- 
ing party, he was told, " that he might pay them himself." Did not the counties of Lancaster, 
York, Cumberland, Berks, and Northampton, the frontier settlements, keep up rangers to watch 
the motions of the Indians ; and when a murder was committed by an Indian, a runner with the 
intelligence was sent to each scouting party, that the murderer or murderers might be punished ? 
Did we not brave the summer's heat and the winter's cold, and the savage tomahawk, while the 
inhabitants of Philadelphia, Philadelphia county, Bucks, and Chester, ' ate, drank, and were 
merry?' 

" If a white man kill an Indian, it is a murder far exceeding any crime upon record ; he must 
not be tried in the county where he lives, or where the offence was committed, but in Philadel- 
phia, that he may be tried, convicted, sentenced and hung without delay. If an Indian kill a 
white man, it was the act of an ignorant heathen, perhaps in liquor : alas, poor innocent ! he is 
sent to the friendly Indians, that he may be made a Christian. Is it not a notorious fact, that 
an Indian who treacherously murdered a family in Northampton county, was given up to the 
magistrates, that he might have a regular trial ; and was not this Indian conveyed into Bucks 
county, and is he not provided with every necessary, and kept secured from punishment by Is- 
rael Pemberton ? Have we not repeatedly represented that Conestogue was a harbor for prowl- 
ing savages, and that we were at a loss to tell friend or foe, and all we asked was the removal of 
the Christian Indians ? Was not this promised by Gov. Penn, yet delayed ? Have we forgot 
ten Renatus, that Christian Indian ? A murder of more than savage barbarity was committed 
on the Susquehanna ; the murderer was traced by the scouts to Conestogue ; he was demanded, 
but the Indians assumed a warlike attitude, tomahawks were raised, and the firearms gUstened 
in the sun ; shots were fired upon the scouts, who went back for additional force. They return- 
ed, and you know the event — Conestogue was reduced to ashes. But the murderer escaped. 
The friendly and unfriendly were placed in the workhouse at Lancaster. What could secure them 
from the vengeance of an exasperated people ? The doors were forced, and the hapless Indians 
perished. Were we tamely to look on and see our brethren murdered, and see our fairest pros- 
pects blasted, while the inhabitants of Philadelphia, Philadelphia county, Bucks, and Chester, 
slept and reaped their grain in safety ? 

" These hands never shed human blood. Why am I singled out as an object of persecution ? 
Why are the bloodhounds let loose upon me ? Let him who wished to take my life — let him 
come and take it — I shall not fly. All I ask is that the men accused of murder be tried in Lan- 
caster county. All I ask is a trial in my own county. If these requests are refused, then not a 
hair of those men's heads shall be molested. Whilst I have life you shall not either have me or 
them on any other terms. It is true, I submitted to the sheriff of York county, but you know 
too well that I was to be conveyed to Philadelphia like a wild felon, manacled, to die a felon's 
death. I would have scorned to fly from York. I could not bear that my name should be mark- 
ed by ignominy. What I have done, was done for the security of hundreds of settlers on the 
frontiers. The blood of a thousand of my fellow-creatures called for vengeance. I shed no In- 
dian's blood. As a ranger, I sought the post of danger, and now you ask my life. Let me be 
tried where prejudice has not prejudged my case. Let my brave rangers, who have stemmed the 
blast nobly, and never flinched — let them have an equitable trial ; they were my friends in the 
hour of danger — to desert them now were cowardice I What remains is to leave our cause with 
our God, and our guns." 

LAZARUS STEWART. 



The sad affair at Conestoga and Lancaster was one on which much 



DAUPHIN COUNTY. 281 

might be, and much inas said at the time on both sides ; and diverse and 
exaggerated representations were made by the Irish and Presbyterian 
party on the one hand, and by the Quakers, Moravians, and those in the 
proprietary interest on the other. The foregoing extracts have been 
given with a view of letting the Paxton men be heard in their own de- 
fence. But no historian ought to excuse or justify the murders at Lan- 
caster and Conestoga. Let who will describe those scenes, they must 
ever remain, with the murder of Logan's family, and the massacre of 
the Moravian Indians on the Muskingum, as dark and bloody spots in our 
provincial history. Perhaps no better judge of the transaction is now 
living than a venerable Presbyterian clergyman of this region, whose 
head is now white with the snows of some eighty winters, who in early 
life had known many of the Paxton men, and had some of them under 
his pastoral charge. On applying to him to furnish some documents, if 
possible, or traditionary evidence, to justify the Paxton men engaged in 
that transaction, the aged patriarch replied — " I fear, sir, that would be a 
difficult task ; I cannot perceive how that transaction could be justified." 
It should be noticed in this connection, that only some 15, 20, or 30 of the 
rangers were engaged in the alfair. After it was done they returned to 
their homes, where they remained unmolested, and mingled with their 
fellow-citizens of Paxton in the ordinary pursuits of life. 

At the opening of the revolution most of the Paxton men sought the 
ranks of the army, from which but few of them returned to settle 
again in Paxton. Many of the survivors probably settled on the new 
lands of the West branch of the Susquehanna, and others around Pitts- 
burg, and, after Wayne's treaty, beyond the Allegheny. In those regions 
their descendants may be found ; but he who seeks for the descendants 
of the Scotch-Irish in Dauphin co., finds but here and there a solitary, 
isolated family, surrounded everywhere by an entirely different race, that 
of the German emigrants, who came about the close of the last century, 
and whose descendants inherit the language, the farms, and the plodding 
industry and thrift of their forefathers. The ancient churches and grave- 
yards of the Irish still remain as monuments of their former occupants ; 
and occasionally may be found, as at Hanover, some venerable pastor, 
pleasantly passing the evening of a useful life, and waiting to be " gath- 
ered to his fathers." 

The country above the Kittatinny mountain was but sparsely settled 
previous to the opening of the coal mines within a few years past. The 
Duke de la Rochefoucauld-Liancourt, a French traveller, who passed up 
the Susquehanna in 1796, speaks of stopping only at three settlements in 
the county, above Harrisburg. The first was at McAlester's, who had 
then been settled at the mouth of Fishing cr. about 1 1 years, and had a 
very thriving establishment. The duke says, [in substance — we abridge 
his language] — 

McAlester owns about 300 acres — about 120 cultivated. Price of lands near him is $8 for 
woodland ; ^50 for cleared. The houses, all of wood except the inn, stand on the Susquehanna 
and in the precincts of Fort Hunter, erected many years ago. * * * * went on. In this 
long journey through forests, we found few straggling houses one or two miles distant from each 
other, most of them unfinished. Taverns had been closed — unwilling to pay for a license, — pass, 
ed one about 12 miles from McAlester's, the only one in 22 mUes. At length we arrived at an 
old German's — Dcblerff's — who after having served in Canada in 1758, in an English regiment, 
settled here after the peace. The state gave him his land ; the Indians drove him off during the 
revolution ; he returned again after the peace. He can neither write nor read — he presents to 

36 



282 



DAUPHIN GOUNTY. 



every traveller a slate and pencil to write down his bills as he dictates to them, for there is not 
a single person in the house able to distinjruish one letter from another. He complains of being 
cheated frequently by travellers, in their summing up. Twelve miles to White's ; an Irish farmer has 
resided here about 17 years, and now owns an island ; he has been twice a member of the legis- 
lature : keeps tavern to oblige travellers — has no sign — but charges high. 

Harrisburg, the capital of the state, and seat of justice of Dauphin 
CO., occupies a commanding site on the left bank of the Susquehanna, a 
short distance above the mouth of Paxton creek. It is 97 miles from 
Philadelphia, and 200 from Pittsburg. 

Situated in the midst of the fertile Kittatinny valley, and looking out 
upon some of the most magnificent scenery in the world, — with splendid 
bridges spanning the broad river, and shaded walks along its banks, — 
with canals, raih-oads, -and turnpikes radiating from it in all directions, — 
with a highly intelligent resident population, and the annual presence of 
a transient population, comprising the highest talent in the state, — Har- 
risburg has great and varied attractions to tempt the resident, the politi- 
cian, the trader, and the stranger who comes only to observe and admire. 




State Capitol at HaiTishurg. 

The oapitol, with the public offices on either side of it, occupies a fine 
eminence on the northern border of the town, fronting towards the river, 
from which it is a few sqi^ares distant. From the cupola may be seen 
one of the finest landscapes in the state, comprising the river, studded 
with lovely islands and spanned by splendid bridges, the undulating fields 
of the valley, and the lofty barrier of the Kittatinny mountain. The 
main building is 180 feet front by 80 feet deep, The hall of the house 
of representatives is on the lower floor, at the right end, as seen in the 
view, — the senate chamber being at the left end. The library is over the 
senate chamber. The governor's apartments, and secretary of state's 
and treasurer's offices, are in the building on the left of the capitol, — the 
land offices, &c., in that on the right. 

The other public edifices in the town are, the courthouse, formerly used 
as a State-house, — the new prison, a noble, massive structure of stone, in 
the style of a Norman castle, — the state arsenal, a Masonic lodge, an 
academy, the Harrisburg bank, and a branch of the Bank of Pennsylva- 
nia ; and of churches, there are Lutheran, Presbyterian, Episcopal, Ger- 
man Reformed, Catholic, Methodist, Unitarian, Baptist, and African. 



DAUPHIN COUNTY. 283 

Near the capitol is a reservoir, filled from the river by steam power, for 
supplying the town with water. In the centre of the town, which is 
regularly laid out, is a " diamond," or public square, upon which stands 
the market-house. 

Harrisburg was incorporated as a borough on the 1st Feb. 1808. The 
population in 1830, of the borough, was 4,307, and including M'Clays- 
burg, 4,526 ; and in 1840, 6,020. 

The bridge at the end of Market-street, across the Susquehanna — in 
two parts, which are separated by an island — was erected in 1817, by 
Mr. I3urr, the distinguished bridge architect. It is 2,876 feet long, 40 ft. 
wide — cost $155,000, of which the state subscribed $90,000. It belongs 
to a company. A short distance below it, opposite Mulberry-st., is the 
magnificent bridge of the Cumberland Valley railroad, one mile in length, 
erected within three or four years past. It awakens interesting associa- 
tions to stand by the grave of John Harris and look forth upon the river, 
contrasting, in imagination, the appearance of the solitary trader, and his 
pack-horse loaded with furs, crossing in a flat at " Harris's ferry" some 
hundred years since — with the swift " iron horse" puffing and rattling 
with his long train across that beautiful bridge on an iron road eleva- 
ted 50 feet above the water, — almost literally a fiery steed flying through 
the air. 

The annexed extracts are copied by permission from the introduction 
to Mr. H. Napey's Harrisburg Directory. 

The first John Harris is said to have been a native of Yorkshire, in England. He was a mid- 
dle-aged man when he emigrated to America, and he first settled in Philadelphia. He was there 
married to Esther Say, an English lady, and who was a woman of rather extraordinary energy 
and capacity. They first moved to Chester county, — thence to (or near to) the mouth of Conoy 
creek, on the Susquehanna, about the present site of Bainbridge, in Lancaster county, — and 
finally to the present site of Harrisburg. At this place was born, about the year 1726, his son 
John Harris, the founder of Harrisburg, and who is said to have been " the first wliite child bom 
in Pennsylvania, west of the Conewago hills." 

About the time of the settlement of John Harris at Harrisburg, Indian towns were existing on 
the flat near to Squire Wills' stone house, opposite Harrisburg, and at the mouth of the Conedo- 
guinnctt and Yellow Breeches creeks. There had been one on the low ground on the river, about 
the lower line of Harrisburg, and another at the mouth of Paxton creek. These two last are 
supposed to have been abandoned at the time of his making his settlement. The Indians whd 
resided in this neighborhood, were of the Six Nations ; and it is said that at one time, by firing 
a gun, several hundred warriors could be assembled at the present site of Harrisburg. 

John Harris fixed his habitation on the bank of the river, below the grave-yard, and he dug the 
well now existing there. About twenty years ago the cellar of one of his buildings was visible. 
He traded extensively with the Indians, and had connected with his house a large range of sheds, 
which were sometimes literally filled with skins and furs, mostly obtained by him in traffic with 
the Indians, and stored there by the Indian traders, who brought them from the western country. 
These skins and furs were carried, at an early day, on pack-horses to Philadelphia. John Harris 
experienced niuch difticulty at his first settlement, as his supplies could not be had nearer than 
Philadelphia, and had thence to be transported on pack-horses to his place of residence. His at- 
tention, however, was not confined to trading with the Indians ; he engaged extensively in agri- 
culture, and from the statement of old Parson Elder to Wm. Maclay, " he was the first person 
who introduced the plough on the Susquehanna." 

An incident in his life has excited considerable interest, and been the subject of much inquiry : 
— On one occasion a band of Indians came to his house. Some, or most of them, were intoxi- 
cated. They asked for lum, (rum,) as the modern whiskey was not then manufactured in Penn- 
sylvania. Seeing they were already intoxicated, he feared mischief, and refused. They became 
enraged, and seized and tied him to the mulberry tree to burn him. Whilst they were proceeding 
to execute their purpose, he was released, after a struggle, by other Indians of the neighborhood, 
who generally came across the river. How the alarm was given to them, whether by firing a 
gun or otherwise, or by whom, is not now certainly known. In remembrance of this event, he 
afterwards directed that on his death he should be buried under the mulberry tree which had been 
the scene of this adventure. He died in 1748, and his remains still repose, wdth those of some 



284 DAUPHIN COUNTY 

of his children, under the shade of his memorable tree. In the words of Parson Elder, " he was 
as honest a man as ever broke bread." Part of the trunk of this tree is still standing. 




John Harrises Grave, and Railroad Bridge at Harrishurg. 

It may be curious now to know that John Harris was once offered, by the Penns, all of the land 
from the river to Silver 8i)rins, and extcndiiiir across the Cumberland valley from mountain to 
mountain, for jCSUOO. He offered i^SDOO, and refused to g^ive more. At his death he owned 
about 900 acres of land, including tlic present site of Harrisburg and Maclaysburg, and extend- 
ing down to the upper line of Fulton's place ; also, 200 acres on the opposite shore from Harris- 
burg, now owned by Messrs. Hummel & Lebkichcr, and including the ferry, and Gen. Simpson's 
place below Yellow Breeches, extending to the South mountain, and including Shriners Island ; 
and 700 or 800 acres at the mouth of Conedoguinnctt creek on the upper side, where the old In- 
dian town had once been. 

Of Esther, the wife of John Harris, several anecdotes are told which establish her promptness) 
and energy of character. The mansion-house, situated on the river bank, as before mentioned, 
was surrounded by a stockade for security against the Indians. An English officer was one night 
at the house, when by accident the gate of the stockade was left unfastened. The officer, clothed 
in his regimentals, was seated with Mr. Harris and his wife at the table. An Indian entered the 
gate of the stockade and thrust his rifle through one of the port-holes of the house, and it is 
supposed pointed it at the officer. The night being damp, tlie gun simply flashed. Instantly 
Mrs. Harris blew out the candle, to prevent the Indian aiming a second time, and he retreated. 

John Harris, ju'i., tlie founder oi Harrisburg, died 29th July, 1791, and is buried in the grave- 
yard of Paxton church. He was about 6.5 years of age, and was consequently bom at least as 
early as 172fi. Under the will of his father, and by purchase, he became the owner of 700 acres 
of land, d\i a part of which Harrisburg is now laid out. It extended up to the lower line of Mac- 
laysbui'g. He wts an active, energetic, and industrious man. He farmed extensively, and also 
traded with the whites and Indians for skins and furs ; and his son, the present Robert Harris, 
has seen ten or a dozen wagon loads of skins and furs in his father's storehouse, belonging to 
him and to Indian traders. In his time, Harris's Feri-y became a celebrated place. It is said to 
have been so well known in Ireland, Enijfland, and Germany, that letters were directed from those 
countries " to the care of John Harris, Harris's Ferry, N. America." He was successful in busi- 
ness, and had an extensive acquaintance throughout Pennsj^lvania. 

He had strong faith in the advantages of the position of his property here. It is said, that 
twenty or more years before the town was laid out, he observed to a gentleman, Mr. HoUcnback, 
who afterwards settled at Wilkesbarre, that this place would become the centre of business in 
this section of country, and would be the seat of gor-ernment of PenJist/lrania. When the town 
was laid out in 17H,5, lie conveyed, with other property, to the commissioners for laying out the 
town — viz., Jacob Awl, Joshua Elder, Andrew Stewart, James Cowden, and William Brown — 
the four acres of ground on Capitol Hill, to the east of the present state buildings, " in trust for 
public use, and such public purposes as the Legislature shall hereafter direct." 

That he was patriotic, the following incident will establish : — When independence was agi- 
tated, he thought the Declaration premature. He feared that the colonies were unequal to 
the task of combating with Great Britain. But when Independence was declared, the present 
Robert Harris observes, that his father took his mother aside, and in the presence of his son, 
read to her the Declaration from a Philadelphia newspaper. When he concluded it, he observed, 



DAUPHIN COUNFY. 28S 

" The act is now done, and we must take sides either for or against the country. The war in 
which we are about to engage, cannot be carried on without money. Now we have .£3,000 in 
the house, and if you are agreed, I will take the money to Philadelphia and put it into the pub- 
lic treasury to carry on the war. If we succeed in obtaining our independence, we may lose the 
money — as the government may not be able to pay it back — but we will get our land." She 
agreed ; and he carried the money to Philadelphia, and deposited it in the treasury, and took cer- 
tificates. After the War, he sold these certificates for 17s. 6d. in the pound. After the debt was 
funded, certificates rose to 25s. in the pound. 

The law erecting Dauphin co. and declaring Harris's Ferry the seat of justice, was passed 
'1th Marcli, 1785. The town of Harrisburg was laid out in the spring of the same year by 
William Maclay, who was the son-in-law of John Harris. William Maclay, with Robert Mor- 
ris, afterwards represented Pennsylvania in the first senate of the United States under the con- 
stitution, -f 

The ice-flood happened in the winter of 1784-5, and the fumpkin-flnod in the fall of 1787. 
During the ice-flood, the low ground about the gravc-yard Was covered with water, and the ferry- 
flats were tied to the bars of the cellar windows of tile Stone house. On that occasion, the wa. 
ler rose into the first story of Judge Carson's house, above Harrisburg, and a considerable part 
of the river ran around that house and down Paxton creek. The fences on its route were 
generally carried aWay. During the pumpkin-flood, the ground about the grave-yard was also 
covered with water, and the pumpkins, carried off" chiefly from the Yankees in Wyoming val- 
ley, were strewed in profusion over the low ground beloW Harrisburg. 

When the town was laid out, the ground above Market-street was chiefly in Woods. The 
present Robert Harris has frequently Seen several bears killed in the river in one day. In the 
fall of the year they would come down from the mountains to the corn-fields, and were quite 
abundant in the neighborhood. 

On one occasion a party of Indians came down to the river to murder the people of this settle- 
ment. They formed a camp in a thicket, back of Mr. Elder's mill-dam. Tliey designed falling 
on the people when at worship in Paxton church. They are supiposed to have come on Monday, 
and after waiting several days they came to the conclusion that the congregation would not as- 
semble, and they went off". They left the settlement by the way of Indiantown gap. On their 
Way off they murdered several persons, and took a prisoner, from whom it was afterwards as- 
certained that they had been encamped here several days. The late Joshua Elder has seen 
the encampment. The people of the congregation, before and afterwards, came to the church 
armed ; and Mr. Elder, the pastor, also carried his gun into the pulpit. Mr. Elder was pastor 
of that church when it was built, about 102 years ago, and preached to that congregation, 
and in the Derry church, upwards of 60 years. He was colonel of the Paxton Rangers, whose 
duty it was to keep a look-out for the Indians, and range the settlements, for their protection, 
from the Blue mountain to the river. The late Judge Bucher's father, who was a clerg)Tnan 
in Lebanon, was also a colonel in the same kind of service. Parson Elder wore a small cocked 
hat, and such were usually worn by clergymen in his day. 

About the year 1793, a fever of a violent character prevailed here, especially among the new 
settlers or foreigners. At the same time, the yellow fever was prevailing in Philadelphia, and 
fears Were entertained of its introduction into Harrisburg. A patrol was accordingly established 
at the lower end of the town, to prevent infected persons from Philadelphia coming into it. 
A considerable number of Irish emigrants died, and some of the citizens ; but most families of 
the place were to some extent afflicted. A mill-dam owned by two men named Landis, was 
generally thought to be the cause of this sickness. The citizens, after various meetings, re- 
.';olved (in March, 1795) on its removal ; and a subscription was set on foot to raise money 
to pay the Landises for the property. The site of the mill, dam, and race, had been bought 
from John Harris. The money raised was tendered to the Landises, who refused it. The 
citizens then prepared for the forcible removal of the dam, and the Landises threatened to use 
force to prevent it. The citizens accordingly marched in a body to the dam, on a cold snowy 
day in March. The owners were there, with several men, armed with guns, threatening to fire. 
The citizens, however, advanced into the water, and the dam was soon demolished. The Lan- 
dises threatened a suit, and the citizens handed to them a list of several hundred names to be 
sued ; but the proprietors finally took the money. Moses Gilmore, Stacy Potts, Capt. John 
Sawyers, Adam Boyd, Robert Harris, John Kean, Samuel Weir, Gen. John A. Hanna, Alexan- 
der and Samuel Berryhill, and many others, were active in the above proceedings. 

It may be remarked that some citizens of Harrisburg, who refused to contribute to the 
subscription, were obliged to leave the place. No violence was offered to them, but no one 
would employ them in their several pursuits, and they at length went elsewhere. The mill 
was erected about one quarter of a mile below Harrisburg, about as low down as the wliite 
house, which is situate on the old mill road and the canal ; and the race extended up along 
(or nearly along) the present route of the Pennsylvania canal, to a lane which ran across to 
the hill, about the upper line of Mr. Dowding's brick-yard lot, where the dam was erected. 

There is no house, except the stone house, now standing within the present limits of Harris 



286 DAUPHIN COUNTY. 

burg, which Is certainly known to have been erected before the town was laid out. The log» 
house, erected in the rear of Rise's brewery, on Front-street, was built about the time the town 
was laid out ; but whether it was begun before that time, is not recollected. 

John Hamilton erected the first permanent embellishment to the town, after Harris's stone house, 
by building the brick house on the comer of Front-street and Blackberry alley, and also the large 
establishment for his store, on the comer of Market square and Market^street, now known as the 
" Washington Hotel." He was an extensive trader. In place of the present rapid modes of con- 
veying merchandise and passengers to Pittsbiirg, he kept large numbers of horses and mules, and 
every few weeks his caravans set out " for the West," laden witli salt, powder, lead, &c. 

The first clergyman established in Harrisburg, was the Rev. Mr. Montgomery, a Presbyterian. 
His first discourse, we have heard, was delivered in the lot on which the Presbyterian church is 
now erected, on a pleasant afternoon in June. The congregation (the whole village) were shel- 
tered by two or three large apple-trees, and some noble oaks, the primitive growth of the forest. 

Chief-Justice M'Kean resided here for some time, at least while Congress sat at York. He 
lived in a substantial one-story log-house, a short space above what is now Locust-street. He 
wore an immense cocked hat, and had great deference shown him by the country people, and the 
straggling Indians who had their village on what is now M'Kee's place. This was in 1778-79 ; 
after the country was quieted, When he and the other judges of the supreme court came to Harris- 
burg to hold a court, numbers of the citizens of the place would go out on horseback to meet 
them and escort them to town. Sometimes one or two hundred people would attend for the pur- 
pose. The Sheriff with his rod of office, and other public officers, and the bar, would attend on 
the occasion ; and each morning whilst the chief-jUstice was in town, holding court, the sheriff 
and constables escorted him from his lodgings to the court-room. 

The chief-justice, when on the bench, sat with his hat on, and was dressed in a scarlet gown. 
Gen. Washington's head-quarters, while at Harris's Ferry, on the Western expedition, were in a 
small frame-house, which stood, until the last few years, at the comer of Vine and Paxton streets. 

The building in which the first court was held still stands — the dilapidated log-house in the 
rear of what was Hise's brewery. The courts were afterwards held in the log-house erected on 
the east or lower side of Market-Street, on the cornei' of Market-street and Dewberry alley, which 
is nearest to the river. 

The eariiest record of a court, is dated 3d Tuesday df May, 1785. " At a court of Quarter 
Sessions holden near Harris's Ferry, Timothy Green, Samuel Jones, and Jonathan M'Clure, 
Esqs., justices." 

The names of the jurymen were — James Cowden, (foreman,) Robert Montgomery, John Gil- 
christ, Barefoot Brunson, John Clark, Rowan M'Clure, John Carson, John Wilson, William 
Crane, Archibald M'AUister, Richard Dixon, John Pattimore, James Crouch, Jacob Awl, William 
Brown, Andrew Stewart, James Rogers, Samuel Stewart, John Cooper, Alexander Berryhill. 
Joshua Elder was the first Prothonotary, Rudolph Kelker the first Sheriff. 

On the juries for the next three or four terms. We recognise the names of many of the ances- 
tors of our present citizens — the Coxes, the Kelkers, Krauses, Hamiltons, Forsters, Buchers, El- 
ders, Rutherfords, Orths, Foxes, tfcc. 

Several records occur in which punishment was inflicted by lashes and " standing In the pil- 
lory." 

At the August sessions of 1786, we find noted, that the name of the town had been changed 
from Harris's Ferry to Louisburg, " by order of the Supreme Executive Council." At what time 
it was changed back again, we can find no note. The law for locating the seat of government at 
this place, was approved 21st February, 1810. The offices were removed from Lancaster 12th 
Oct. 1812, and the commissioners for the purpose were Robert Harris, George Hoyer, George 
Zeigler. 

The town of Harrisburg, auspiciously begun, has steadily advanced. The prophecy of John 
Harris has been fulfilled, and it is now the seat of government of Pennsylvania. 

MiDDLETowN, With its Very near neighbor Portsmouth, occupies the sec- 
ond rank in the co., and, as a town, is the most ancient. Middletown 
occupies the high ground about half a mile from the confluence of the 
Swatara with the Susquehanna ; Portsmouth is on the plain immediately 
at the mouth, 10 miles below Harrisburg. The Union canal, the Pennsyl- 
vania canal, and the Harrisburg and Lancaster railroad, all intersect at 
Portsmouth. There are here two blast furnaces, one foundry, two exten- 
sive flouring-mills, and 3 saw-mills, all propelled by the waters of the 
Swatara ; and there is still much water-power unemployed. At Middle- 
town there are four churches, Lutheran, German Reformed, Bethel, and 
Methodist. Its inhabitants, originally, were Irish, English, and a few 



DAUPHIN COUNTY. 



287 



Scotch ; they have been generally succeeded by Germans. The annexed 
view was taken from the porch of the hotel, in the centre of the town. 




Central part of Middletown. 

The following sketch of the early history of this place was kindly 
drawn up by Mr. Fisher, a son of the original founder. 

" The town of Middletown was laid out in 1755, by George Fisher, Esq., in the centre of a large 
tract of land bounded by the Swatara and Susquehanna, conveyed to him by his father, John 
Fisher, a merchant of Philadelphia. The site was that of an ancient Indian village founded by 
the Susquehanna nation. Middletown derived its name from its local position, midway between 
Lancaster and Carlisle." 

" The proprietor being a Friend, several of this denomination from the city and the lower coun- 
ties followed him ; and these, with several Scotch and Irish merchants, formed the first inhabit- 
ants of the village, who enjoyed, up to the period of the revolution, a very extensive and lucrative 
trade with the natives and others settled on the Susquehanna and Juniata, and also with the 
Western traders. Several of the Scotch and Irish merchants entered the army, whence few re- 
turned. During the war a commissary department was established here, when the small boats 
for Gen. Sullivan's army were built, and his troops supplied with provisions and military stores 
for his expedition against the Six Nations." 

" After the war, trade again revived, and flounshed extensively until 1796, after which it gradu- 
ally declined. Until then, the mouth of the Swatara was considered the termination of the navi- 
gation of the Susquehanna and its tributary streams. So far down, it was considered safe ; be- 
ow this it was believed to be impracticable, on account of the numerous and dangerous falls and 
cataracts impeding its bed. In 1796, an enterprising German miller by the name of Kreider, 
trom the neighborhood of Huntingdon on the Juniata, appeared in the Swatara with the first ark 
ever built in those waters, fully freighted with flour, with which he safely descended to Baltimore, 
where he was amply compensated for his meritorious adventure. His success becoming known 
throughout the interior, many arks were built, and the next year, many of them, fully freighted, 
arrived safely at tide-water. This trade increasing, a number of enterprising young men were 
induced to examine critically the river from the Swatara to tide, by which they became excellent 
pilots. The enterprise of John Kreider thus diverted the trade of this place to Baltimore, where 
it principally centred, until the Union canal was completed in 1827, when it was again generally 
arrested at its old port. It would probably have so continued, if the Pennsylvania canal had not 
been continued to Columbia, by which the principal obstruction in the river, the Conewago falls, 
was completely obviated. Middletown, or rather Portsmouth, laid out in 1814, by the son of the 
original proprietor, at the junction of the Union and Pennsylvania canals, again declined. A 
large trade, however, in lumber and other articles of domestic produce, is still intercepted here, 
supplying the valk^ys of the Swatara, Quitapahilla, Tulpehocken, and the Schuylkill. It may 
fairly be presumed, from the local advantages enjoyed by this town, that it is destined ere long to 
become one of much importance." 

Between Middletown and Portsmouth, in full view of the railroad, 
stands the Emmaus Institute, an elegant edifice, devoted to the educa 



288 DAUPHIN COUNTY. 

tion of poor orphan children, who are to be carefully trained in the 
doctrines of the Evangelical Lutheran Church. Instruction is given 
in the German and English languages, and the charter has been so 
altered by the legislature as to permit the establishment of a literary 
and scientific department in connection with the orphan house, in 
which all the branches of modern learning are taught. The institu- 
tion owes its origin to the liberality of Mr. George Frey, formerly a 
distinguished citizen of Middletown. It has only been recently erected, 
after many years of expensive and vexatious litigation since the death 
of the donor, some forty years since. The life of Mr. Frey was marked 
with not a little of romance. His name, by the way, was not Frey, but 
.Everhart. 

When Mr. Fisher, the founder of the town, first came to the place, he used to hire George, who 
was then a penniless German lad, to assist in ploughing his fields and clearing up his new land. 
George lived with Mr. Fislier some years until he had saved a little fund ; but his ambition looked 
above the plough, and investing his money in a stock of trinkets, finery, and other articles for 
Indian trafiic, he mounted his pack, and started up the Susquehanna. Passing the mountains, 
he encountered a party of soldiers from the garrison at Fort Hunter, who arrested him as a run- 
away redemptioner, (a servant who had been sold for a time to pay his passage from Europe,) a 
character common in those days, and far more consistent with George's appearance and lan- 
guage than that of a pedler ; for what pedler, said they, would risk life and property thus alone 
and on foot on this dangerous Indian frontier ? " Ich bin frey, ich bin frey," (/ am free,} re- 
peated George earnestly in German, in reply to their charges. He succeeded in convincing them 
of his independence, and went with them to the garrison, where he became quite a favorite, the 
soldiers knowing him by no other name than " Frey," which they had caught from his first reply 
to them. He sold out his pack at a fine profit, and continued to repeat his adventures, still pass- 
ing as George Free, until he was able to start a little store in Middletown, and he afterwards 
erected a mill. Near the close of the revolution, when the old continental money was gradually 
depreciating, George, who always kept both eyes open, contrived to be on the right side of the 
account, so that, instead of losing, he gained immensely by the depreciation ; and, in short, by 
dint of untiring industry, close economy, sharp bargains, and lucky financiering, George at length 
became, on a small scale, the Stephen Girard of the village, and owned a great part of the real 
estate in and around the town. He had not, however, all the good things of this life ; although 
he was married, heaven had never blessed him with children — a circumstance which he bitterly 
regretted, as certain worthy fathers of the Lutheran Church can testify. The property, therefore, 
of the childless man was destined to cheer and educate the fatherless children of a succeeding 
age. He died in 1807 or 1808, and a splendid seminary, erected about the year 1840, is the mon- 
ument of George Frey's benevolence. 

HuMMELSTowN is a considerable village 8 miles E. of Harrisburg, on 
the Reading turnpike, about one mile east of the Swatara, and 5 miles 
from Middletown. It contains a Lutheran church, and about 150 dwell- 
ings. The village is in the midst of a rich limestone district, cultivated 
by wealthy and industrious German farmers. About a mile S. from the 
village, near the Swatara, is one of those curious caverns which abound 
in limestone formations. Not far from this cave rises the lofty isolated 
mountain called Round Top, a conspicuous object in the scenery of this 
region. 

Halifax is on the left bank of the Susquehanna, between the river and 
Armstrong cr., about a mile below the confluence of the latter, and 17 
miles above Harrisburg. The village consists of 80 or 100 dwellings, a 
church, stores, &c. It was formerly the site of Fort Halifax, one of the 
line of frontier forts erected during the French war, in 1756. 

MiLLERSBURG occupics a fine elevated site near the mouth of Wiconisco 
cr., on the left bank of the Susquelianna, 23 miles above Harrisburg. It 
contains a Lutheran church, and about 80 or 100 dwellings. The Lykens 
Valley railroad, communicating with the coal mines at Bear Gap in Short 



DAUPHIN COUNTY. 289 

mountain, terminates at this place. The Wiconisco canal, when finished, 
will perfect the communication with the main line of Pennsylvania canal 
at Duncan's island. The business resulting from these public improve- 
ments must eventually render Millersburg a place of much importance. 

The Short mountain, in which the coal mines are contained, is the west- 
ern termination of Broad mountain. It runs west of the Schuylkill co. 
line, and ends abruptly in the midst of Lykens valley, about 12 miles east 
from Millersburg. Between 2 and 3 miles from the end of the mountain 
is Bear Gap, a singular entrance into a narrow longitudinal valley or 
cove in the middle of the mountain. Bear cr., which flows through the 
gap, drains this valley. The gap exposes on each of its sides to the 
labors of the miner several most valuable veins of anthracite coal, from 
6 to 11 feet in thickness. The mines immediately at the gap were owned 
by Messrs. Gratz and ShaefTer. Thomas P. Cope, Esq., was also an 
owner of coal lands here. Coal was discovered below the gap about the 
year 1830, by Messrs. Hugh Maxwell and Wm. White, of Xiancaster, on 
lands owned by Messrs. Elder and Halde'man, of Harrisburg, Mining 
commenced soon after. The village of Wiconisco was started, the rail- 
road located, and now Bear Gap is a busy spot. In 1834 there were at 
Wiconisco Mr. Sheafer's tavern, the agent's house, a store, 12 miners' 
houses, mechanics' shops, &c. There are some beautiful farms in Lykens 
valley. Among others, on the Wiconisco, is one now in possession of the 
Hon. James Buchanan, of Lancaster. This farm was the former resi- 
dence of Lyken, the first settler of the valley. There is a wide contrast 
between the peace and prosperity enjoyed by the farmers of the valley 
now, and the dangers and hardships of its early pioneers. The following 
extract is from Gordon's History of Pennsylvania. The affair took place 
in the spring of 1756, after Braddock's defeat in the previous year. 

On the 7th of March the house of Andrew Lycan, on the Wikenesko or., was attacked by the 
Indians. Lycan had with him his son, a negro man, a boy, and John Revalt, and Ludwig Shut, 
two of his neighbors. Lycan and Revalt, whilst engaged early in the morning foddering the 
cattle, had two guns fired at them, but, being unhurt, ran to the house, and prepared for an en. 
gagement. In order to get a shot at the enemy, John Lycan, Revalt, and Shut, crept out of the 
house, but were instantly fired upon by five Indians, and were all wounded. Lycan, the father, 
perceiving over the hog-house an Indian, named Joshua James, fired upon, and killed him : he 
also saw two white men run from the hog-house, and get at a little distance from it. The people 
in the house now endeavored to escape, and were pursued by sixteen Indians. John Lycan and 
Revalt, unable from their wounds to continue the fight, fled with the negro, whilst Andrew, Shut, 
and the boy faced the foe. One of the Indians approached the boy, and whilst in the act of striking 
him with his tomahawk, was shot dead by Shut, and at the same instant Lycan killed another 
These two heroic men continued the combat for some time, and killed and wounded several of 
their adversaries. Their bravery daunted the enemy, who did not dare to close upon them, even 
though they were compelled, from fatigue and loss of blood, to sit down upon a log to rest them, 
selves ; and they finally succeeded in making good their retreat to Hanover township. Several 
of the Indians were recognised as Delawares, and were well known in the neighborhood. 

Duncan's Island is the name now applied to the flourishing settlement 
at the mouth of the Juniata, 14 miles above Harrisburg. The name 
properly belongs to the narrow alluvial island, about two miles in length, 
at the point of which the village is situated. This island, and its fellow, 
Haldeman's island, although apparently in Perry co., are really in Dau- 
phin, Perry having been formed from Cumberland, and the original boun- 
dary of that county having been the western shore of the Susquehanna. 
Haldeman's island, (so called from its present owner,) is not of alluvial 
origin, but is elevated far above the neighboring flatlands. The farm- 

37 



290 DELAWARE COUNTY. 

house on it commands a magnificent landscape, comprising many of the 
wonders both of nature and art. The river here is nearly a mile in width, 
and is crossed by a wooden bridge, on the Burr plan, resting upon many 
piers, the w^hole constructed with an elegance and strength equal to, if 
not surpassing, those of any public work in the country. A dam across 
the river just below the bridge creates a pool, upon which boats cross by 
means of the double towing-path attached to the bridge. The canal 
continues up Duncan's island, diverging at its upper end into the Juniata 
and Susquehanna divisions. The Juniata division then crosses the Ju- 
niata on a splendid aqueduct, with wooden superstructure, and continues 
up the right bank to the rope-ferry, twelve miles above. There is also a 
fine bridge across the mouth of the Juniata. 

On a previous page, (275,) some interesting details are given relating 
to the aborigines who occupied these islands. 

About half a mile above the village, Mrs. Duncan, the accomplished 
widow of the late proprietor of the island, still resides in the family man- 
sion, where the traveller who chooses to tarry in this delightful region 
may find accommodations — not in a hotel, with its bar and bottles, and 
blustering loafers ; but in a comfortable, well-furnished gentleman's 
home, with its quiet fireside, and books, and intelligent society, and socia- 
ble tea-table. The following facts were learned in a conversation with 
Mrs. Duncan : 

Mrs. Duncan's grandfather, Marcus Hulings, was one of the earliest settlers in this section of 
the country. He settled, (possibly as early as 1735,) on the upper end of the island. Her other 
grandfather, Watts, was also another early settler in this vicinity. Mr. Hulings established a 
ferry across the mouth of Juniata, and built a causeway at the upper end of the island for pack- 
horses to pass. A Mr. Baskin established a ferry across the Susquehanna at the foot of the big 
island, (Haldeman's.) The trade was at that time carried on entirely with pack-horses. When 
the hostile Indians broke in upon the frontier in 1756, Mr. Hulings left here and went out to Fort 
Duquesne, and afterwards became proprietor of the point where Pittsburg now stands. Becom- 
ing discontented with his situation in that disturbed frontier, he sold out for £200, and returned 
to Duncan's island, where he re-established his ferry and made further improvements. A bloody 
fight occurred on the island between the whites and Indians about the year 1760. On one occa- 
sion news came to Mr. Hulings that the Indians were coming down the river to attack the set- 
tlements. Hulings packed up a few of his valuables in great haste, and putting his wife and 
child upon a large black horse, tied to the foot of the island, ready to cross over at the first alarm. 
Thinking that perhaps the Indians might not have arrived, he ventured back alone to the house 
to try to save more of his effects. After carefully reconnoitering the house, he entered and found 
an Indian up stairs, coolly picking his flint. Stopping some time to parley with the Indian so 
that he might retreat without being shot at, his wife became alarmed at his long delay ; and, 
fearing he had been murdered by the Indians, she mounted the black charger, with her child on 
her lap, and swam the Susquehanna ! This was in the spring when the river was up. Our mod- 
ern matrons would scarcely perform such an achievement. Her husband soon arrived, and in 
his turn, became alarmed at her absence ; but she made a signal to him from the opposite side, 
and relieved his anxiety. 

There was a large Indian mound below Mrs. Duncan's on the island, (which was destroyed by 
the canal,) full of bones and other relics ; large trees were growing over it. There appears also 
to have been an extensive Indian burial-place below Mrs. Duncan's, along where the canal passes. 
Many relics,were found — beads, stone hatchets, &c. ; and among other things, a small brass to- 
bacco box, with a piece of tobacco in it. The box was curiously carved, but was evidently of 
European workmanship. 



DELAWARE COUNTY. 

Delaware county, although it comprises the most ancient settlements 
in the state, did not receive its present organization until 26th Sept. 1789, 



DELAWARE COUNTY. 291 

when it was separated from Chester co. Length 16 m., breadth 11 ; area 
177 sq. m. : being the least of all the counties except Philadelphia. Pop- 
ulation in 1790, 9,483 ; in 1800, 12,809 ; in 1810, 14,734 ; in 1820, 14,810 ; 
in 1830, 17,323; in 1840, 19,791. 

The county lies entirely within the primitive formation, with the ex- 
ception of the alluvial tract along the Delaware ; the prevailing rocks 
being granite, gneiss, and feldspar, in every variety of decomposition. 
Some of these deposits of gneiss, on the creeks near the Delaware, fur- 
nish valuable quarries of stone. The surface is gently undulating, and 
near the northwestern boundary becomes hilly. The soil is not naturally 
fertile, but with the aid of lime, manure, industry, and the extensive mar- 
ket of Philadelphia, it is made very productive. The broad alluvial 
meadows along the Delaware, and some of the creeks, furnish rich pas- 
turage for immense numbers of fat cattle. The farmers devote their at- 
tention principally to dairy farming, and the rearing of cattle. 

The principal streams, besides the Delaware, are Cobb's cr., the east- 
ern boundary. Darby, Crum, Ridley, Chester, and Hook crs. The Bran- 
dywine flows along the western boundary. Falling as these creeks do 
from the upland country to tide-water, they furnish a great abundance 
of water-power, most of which is usefully employed in a great variety 
of manufactures; among which are 21 cotton factories, 9 woollen facto- 
ries, 3 dyeing and print-works, 1 1 paper factories, 1 furnace, rolling and 
nail mills, edge-tool manufactories, powder-mills, fulling, flouring, sawing, 
and oil mills. The decomposed feldspar of this county and Chester co. 
has been formerly much used in the manufacture of fine porcelain, by 
Mr. Tucker of Philadelphia ; but it is believed the manufacture has been 
abandoned, in consequence of foreign competition. Copper has been 
found, it is said, on Chester cr., and there are indications of the two 
shafts once sunk in searching for it ; but the mine is now unimproved. 

The population is generally composed of the descendants of the early 
Swedish, English, and Welsh settlers — a majority of whom, it is estimated, 
are connected with the society of Friends ; and there are also many 
churches of other denominations, especially of the ancient Welsh Episco- 
palians, and of the Swedes, who have now adopted the ritual of the 
Episcopal church. There are many excellent private seminaries in the 
county, among which that of Mr. Gummerie, in Haverford township, is 
celebrated. There is an extensive lazaretto and commodious hospital in 
Tinicum township, on the Delaware, for the accommodation of sick pas- 
sengers and seamen bound to Philadelphia. The county also has a well- 
managed poorhouse, connected with a farm. 

The Philadelphia and Baltimore railroad passes through Chester. 
Several important turnpikes also pass through the county, towards Balti- 
more, Chadsford, Westchester, Lancaster, &c. 

Long before William Penn came to this country, indeed before he was 
born, the Swedes had already settled in " Upland," now Delaware co. 
They first landed near Cape Henlopen, in 1638, and soon after built a 
town and fort, which they called Christina, on the north side of Min- 
quaas cr., (now Christina cr.,) not far above its mouth. (See Outline 
History, pp. 10, 11.) In 1643, Gov. John Printz, with the Rev. John 
Campanius as chaplain of the colony, arrived from Stockholm, in the ship 
Fame, accompanied by two other ships of war, the Swan and the Chari- 



292 DELAWARE COUNTY. 

tas. He selected for his residence the broad alluvial island at the mouth 
of Darby cr., called Tinicum island, the same upon which the lazaretto 
now stands. It is separated from the main land only by the two branches 
of Darby cr., and should not be confounded, by those who seek it on the 
map, with the long, narrow, sandy island in the middle of the Delaware, 
now designated as Tinicum island on the state map. Here Gov. Printz 
erected a strong fort of hemlock logs, and a splendid palace for himself, 
called Printz Hall, surrounded with a fine orchard and pleasure grounds. 
Near him, on the same island, were clustered the dwellings and planta- 
tions of the more respectable colonists ; a commodious church, of wood, 
was consecrated by Rev. Mr. Campanius, on the 4th Sept. 1646; and a 
burying-ground was laid out, in which, as Campanius is careful to inform 
us, "the first corpse that was buried was Andrew Hanson's daughter 
Catherine, and she was buried on the 28th Oct., which was Simon and 
Jude's day." The city of Gov. Printz thus founded was called New Got- 
tenburg, and for some years it enjoyed the dignity of being the metropolis 
of New Sweden. 

By the instructions of Queen Christina to Gov. Printz, he was enjoined 
to administer justice according to Swedish laws ; to preserve, as far as 
practicable, the manners and customs of Sweden ; to promote diligently 
all profitable branches of industry, such as the culture of grain, of tobac- 
co, of the vine, and the mulberry for silk ; the raising of cattle ; to search 
for precious metals ; diligently to cultivate a traffic with the Indians, and 
especially to be careful to midersell the English and Dutch. With re- 
spect to the Dutch, he was to conciliate their good-will, but to deny their 
right to any of the land on the Avest side of the river ; and if all friendly 
negotiations proved fruitless, he was to repel force by force. With the 
Virginians he was to cultivate a friendly intercourse and exchange of 
good offices ; but the English who had settled on Ferken's cr., (Salem,) 
were to be persuaded to remove, or else to be brought under her majesty's 
jurisdiction. With the Indians he was to confirm the former purchases 
of land, and treaties of peace ; and as far as practicable to win them 
over to embrace Christianity, and adopt the manners and customs of civ- 
ilized life. But — 

" Before all, the governor must labor and watch that he renders in all things to Almighty God 
the true worship v/hich is his due, the glory, the praise, and the homage which belong to him, and 
take good measures that the divine service is performed according to the true confession of Augs- 
burg, the council of Upsal, and the ceremonies of the Swedish church, having care that all men, 
and especially the youtli, be well instructed in all the parts of Christianity, and that a good eccle- 
siastical discipline be observed and maintained. With respect to the Dutch colony which resides 
and is established in the country of her majesty and of the crown, the governor must not disturb 
what has been ordained in the aforesaid grant of her majesty with regard to the exercise of the 
reformed religion." 

Under these wholesome instructions the Swedish colony prospered 
abundantly until more pow^erful nations became jealous of their success. 

Campanius represents the Indians as having been frequent visiters at 
his house. In his conversations with them, he generally succeeded in 
making them understand the great leading truths and doctrines of the 
gospel. He was so much encouraged by their docility that he learned 
their language, and translated the catechism into it. 

Small hamlets were settled at various places along the shore and fur- 
ther inland, but still at convenient distances from the forts, James N. 



DELAWARE COUNTY. 293 

Barker, Esq., in his oration on the 24th Oct. 1827, before the Penn So- 
ciety, says : — 

The town of Christina Harbor, and Christina Fort, were the first places erected by the Swedes, 
and in the year of their arrival, 1638. They stood at a place called by the natives Hopohaccan, 
on the north of the stream Minquaas, sometimes called Suspecough, and not far from its mouth. 
The stream also received the name of Christina, which it still retains, and a village of some an- 
tiquity, further up the creek, is yet called Christina. But the fort and the primitive town of 
Christina Harbor have disappeared : happily, however, for the antiquary, an accurate draujjht of 
both, by the engineer Lindstrom, is preserved in the Nya Swerige of Campanius, who furnishes 
besides a minute account of its capture in 1655 by the Dutch under Stuyvcsant, after a siege of 
fourteen days, and which completed the subjugation of the country. The Swedish traveller Kalm, 
who visited this spot in 1748, had presented to him by the reverend Mr. Tranbcrg, minister of 
the Swedish church at Wilmington, an old Swedish silver coin of Christina, found among axes, 
shovels, and other things, at the depth of about three I'eet under ground, by some workmen, who 
in the preceding summer were throwing up a redoubt to protect the place from an expected attack 
by the French and Spaniards. The new fortification, as Mr. Tranberg informed Kalm, was on 
the same spot which the old one had occupied ; Kalm adds, that it is nearly three miles from that 
point, by the course of the stream, to its mouth. 

According to Campanius, New Gothenborg was totally " destroyed." It is gratifying, however, 
to learn from William Penn himself, that on his arrival, the Swedes had a church, perhaps the 
ancient edifice, yet standing at Tinicum. 

Nya Wasa and Gripsholm are laid down on some of the old maps as fortified places. Ebeling 
supposes they were on the Schuylkill, but Du Simitiere places them on the Delaware, between 
Nya Gothenborg and the Schuylkill. Campanius, however, assigns them a station between the 
Schuylkill and a stream north of Tinicum, Gripsholm near the Delaware, and Nya Wasa some 
distance up the Schuylkill, probably about the point a little below Bartrani's Botanic Garden. It 
is difficult to fix the latter with any certainty, for but a single stream above Tinicum is laid down 
on the maps, called by Lindstrom, the only one who gives it a name, Tenna Kongz Kilen. Nya 
Wasa may therefore have been situated even below the present Cobb's creek. 

The place at which the Dutch erected Fort Kasimer, says Campanius, was called (by the In- 
dians, it is presumed) Sand Hocken, and was on the south, as Christina fort was on the north 
of the Minquaas or Mingoes creek, called by the Swedes Christina. It was in 1651, that the 
Dutch were suffered by the Swedish governor Frintz, who contented himself with timidly pro- 
testing against the measure, to possess themselves of this key to New Sweden. In 1654, the 
successor of Printz, governor Risingh, obtained possession of the fort, either by treachery or by 
storm, for the historians disagree on this point, when it received the new title of " The Fort of the 
Holy Trinity," and was placed under the command of Sven Schute, lord of Passaiung. In the 
following year it was the first place of strength obliged to yield to the conqueror Stuyvesant, and 
Was afterwards called Fort Nieu Amstel. The account by Campanius of these transactions is 
interesting, and his book contains besides an engraved view of the fort itself under its Swedish 
title of Trefalldigheets Forte. 

Andreas Hudde, an agent of the Dutch, who had charge of Fort Nassau, 
in 1 645-46, was sent by Gov. Kieft to spy out the land where the Swedes 
had settled. While he remained at Fort Nassau, (on the Jersey shore 
near the mouth of Timber cr.,) a fierce diplomatic war was carried on 
between himself and Gov. Printz, the details of which are given in his 
official report. In his description of the country, he says, — 

" Somewhat further on the same side (above Cliristina) about two (Dutch) miles there are 
some plantations which are continued nearly a mile ; but four houses only are built, and these at 
considerable distance one from the other. The fiu-thest of these is not far from Tinnekonk, which 
is an island, and is towards the river-side secured by creeks and underwood ; there the governor, 
John Printz, keeps his residence. This is a pretty strong fort, constructed by laying very heavy 
hemlock logs (greenen) the one on the other ; but this fort with all its buildings was burnt down 
on the 5th December, 1655. Further on, at the same side, till you come to the Schuylkill, being 
about two miles, there is not a single plantation, neither at Tinnekonk, because near the river 
nothing is to be met but underwood and valley lands. 

" In regard to this Schuylkill, these are lands purchased and possessed by the company. He 
employed the company's carpenter, and constructed there a fort, on a very convenient spot, on an 
island near the borders of the kill, which is from the southwest side secured by another creek, 
and from the S. S. E. and S. sides with underwood and valley lands. It lays about the distance 
of a gunshot in the kill. On the south side of this kill, on the same island, beautiful com ia 



294 DELAWARE COUNTY. 

raised. This fort cannot In any manner whatever obtain any control on the river, but it has the 
command over the whole creek, while this kill or creek is the only remaining avfenue for trade 
with the Minquaas, and without this trade the river is of little value. 

" At a little distance from this fort was a creek to the furthest distant wood, which place is 
named Kingsessing by the savages, which was before a certain and invariable resort for trade 
with the Minquaas, but which is now opposed by tlie Swedes having there built a strong house. 
About half a mile further in the woods. Governor Printz constructed a mill on a kill which runs 
in the sea not far to the south of Matinnekonk, and on this kill a strong building just by in the 
path which leads to the Minquaas ; and this place is called by the savages Kakarikonk. So that 
no access to the Minquaas is left open; and he too [Printz] controls nearly all the trade of the 
savages on the river, as the greatest part of them go a hunting in that neighborhood, which they 
are not able to do without passing by his residence. In regard to his force, it consists at utmost 
of eighty or ninety men, freemen as well as servants, with whom he must garrison all his strong 
places." — N. York Hist. Soc. Collections, New Series, vol. I. 

Thomas Campanius Holm, grandson of Rev. Mr. Campanius, who pub- 
lished his work on New Sweden, derived principally from his grandfa- 
ther's papers, in 1702, has the following description of the same places 
described by Hudde. 

Mocoponaca, which is called Chester, was a bare place, without a fort, but there was some 
houses built there. It was good even land there by the sea shore, situated between Christina fort 
and New Gottenburg, though nearer the latter, and there was also a fort built there some time after. 

Passaiung was the commander Swen Skute's donation, and under that was Korsholm fort 
situated. But after Governor John Printz went to Swede land, it was quitted by the Swedes, 
and afterwards burnt and ruined by the Indians. 

Manaijung, that is, Skoolkill fort, this was a handsome little fort built of logs, with sand and 
stones filled up betwixt the logs, and pallisadoes cut very sharp towards the top ; it laid four 
miles from Christina ; east it Was mounted with great guns, as well as the other forts. The forta 
are all situated by the water-side. 

Chinsessing [Kingsessing] was called the New fort. This was no fort, but good strong 
log-houses, built of good strong hard hickory, two stories high, which was a fort good and 
strong enough to secure themselves from the Indians. For what signifieth a fort when the people 
therein boast of the strength of the place, and do not crave for God's assistance ? And there lived 
five freemen, who plough, sow, plant, and manure the land, and they lived very well there, for the 
governor had settled them there. Karraung stream, or water-mill : by this place is a strong 
stream, and hath extraordinary conveniences to build mills there, and the government caused a 
mill to be built there. 

In return for Gov. Printz's valuable services, Queen Christina, in 1643, 
was pleased to grant him the island of Tinicum, with its town of New 
Gottenburg, as a possession to be enjoyed by him and his heirs forever. 
Printz, after a residence often years, returned to Sweden in 1652, leaving 
his son-in-law, Pappegoia, in temporary charge of the colony. Printz had 
become unpopular by a too rigid exercise of authority. During the ad- 
ministration of his successor, John Claudius Rising, a treaty was held 
with the neighboring Indian chiefs. The following account of it is given 
in the quaint language of some ancient translator of Campanius Holm's 
work, as published in the N. Y. Hist. Collections.* 

The 17th June, 1654, was gathered together at Prince Hall at Tennacum, ten of the sache- 
mans of the Indian chiefs, and there at that time was spoken to them in the behalf of the great 
Queen of Sweed land for to renew the old league of friendship that was betwixt them, and that the 
Sweeds had bought and purchased the land of them. They complained that the Sweeds they 
should have brought in with them much evil, because so many of them since are dead and ex- 
pired. Then there was given unto them considerable presents and parted amongst them. When they 
had received the presents they went out, and had a conference amongst them a pretty while, and 
came in again, and then spoke one of the chiefs, by name Noaman, rebuked the rest, and that 
they had spoken evil of the Sweeds and done them harm, and that they shoidd do so no more, for 
they were good people. Look, said he, pointing upon the presents, what they have brought us, 

* A more complete and modem English translation, by Mr. Duponceau, has since been pub- 
lished in the collections of the Penr Hist. Society. 



DELAWARE COUNTY. 295 

and they desire our friendship, and then he stroked himself three times down his arm, which was 
an espec al token of friendship. Afterwards he thanked for the presents they had received, which 
he did in all their behalfs, and said that there should hereafter be observed and kept a more strict 
friendship amongst them than there hath been hitherto. That as they had been in Governoeur 
Printz his time, one body and one heart, (beating and knocking upon his breast,) they should 
henceforward be as one head. For a token waving with both his hands, and made as if he would 
tye a strong knott ; and then he made this comparison, that as the callibash is of growth round 
without any crack, also they from henceforth hereafter as one body without any separation, and 
if they heard or understood that any one would do them or any of theirs any harm, we should give 
them timely notice thereof, and likewise if they heard any mischief plotting against the Christians, 
they would give them notice thereof if it was at midnight. And tlien answer was made unto 
them, that that would be a true and lasting friendship, if every one would consent to it. And 
upon the said sayings they made a general shout, and consented to it. Then the great guns were 
fired, which pleased them exceedingly well, saying, Pu-hu-hu ! mo ki-rick pickon ; that is, hear! 
now believe I the great guns are fired. And then they were treated with wine and brandy. Then 
stood up another of the Indians and spoke, and admonished all in general that they should keep 
the league and friendship with the Christians tliat was made, and in no manner of way violate 
the same, and do them no manner of injury, not to their hogs or their cattle, and if any one should 
be found guilty thereof, they should be severely punished, others to an example ; they advised that 
we should settle some Swceds upon Passaiuack, where then there lived a power of Indians, for to 
observe if they did any mischief, they should be punished. Moreover that all the land that the Sweeda 
had bought and purchased should be confirmed, the copies of the agreements were then punctually 
read unto them. But the originals were at Stockholm, and when their names [were read] that 
had signed, they seemed when they heard it rejoiced, but when any one's name was read that 
was dead, they hung their heads down and seemed to be sorrowful. And then there was set upon 
the floor in the great hall two great kettles, and a great many other vessels with sappan, that is, 
mush, made of Indian corn or Indian wheat, as groweth there in abundance. But the sache. 
mans they sate by themselves, but the common sort of Indians they fed heartily, and were satis- 
fied. The above mentioned treaty and friendship that then was made betwixt the Sweeds and 
the Indians, hath been ever since kept and observed, and that the Sweeds have not been by them 
molested. 

Stuyvesant, the Dutch governor of New Amsterdam, conquered New 
Sweden, in 1655. (See Outline History, p. 11.) The Dutch settled but 
slowly in New Sweden after the conquest, generally preferring trade, 
with a residence in towns, to agricultural employments. Acrelius, an 
accurate Swedish historian, a part of whose work, translated by the Rev. 
Dr. Collin, of Wicaco, has been published by the N. Y. Hist. Soc. says : 

" Stuyvesant had a deep, fixed jealousy that the Swedes had a dislike to the Dutch and attach, 
ment to the English. Though all the Swedish families were only 130, according to the list given 
in by the schout, they made a majority of the inhabitants, and were therefore formidable. He 
therefore positively ordered that all the Swedes should collect into small towns ; and proposed 
Passaiung as the most proper, being a pleasant and fruitful territory." But Beekman, the lieu- 
tenant-governor, could not persuade, and did not like to compel them to do it. This was in 
1659-60. 

"The wife of Pappegoia, and daughter of Gov. Printz, Hved still in Tenakongh, [Tinicum.] 
With all the advantages of that seat, she was so poor from want of laborers that the Dutch gov- 
ernment granted her a small aid, which was for some time an ox and some hogs, both fattened, 
and suflicient grain for bread yearly. Finally she returned to Sweden." 

West Jersey began to be settled as early as the year 1676. The colo- 
nists, generally Quakers from Wales, sailing up the Delaware, naturally 
became acquainted with the hospitable and thrifty Swedes, who often 
served as their interpreters with the aborigines, — and Quaker families 
gradually took up their abode on the west side of the river, at Upland, at 
Shackamaxon, and opposite Burlington and the Falls. This was previ- 
ous to the purchase of the province by Wm. Penn. Smith says : — " The 
first monthly meeting of Friends at Chester, to be found on record, was 
held the 10th day of the 11th month, 1681, at the house of Robert Wade. 
It consisted of the Friends of Chichester and Upland, or Chester. These 
Friends had meetings for worship at each other's houses so long before as 



296 DELAWARE COUNTY. 

the year 1075, in which year Robert Wade and divers others came over." 
In 1081 two ships arrived in the Delaware from London, and one from 
Bristol. One of them, the Bristol Factor, Roger Dunn, commander, ar- 
rived at Upland on the 11th December. The passengers, says Proud, 
went ashore at Robert Wade's landing near the lower side of Chester 
creek ; and the river having frozen up that night, the passengers remain- 
ed all winter. Markham, the nephew and confidential agent, and after- 
wards lieutenant-governor, came over in one of these ships. The earlier 
colonists chose the sea-shore, and the more inland townships of the county 
were not settled until after the arrival of Wm. Penn in 1082. Haverford, 
Radnor, and Darby were settled in that year. Friends continued to come 
in from Wales and England. Newtown, Goshen, and Uwchland were 
settled, and other townships were gradually filled up. The Swedes and 
the Indians received the worthy and peaceable Friends with great kind- 
ness and hospitality ; assisted them to build mills, and meeting-houses, 
and dwellings ; furnished provisions for them until their new crops could 
be gathered ; and the three races, or five rather, for the Dutch were here 
also, and the Germans began to come in, dwelt harmoniously together for 
many years. 

The southern boundary separating this county from the state of Dela- 
ware is the periphery of a circle drawn at a radius of 12 miles. This 
singular line had its origin in a deed of feoffment obtained by Wm. Penn 
from the Duke of York, Aug. 24, 1784, of "all that the town of New 
Castle, otherwise called Delaware, and all that tract of land lying within 
the compass or circle of 12 miles about the same." At the same time he 
purchased the land on the bay, "beginning 12 miles south from the town 
of New Castle," down to Cape Henlopen. These tracts formed after- 
wards the " Three Lower Counties." It is well known that a long dispute 
existed between Lord Baltimore, the proprietary of Maryland, and the 
Penns, concerning the southern boundary of Pennsylvania. By the char- 
ter, Wm. Penn's grant was to be bounded on the north by " the beginning of 
the three-and-fortieth degree of northern latitude," and on the south by a 
circle drawn at twelve miles distance northward and w^estward unto the 
beginning of the fortieth degree of northern latitude, and then by a straight 
line westward, &c. Lord Baltimore insisted that the whole fortieth de- 
gree of north latitude was included in his charter, which was prior in 
point of time. Penn insisted that Lord Baltimore was precluded by a 
recital in his charter that the land was uncultivated, and possessed by 
barbarians, whereas it was not so, but possessed by Dutch and Swedes, 
and therefore the king was deceived in his grant. This dispute was 
finally settled by mutual agreement in 1732, that the line dividing the 
three lower counties from Maryland, running up the middle of the penin- 
sula, should make a " tangent to the western part of the circle of New 
Castle town" — and that circle was described in the agreement as follows : 
" That there shall be the said circle mentioned in the charter for Penn- 
sylvania, and deed of feoffment of New Castle, (or so much thereof as is 
requisite,) drawn and marked out at the twelve miles distance from the 
town of New Castle, which twelve miles shall be twelve English statute 
miles." The other line dividing Maryland from Pennsylvania, was to be 
a due west line, " to run across the Susquehanna river, and to be fifteen 



DELAWARE COUNTY. 297 

miles due south, or below the most southern part of the city of Philadel- 
phia." 

Notwithstanding this plain agreement, the commissioners under it for 
running the line on the part of Lord Baltimore in 1733, set up the ridicu- 
lous pretension that the " twelve miles distant from the town of New 
Castle" referred to the periphery only of the circle, of which the radius 
would reach only about two miles from New Castle, instead of twelve. 
The survey was therefore adjourned ; and another long series of lawsuits 
and controversies ensued, which were not quieted until 4th July, 1760, 
when a final agreement was made between the parties. Charles Mason 
and Jeremiah Dixon, two eminent mathematicians and astronomers, were 
employed in 17G7 g,nd '68, to run the line and erect stone pillars at 
conspicuous points. Thus originated the famous " Mason and Dixon's 
line." 

During the revolution, on the night after the battle of Brandy wine, the 
^A.merican army retreated to Chester, and thence the next day to Phila- 
delphia. The British army went up along the northwest boundary of 
the county towards the Schuylkill, and afterwards entered Philadelphia. 
While they occupied this city in the winter of 1777-78, Delaware co. 
was often overrun by small scouting parties of the Americans sent out to 
(destroy, forage, or to cut off supplies from the enemy, and to annoy the 
British shipping in the Delaware. 

Soon after the peace with Great Britain in 1783, the subject of remov- 
ing the county seat caused considerable excitement throughout the county. 
The result was, that in 1789 Chester county was divided. (See Chester 
county, page 219.) 

An event that has recently occurred, even while this volume is in the 
hands of the printer, will long be remembered in Delaware county. On 
Saturday afternoon, 5th Aug. 1843, an overwhelming torrent of rain, ac- 
companied with wind in some places equal to a tornado, burst upon the 
region around Philadelphia. Its effects were particularly destructive on 
all the streams of Delaware county. The following extracts are gleaned 
from the Philadelphia papers : 

" The rain fell as if in a mass ; runlets became creeks, and creeks were swollen into rivers. 
About six o'clock it was found that Chester cr. was rapidly rising. So instantaneous was the 
swell of water, that the next moment left no feeling but the instinct of self-preservation. The 
stream rose, it is said by some, six feet in five minutes ; others aver that it rose six feet in one 
minute. The water poured down as if a wave of the sea had been swept onward by an earth- 
quake. In about two hours it had risen 23 feet. The neighboring creeks were swollen in the 
same proportion. Fortunately this took place before dark, or the scene would have been even 
more terrible than it was. In Chester the buildings most frail were swept away, and from others 
females wore borne through the rushing waters, half dead with affright. 

" Houses, dams, bridges, boats, an immense mass of lumber, furniture, mill-wheels, &c., shot 
by on the current. The railroad bridge was lifted from its foundations and flung down the 
stream. The next to fall was the suspension bridge. It is believed that not less than 20 persons 
have been drowned. At one place on Chester cr., an entire family, that of Mr. Rhoads, consist- 
ing of himself, wife, and two children, fomid it impossible, so instantaneous was the rise and 
rush of the torrent, to escape the house, and all perished. 

" The factories of Mr. Crozer, Mr. Riddle, and Mr. Dickson and others, have been swept away 
Most, if not all the mills on Darby cr. have been carried away. Beatty's iron works on Crum 
run, (three miles below Darby,) are said to have been entirely destroyed. The manufactured 
goods and a portion of the machinery of Kent's factory on Darby cr. were swept out. Palmer's 
paper-mill on Darby cr. was greatly injured. Hood's new bridge in Radnor township is carried 
away. Kelly's bridge on Darbyis injured. The large thrce-piered stone bridge across Darby cr. 
is one mass of ruins ; only a portion of the abutments are standing. It gave way piece by piece, 
between eight and nine o'clock. The water at this spot, usually a mere runlet, rose 30 feet. Tho 

38 



298 DELAWARE COUNTY. 

house of Mrs. Margaret Nowlan, who was in it with her four children, was swept away from a 
httle below Kelly's luctory, (two or tlirce miles below Darby.) They were all drowned, and their 
bodies have bei'M all reeovered. 

" A mile and a halt' below Upper Proviilencc a mill was carried away with a man and four chil. 
dren in it ; also his jiouse, with the rest of his family in it. All were drowned, save one little 
jrirl, who elunir to a tree. Anotiier was swe[)t ofTwith an aged man in it. 

"There is scarcely a dam across a creek in the county that is not carried off or much injured ; 
and at least .'iO bridires have been swept oH", occasioninjr a loss to the county of nearly $100,000 ; 
and tlie iiidividnul loss cannot now bi- estimated. 

"On a curvt! ol' iJidley cr., immediately adjoininrr Crovc's cotton factory, now in the occupan- 
cy of Saiimcl iJaneroll, l']s(|., is a stone imijiiing about 70 leet lonir, loinu rly used as a paper- 
mill, hut mitil Saturday inliai)iled by lliree families, the middle portion being oeenpit^d by a fami- 
ly named llardgraves. Swelled by the heavy fall of rain, the creek on Saturday leaped over its 
banks and rushed in a direct line forward, sweejiing out entirely the centre p-.irt of the building, 
and carrying with it Mr. Hardgraves and lour of his children, who were silting ui)on a bed, and 
leaving on only one side a small piece of tlu^ floor about a foot wide, where Mrs. liardgraves and 
her infant child barely found a footing — wliiU^ directly o|)]>osile to her, on the other side of the 
rushing torrent, were a man ami foiu' ehililren clustered upon a small i)iece of the floor, which 
had not been carried away from its fastenings. In tliis pitiable position they remained for some 
time, seemingly beyond tlie reach of aid, until a gallant lellow iiamed Holt — who lived in one of 
the outer ]>ortions of the building, and who had ihid in safety when the danger became evident — 
tied the two ends of a rope around his body, and mad(! his way across to his part of the house, 
where, cutting a hole through the dividing wall, he brought the man and his four children into a 
more secure position. \Vith considerable ditrienlty Holt then contrived to get a ladder across to 
where the unfortunate Mrs. liardgraves and her child stood, and succeeded in bringing them 
across in safety. The rope with which he had crossed the swollen stream had been fastened by 
him on his landing, and by means of it, he succeeded, with the aid of the people on the opposite 
shore, in jiassing every oni' of the rescued sufVerers in safety across — himself going last. 

" Of a nature ecpially worthy of praise was tlie act of a brave man named Abner Wool, who at 
the innninent risk of his lifi?, rescued from death Mr. William Flowers. Mr. Flowers was, it ap- 
pears, driving some of his cows in the vicinity of his mill on Chester creek, when the flood over- 
took and carritul him away. A smalt tree to which he clung stopped his course for a short time, 
but being uinooted by the strength of the current, he was again carried off; and tbe roof of a 
house having been seen to pass over him, it was sup])osed that he had perished ; but shortly after- 
wards lu^ was observed to he clinging to a buttonwood tree, which still stood up against the flood. 
Immediately Abner Wool procured a rope, ventured into the troubled waters, and succeeded in 
reaching Mr. Flowers, who was vt-ry much exhausted. Fastening the rope around him in such 
a manner as still to retain a hold uj>on it himself, he made a signal to the people, and Mr. F. was 
drawn in safety to the shore — he following afterwards in the same maimer. A devoted mulatto 
woman seeing Mr. Flowers' danger, attejppted to rescue liim, but was herself swept away and 
engulfed by a sudden dash of the flood." 

CnKSTKR is the most anciont town and county scat in Pennsylvania. It 
is situated at the moutli ol" Chester cr„ 13 miles S. W. from Philadelphia. 
It has an antiquat(Hl, venerable appearance, and still retains the quiet 
and orderly character which has distin<?uished it for more than 100 years. 
It contains a substantial courthouse of stone, erected in 1724, a jail of 
nearly equal anti(juity, an ancient Swedish church, (St. Patil's,) a Quaker 
meeting-house, a new Catholic church, the Delaware County Pank, an 
Ath(Mieinn, and about 1(50 dwellings. The railroad from Philadelphia to 
Wilmiiii;ton and JiaUiinori^ passes through the place. Population in 1830, 
848 ; in 1810, about 1,000.* Tiie annexed view, in the central part of the 
village, was taken from Mr. Howes' tavern. On the right is seen the court- 
house and public offices, with the jail, and Mr. Irwin's hotel and the mar- 
ket-house in the distance. Mr. S. A. Price's hotel is seen on the left. 

Several particulars relating to the early history of Chester have been nar- 
rated above in the history of the county. While the Dutch, subsequent 
to the first English conquest, held a short sway over New Sweden, in 

* In pursuance of an absurd practice, under the census of 1840, the population of villages not 
incorporated has not been separately stated. 



DELAWARE COUNTY. 



299 




Central Part of Chester. 

1673. they divided the western shore into three counties or judicial dis- 
tricts. The most northern Was called Opiandt, or Upland, its capital 
beinj:^ at the village of Upland, now Chester. This division Was contin- 
ued under the subsequent administration of the English governor, Andross. 
The magistrates for Upland under Andross were Peter CoCk, Peter llambo, 
Israel Holme, Laes Andriesson Woole, Swaine Otto, Ernest Cock. At 
that day James Sanderland, a wealthy Swede, was the principal owner 
of the property on the side of the creek where the town is ; and Robert 
Wade, a distinguished Quaker, had his " Essex House" on the other side, 
and owned the land for some distance back into the country. Mr. San- 
derland died in 1(592, aged 56. A splendid monument in the old Swedish 
church, of which he was probably one of the founders, commemorates his 
virtues. 

The most important event that has occurred in Chester was the first 
landing of William Penn within the province, early in November, 1682. 
He had previously landed below at Newcastle, on the 27th Ocitober, 
where he was alfcxlionately welcomed by the colonists "of all peoples, 
tongues, and nations." Mr. Duponceau has eloquently described the first 
landing at Newcastle in one of his discourses. 

Sec you yon gallant sliip, sailing with propitious gales up the river Delaware ? Ilcr decks are 
covered witli passengers, enjoying the mild temperature of cur climate, and the serenity of our 
autumnal sky. They view with astonishment th(! novel scenery which strikes their sight ; im- 
mense forests on each side, \r.\.\( (l(S]>oiled of their red and yellow leavi^s, with which the ground 
is profusely strewed. No noise is lieurd around tiiem, save that of the deer rustling through the 
trees, as she flies from the Indian who pursues her with his how and arrow. Now and then a 
Strange yell strikes the ear from a distance, which the echoes of the woods reverherate, and forrrts 
a strong contrast to the awful stillness of the scene. Observe the plainness of the dress of those 
Venerable pilgrims, and see them lift their eyes with silent gratitude to heaven. They arc a 
chosen band of Friends, who have left the IJritish shores to establish here in peace their philan- 
thropic commonwealth; their ship is called the Welcome, Greenaway commands her, and Wil- 
liam Pknn is among them. 

Now they land at Newcastle, amid the acclamations of the diversified popidation which 
inhabit these shores. The English, the Welsh, the Dutch, the Germans, the Swedes, all crowd 
to hail the great man whom they had been expecting for one long year, and whose fame had 
already preceded him to these distant regions. The historian will not omit to describe this pleas, 
ing scene, and it will be more than once the favorite subject of the painter's pencil. He will 



OO DELAWARE COUNTY. 

choose the instant when William Penii has just landed with h. s principal followers, while the( 
others are still on board the vessel, or in boats, makinjr for the shore. There you see him sup- 
ported by his friend Pearson From his manly port, and the resolution which his countenance 
displays, you would take him to be a warrior, if the mild philanthropy which beams from hisr 
eyes did not reveal his profession still more than the simplicity of his garb. He who stands 
before him in British regimentals, and whom he siiakcs atrectlonafcly by the hand, is his relation 
Markham, wliom he had sent in the preceding year to explore the land and prepare the way for 
the new settlers. Those on the right, a numerous band, are your honored ancestors, some of 
whom accompany him on the voyage, and others had arrived before, and are now assembled 
Jiere to ^rcct him. There stands Pemberton, Moore, Yardlcy, Wain, Lloyd, Puscy, Chapman, 
Wood, Hollingsworfh, Rhoadcs, Hall, Gibbons, Boiisull, Sellers ; Clayponle, whose ancestor, not 
many years before, ruled tlie destinies of the British empire ;* West, one of whoso descendants 
will charirt the wor;d by his magic pencil, and for whose name and fame rival nations will, in 
after ages, contend ; aivd many other worthies whom it would be too long to enmnerate. On the 
left is a number of Swedes, whom their national dress, light hair, and northern coiuitenances, 
sufficiently designate ; there you see the brothers Swangon,t who own the ground on which the 
city of Philadelphia is soon to stand, and whose name one of our streets will perpetuate. With 
them are Stille, Bankson,t Kempe, Rambo, Peterson, and several others, whose names still live 
in their descendant^. Their leader is Lacy Cock,§ whose merit entitles him to a seat in the first 
council of the new commonwealth. Observe how he extends his hands ; promising, in the name 
of his countrymen, to love, serve, and obey their reverend proprietor, and declaring that this is 
the best day tliey ever saw. The Dutch are disseminated through the town, which was built by 
them, as yoii may easily perceive by the sharp-pointed roofs of their houses. They smoke their 
pipes in silence, and, after their manner, partake of the general joy. 

But see, close to that half-ruined fort, this motley group of Indians, whose anxiety manifests 
itself on their countenances, and who view the new-comers with looks in which suspicion seems 
as yet to predominate. They are the Lenni Lenape, whose history and manners are already 
familiar to you. At their head is Tamane.\d,|| the great and the good, who is said never to have 
had his equal for tirtue and goodness, and whose memory is still held in veneration bj' the savage 
nations. His eye is steadily fixed on William Penn ! His great mind has already discovered 
in him a congenial soul ; alone among his tribe, he shows by his looks that noble confidence 
which will not be deceived. He it is who, under that elm-tree, which many of us have seen in 
its vigor, but which, alas ! has not long since been destroyed by the violence of the winter storm, 
will sign that faradus treaty which the genius of the west has immortalized, and which a great 
writer of another nationlf has, with more wit than truth, described as the only one which was 
never sworn to and never broken. Nor M'as it violated while William Penn lived, nor while the 
ascendancy Of his great mind was yet operating among us. Afterwards, indeed ! — but I will not 
anticipate the pairifui duty of the historian. 

At Upland, Penn and his party of Friends were hospitably entertained 
by Robert Wade. On his first arrival here, turning round to his friend 
Pearson, one of his own society who had accompanied him in the ship 
Welcome, he said, Providence has brought us here safely. Thou hast 
been the companion of my toils ; what wilt thou that I should call this 
place ? Pearson replied, " Chester, in remembrance of the city from 
whence I came." At this place, on the 4th December, Penn called an 
assembly. Proud in his history says : — 

It consisted of equal numbers of members for the province, and the three lower counties, called 
the Territories ; that is, for both of them, so many of the freemen as thought proper to appear, 
according to the 16th article of the frame of government. 

This assembly chose Nicholas Moore, who was president of the free society of traders, for theil 

* The Claypoole family are lineally descended from the protector, Oliver Cromwell. 

t Their original name was Swenson. t Originally Berigsten. 

§ Lars or Lawrence Cock, corrupted into Lacy Cock. 

II The same whom we call St. Tninmaiiy. For his character, see Ileckcwelder's History of 
the Indian Nations, chap. xi. In 16.9:2, we find him by the name of KiiiiS Taminent, a party t« 
a deed of release of a tract of land lying between Ncshaminy and Poquessing, on the river Dela- 
ware, and extending backwards to the utmost bounds of the province. This land he, with others 
had previously sold to Wm. Penn. In 1697, he, by the name of the great Sachp.m Taminent 
wltli his brother and sons, signed another deed for lands between Pemmopeck and Neshamin 
creeks. See Smith's Laws of Pennsylvania, vol. ii. pp. Ill, 112. See Bucks co., p- 162. 

1 Voltaire. 



DELAWARE COUNTY. 



301 



chairman or speaker, and received as ample satisfaction from the proprietary as the inhabitants 
of Newcastle had done, for which they returned liim their {jratcful acknowledgments. The 
Swedes, for themselves, deputed Lacy Cock to acquaint hhn, " That they would love, serve, and 
obey him with all they had ;" declaring, " that it was the best day they ever saw." 

At this assembly an act of union was passed, annexing the three lower counties to the prov- 
ince, in legislation, on the 7th day of December, 1682; likewise an act of settlement in reference 
to the frame of government, which, with some alterations, was thereby declared to be accepted 
and confirmed. 

The Dutch, Swedes, and other foreigners, were then naturalized. All the laws agreed on m 
P'.ngland, with some small alterations, were passed in form. 

The meeting continued only three days ; and notwithstanding the great variety of dispositions, 
rawness, and inexperience of this assembly in affairs of this kind, yet a very remarkable candor 
and harmony prevailed among theni. 

The acts passed at this time were 01, and were entitled, "The great 
law ; or the body of laws of the province of Pennsylvania and the terri- 
tories thereunto belonging." It is remarkable that all these laws are now 
repealed, or have become obsolete. Among some other cm-ious subjects, 
was a law against drinking healths, and another providing that the laws 
should be printed and taught in schools. By these laws every man was 
allowed to be his own lawyer. The brick house in which the assembly 
sat is still standing. Annexed is a view of it : the assembly house being 




Old Assembly House and Penn's Landing-Place. 

only that part built of brick, nearest the creek, and now devoted to the 
humble purposes of a cooper's shop. The stone house attached to it, front- 
ing on the street, though very ancient, is of later date. The windows 
and doors of the brick part have been altered to suit its modern tenants, 
the traces only of the ancient openings being perceptible. In the dis- 
tance, on the shore of the Delaware, is seen the now solitary pine which 
marks the landing-place of Wm. Penn. John F. Watson, Esq., speaks of 
three remaining some fifteen years since. Not far from the shore, and 
immediately in the rear of the pines, was situated Robert Wade's house. 
" It had its southeast gable-end," says Mr. Watson, " fronting to the river 
Delaware, and its southwest front upon Essex-street." The porch looked 
out upon Chester cr. " The oaken chair in which Wm. Penn sat in that 
assembly is said to be now (1827) in possession of the aged and respecta- 
ble widow of Col. Frazer." 



DELAWARE COUNTY. 

Great anticipations Were indulged by the early settlers here that Ches- 
ter would become a place of considerable importance as a seaport ; and 
Wm. Penn, before he came out himself, instructed his agents to examine 
the site carefully with a view of founding there his metropolis ; but the 
preference, for good reasons, was given to Philadelphiai Oldmixon, in 
1708, speaks of Chester as containing above 100 houses: he also says — 

This place is called Uplands, and has a Church called St. Paul's, with a numerous congrega- 
tion of orthodox professors, whose minister is Mr. Henry NichoUs ; his income £50 per year, paid 
by the society. They are about erecting a school here, dependent on the minister. There's 
another little town at the mouth of a creek, called Chichester, which consists of about 100 
houses. Below that is a great creek, which we may be sure belonged to the Dutch, by the name 
given to it, Brandywine. Between Brandywine and Christina is an iron-mill. What advantage 
It has been to the proprietors, we know not. 

The following extracts are from the first edition of Mr. Watson's An= 
nals of Philadelphia : — 

In the churchyard of St. Paul's is a headstone of some peculiarity, " in memory of Francis 
Brooks, who died August 19, 1704," and inscribed thus : 

" In barbarian bondage and cruel tyranny 
Fourteen years together I served in slavery. 
After this, mercy brought me to my country fair ; 
At last I drowned was in river Delaware." 

In the same ground stands a marble, commemorative of the first A. M. of Pennsylvania, to 
wit : — ■" Here heth Paul Jackson, A. M. He was the first who received a degree in the college 
of Philadelphia, — a man of virtue, worth, and knowledge. Died 1767, aged 38 years." I might 
add respecting him, that he was the ancestor of the present Dr. Samuel Jackson of Philadelphia, 
had been a surgeon in the Braddock expedition, was a brother-in-law of the honorable Charles 
Thomson, and one of the best classical scholars of his time. 

At Ridly creek mills is a curious relic — an engraving upon a rock of " I. S., 1682," which 
marks the spot against which John Sharpless, the original settler there, erected his temporary 
hut, immediately after his arrival in that year. 

The Yates' house, now Logan's, built about the year 1700, was made refnarkable in the year 
1740-1, (the season of the " cold winter,") for having been visited in the night by a large black 
bear, which came into the yard and quarrelled with the dog. It was killed the next day near the 
town. 

In an original petition of the inliabitants of Chester of the year 1700, now among the Logan 
collection, they pray, that " Whereas Chester is daily improving, and in time may be a good 
place, that the Queen's road may be laid out as direct as possible from Darby to the bridge on 
Chester creek." This paper was signed by ninety inhabitants, all writing good hands. Vide the 
original in my MS. Annals, in the City Library. 

Jasper Yates, who married Sanderland's daughter, erected, about the year 1700, the present 
great granary there, having the upper chambers for grain, and the basement story for an exten- 
sive biscuit bakery. For some time it had an extensive business, by having much of the grain 
from the fruitful fields of Lancaster and Chester counties ; but the business has been long since 
discontinued. 

At this late day it is grateful to look back with " recollected tenderness on the state of society 
once possessing Chester. My friend Mrs. Logan, who once lived there, thus expressed it to me, 
saying, she had pleasure in her older years of contemplating its society as pictured to her by her 
honored mother, a native of the place. Most of the inhabitants, being descendants of the English, 
spoke with the broad dialect of the North. They were a simple-hearted, affectionate people, 
always appearing such in the visits she made with her mother to the place. Little distinction 
of rank was known, but all were honest and kind, and all entitled to and received the friendly 
attentions and kindness of their neighbors in cases of sickness or distress. Scandal and detrac- 
tion, usual village pests, were to them unknown. Their principles and feelings were too good 
and simple, and the state of the whole was at least " a silver age." 

August 10th, 17G7, was the year of the death of "the first-born" child in the province of 
English parents, born in 1681, one year before John Key, in a cave by the side of the Delaware 
river. This venerable man of 86 died at Brandywine Hundred, Emanuel Grubb by name. He 
was active and vigorous to the last, and actually rode to Philadelphia and back on horseback, 
equal to 40 miles, only a few months before his death. His habits were temperate, never drink- 
ing any ardent spirits. 

Richard Buffington (son of Richard) was the " the first-born Englishman in Pennsylvania " 



DELAWARE COUNTY. 



303 



having been bom In what was afterwards called " the province," in the year 1769. The facts in 
his case were peculiarly commemorated in the parish of Chester on the 3()th of May, 1739; on 
that day the fatiier, Richanl, having attained his 85th year, had a great assemblage of his proper 
descendants, to the number of 11.5 persons, convened in his own house, consisting of children, 
grandchildren, and great-grandchildren — the first-born being then present in his sixtieth year. 

In December, J739, Mr. Whitcficld left the city, and was accompanied to Chester by about 
150 horsemen, and preached there to about 7,000 people. At White-clay creek he preached to 
8,000, of whom as many as 3,000 weio on horseback. Many complimentary effusions to him 
appear in the gazettes. 

In 1756, the first line of stage vessels and wagons was set up from Philadelphia to Baltimore, 
via Christiana and Frenchtown, on Elk river, to go once a week from Philadelphia. 

About a mile and a half northwest from Chester, on the left bank of 
Chester or., and a short distance above the mill of Richard Flowers, there 
still exists an humble cottage, built principally of brick, of which the an- 
nexed is a correct sketch. This is the original dwelling erected by Rich- 
ard Townsend. for the accommodation of his family while he was tend- 




Richard Townsend^s original dwelling. 

ing the first mill erected in the province. The mill stood some forty 
rods above the cottage. The original mill is all gone, but the rocks 
around bear traces of its existence, and the log platform still remains un- 
der water at the place where the original ford was, on the road to Phila- 
delphia. The partners in this mill were William Penn, Caleb Pusey, and 
Samuel Carpenter, and their initials are inserted in 
the curious antiquated iron vane which was once 
erected on the roof of the mill, and is still engaged in 
its 144th year of duty on the top of Mr. Flowers' house. 
In this cottage, no doubt, Penn, Pusey, and Carpenter 
have often met to count their gains, and to devise plans 
for the future good of the province. The hipped roof ^ 
of the cottage was added by Samuel Shaw, who, be- 
fore the revolution, erected the second mill near this place. Mr. Richard 
Flowers, the present or recent proprietor of the mills here, now occupied 
by his son, is himself a venerable and well-preserved relic of the olden 
time. So robust is the constitution that he has brought down from those 
early days, that, in the winter of 1841-2, although accidentally knocked 




304 DELAWARE COUNTY. 

off into the mill-race by an ox-team, and entangled some time under the 
bridge up to his neck in the water, he was able to ride home the next 
day, and suffered from the accident no permanent injury. He was be- 
tween 80 and 90 years of age. 

The following extracts are from Richard Townsend's " testimony" in 
Proud's History of Pennsylvania. 

In the year 1682, several ships being provided, I found a concern on my mind to embark with 
them with my wife and child ; and about the latter end of the sixth month, having' settled my 
affairs in London, where I dwelt, I went on board the ship Welcome, Robert Greenaway com- 
mander, in company with my worthy friend William Penn, whose good conversation was very 
advantageous to all the company. His singular care was manifested in contributing to the ne- 
cessities of many who were sick of the small-pox, then on board; out of which company about 
thirty died. After a prosperous passage of about two months, having had in tliat time many good 
meetings on board, we arrived here. 

At our arrival we found it a wilderness ; the chief inhabitants were Lidians and some Swedes, 
who received us in a friendly munncr ; and though there was a great number of us, tiie good hand 
of Providence was seen in a particular manner, in that provisions were found for us by the Swedes 
and Indians, at very reasonable rates, as well as brought from divers other parts, that were inhab- 
ited before. 

Our first concern was to keep up and maintain our religious worship ; and, in order thereunto, we 
had several meetings in the houses of the inhabitants ; and one boarded meeting-house was set 
up, where the city was to be, near Delaware ; and, as we had nothing but love and good-will in 
our hearts, one to another, we had very comfortable meetings from tinte to time ; and after our 
meeting was over, we assisted each other in building little houses for our shelter. 

After some time I set up a mill on Chester creek, which I brought ready framed from London, 
which served for grinding of corn, and sawing of boards, and was of great use to us. Besides, 
I, with Joshua Tittery, made a net, and caught great quantities of fish, which supplied ourselves 
and many others ; so that, notwithstanding it was thought near three thousand persons came in 
the first year, we were so providentially provided for, that we could buy a deer for about two shil- 
lings, and a large turkey for about one shilling, and Indian corn for about two shillings and six- 
pence per bushel. 

And, as our worthy proprietor treated the Indians with extraordinary humanity, they became 
very civil and loving to us, and brought in abimdance of venison. As in other countries the In- 
dians were exasperated by hard treatment, which hath been the foundation of much bloodshed, so 
the contrary treatment here bath produced their love and affection. 

Darby is a pleasant village on the creek of that name, about seven 
miles southwest from Philadelphia. It contains a Friends' meeting-house, 
and some sixty houses, with mills, stores, &c. There are several delight- 
ful country seats near the village. Concerning the early settlement of 
Friends in and near this place, Smith the historian says : 

Meetings for worship were first settled in Darby in the year 1682, and a meeting-house soon 
after built ; their monthly meeting was settled in 1684, till which time they were joined to Ches- 
ter monthly meeting. The names of some of the first settlers belonging to Darby meeting were, 
John Blunston, Michael Blunston, George Wood, Joshua Fearn, Henry Gibbons, Samuel Sellers, 
Richard Bonsall, Edmund Cartlidge, Thomas Hood, John Bartram, Robert Nayler, and Adam 
Rhoads, who all came from Derbyshire in England ; Thomas Worth, Samuel Bradshaw, John 
Hollowell, William Wood, Thomas Bradshaw, Robert Scothorn, and Richard Parker, who all 
came from Nottinghamshire; John Hood, William Garrett, Robert Cliffe, William Smith, John 
Smith, and Thomas Smith, who came from LelcestersEIre. 

A short distance from Darby, near the road to Philadelphia, in a lonely 
but pleasant situation, is the ancient Swedes' church of Kingsessing. The 
first settlement of Swedes here is noticed above, on page 294. The 
present church was erected about the year 1763, while the Rev. Charles 
Magnus Wrangel was pastor. " He was," says Mr. Clay in his Swedish 
Annals, " one of the most popular preachers the Swedes ever had among 
them, and was usually obliged, on account of the crowds who attended 
his ministry, to preach in the open air. He returned to Sweden in 1768, 
and was made a bishop, and died in 1786." 



DELAWARE COUNTY 305 

Tliere was an appearance of locusts in 1715, of which Mr. Sandel has given the following ac- 
count : — " In May, 1715, a multitude of locusts came out of the ground everywhere, even on the 
solid roads. They were wholly covered with a shell, and it seemed very wonderful that they 
could with this penetrate the hard earth. Having come out of the earth, they crept out of the 
shells, flew away, sat down on the trees, and made a peculiar noise until evening. Being spread 
over the country in such numbers, the noise they made was so loud that the cow-bells could 
scarcely be heard in the woods. They pierced the bark on the branches of trees, and deposited 
their eggs in the opening. Many apprehended that the trees would wither in consequence of this, 
but no symptom of it was observed next year. Hogs and poultry fed on them. Even the Indians 
did eat them, especially when they first came, boiling tliem a little. This made it probable that 
they were of the same kind with those eaten by John the Baptist. They did not continue long, 
but died in the month of June. The same year was very fruitful. A bushel of wheat cost two 
shiUings or two shillings and three pence ; a bushel of corn twenty-two pence ; of rye twenty 
pence. A barrel of cider cost six shillings. — Clay^s Swedish Annals. 

The piety and simple manners of the early Swedish settlers, and the loy- 
alty which they felt for their fatherland, are beautifully set forth in the fol- 
lowing letter. Their confidence was well repaid by the kind care of the 
Swedish government in sending them ministers and books many years 
after its jurisdiction had ceased over the colony. 

" Honored, loving, and much respected friend, John Thehn, his majesty's loyal subject, and post- 
master at Gottenburg. 

" Your miexpected and welcome letter, dated Gottenburg, 16th Nov. 1692, came to hand the 
23d of May, 1693, and made us heartily rejoice that it hath pleased Almighty God, through that 
young man Andrew Printz, to make known our condition to our friends in Sweden. We rejoice 
that his majesty doth still bear unto us a tender and a Christian care. Therefore do we heart- 
ily desire, since it hath pleased his majesty graciously to regard our wants, that there may be 
sent unto us two Swedish ministers, who are well learned in the Holy Scriptures, and who may 
be able to defend them and us against all false opposers, so that we may preserve our true Lu- 
theran faith, which, if called to suffer for our faith, we are ready to seal with our blood. We also 
request that those ministers may be men of good moral lives and characters, so that they may in- 
struct our youth by their example, and lead them into a virtuous and pious way of life. 

" Further, it is our humble desire that you would be pleased to send us three books of sermons, 
twelve bibles, forty-two psalm-books, one hundred tracts, with two hundred catechisms, and as 
many primers, for which, when received, we promise punctual payment at such place as you may 
think fit to order. We do promise also a proper maintenance to the ministers that may be sent 
us ; and when this our letter is gone, it is our intention to buy a piece of land, that shall belong to 
the church, and upon which the ministers may live. 

" As to what concerns our situation in this coimtry, we are for the most part husbandmen. 
We plough and sow, and till the ground ; and as to our meat and drink, we live according to the 
old Swedish custom. This country is very rich and fruitful, and here grow all sorts of grain in 
great plenty, so that we are richly supplied with meat and drink ; and we send out yearly to our 
neighbors on this continent and the neighboring islands, bread, grain, flour, and oil. We have 
here also all sorts of beasts, fowls, and fishes. Our wives and daughters employ themselves in 
spinning wool and flax, and many of them in weaving ; so that we have great reason to thank 
the Almighty for his manifold mercies and benefits. God grant that we may also have good 
shepherds to feed us with his holy word and sacraments. We live also in peace and friendship 
with one another ; and the Indians have not molested us for many years. 

" Further, since this country has ceased to be under the government of Sweden, we are bound 
to acknowledge and declare, for the sake of truth, that we have been well and kindly treated, as 
well by the Dutch, as by his majesty the King of England, our gracious sovereign : on the other 
hand, we, the Swedes, have been and still are true and faithful to him in words and in deeds. 
We have always had over us good and gracious magistrates ; and we live with one another in peace 
and quietness. So that we desire, as soon as this our letter comes to hand, that a speedy atten- 
tion may be paid to our request ; for we believe that God has certainly his hand in this Christian 
work, and pray that he may bring it to a happy termination." 

With this letter was sent " An accurate list of all the men, women, and children now found 
living in New Sweden, at present Pennsylvania, on the river Delaware."* Among those born in 
Sweden, Peter Rambo, and Andrew Bonde (now Boon) had been in the country fifty-four years. 
— Clay's Swedisfi Annals. 

* This lisj. may be found in Clay's Swedish Annals. 

99 



306 



DELAWARE COUNTY. 



Delaware co., like Chester and Buclvs, contains no large towns, but the 
inhabitants are scattered in little pleasant hamlets, at the cross-roads, and 
at the mill-seats along the creeks. The county was originally settled by 
townships. At Radnor, an ancient Welsh Episcopal church was erected 
of logs, which is mentioned by Oldmixon in 1708, as being surrounded by 
about fifty famili(^s. They had at that time no settled pastor. The pres- 
ent ven(M-al)I(^ church, of which the annexed is a view, was erected in 




Ancient Welsh church at Radnor. 

1717. It is situated in a secluded spot, shaded with cedars and other 
forest trees, about 1 1-2 miles S. from the Spread Eagle tavern on the 
Lancaster road, exactly in the corner of Newtown, Radnor, and Easttown 
townships. Mr. Corrie, who officiated here, was sent over from England 
about the year 1770 ; but after the declaration of independence he was 
prohibited from using the prayer in the liturgy in behalf of King George 
and resigned. He was succeeded by Rev. Slater Clay, (Swedish,) he bj 
Mr. Brinckly, (I think.) and he by the present Mr. Peck, who resides neai 
the Valley church. The Corrie family still continued to reside in the vi- 
cinity, and many of their gravestones are seen in the yard. General An- 
thony Wayne's monument is seen on the right of the view. The resi- 
dence of the Wayne family is about four miles west from the church. 

Springfield township. Concerning the early settlement of Friends in 
this vicinity, Smith, the historian, says : — 

In ir)9G, the monthly meeting of Chester, then held at the house of Thomas Vernon, agreed 
that a meeting should be settled every first and fourth days of the week at John Bowater's ; an- 
other at Thomas Minshal's every first and filth days ; and another at Bartholomew Coppock's 
every first and fourth days. These meetings were called by the names of the persons where they 
were kept, and are now the respective large meetings of Springfield, Providence, and Middletown. 

In Springfield township, about five miles north of Chester, and half a 
mile south of what was once Gibbons' tavern, on the Chadsford road, 
stands the birthplace of Benjamin West, the eminent painter. 

He was born in the lower room at the S. W. corner of the house, and 
performed his early exploits in painting in the garret above that room. 
The S. W. corner, as seen in the view, is on the right hand towards the 



bl^LAWARE COUNtV. 



30*y 




The Birthplace of Benjamin West. 

spectator. The house, built of stone, is still in s^ood preservation, and is 
occupied by tenants who cultivate the farm. The house was evidently 
once surrounded with a projecting shed or pent-eaves between the lower 
and upper stories, like that still seen on the courthouse at Chester. This 
was a common appendage to all the more costly houses at that day. 

Benjamin West was the youngrest of a family of ten children of John West, who married Sa- 
rah Pearson. He was born on the lOth Oct. 1738. His ancestors were Quakers, and emigrated 
to this country with William Penn at the time of his second visit. Many of the family are still 
residing- in Delaware co. Benjamin was reared in the faitli and profession of his ancestors — a 
profession from which he never swerved when his genius commanded the flattery of courts, and 
honor from kings and princes. It is recorded of him, by Gait, that at the age of seven he made 
a drawing, in red and black ink, of an infant niece, of whose cradle he had the charge, and whose 
sweet smile in her sleep excited his imitative powers, though he had never seen a picture or en- 
graving. With this precocious sign of inherent talent the boy's mother was charmed, and her 
admiration and encouragement confirmed his taste. At school, even before he had learned to 
write, pen and ink became his cherished favorites ; and birds, flowers, and animals adorned his 
juvenile portfolio. His father, it is said, being admonished by some of the elders of the society 
of Friends, did all he could to repress his son's ardent propensity, and sought to direct his atten- 
tion to more useful pursuits. But it was in vain. It is a tradition of the family that the father, 
having sent Benjamin out to plough, missed him from his work, and found him under a cokeberry- 
bush, where he had sketched the portraits of a whole family so strikingly that they Were instantly 
recognised. 

At length an epoch occurred in his professional jirogross. A party of Indians tailght him to 
prepare red and yellow colors, sucii as they used in decorating their persons ; from his mother he 
obtained some indigo, whicii completed all the elementary colors of his pallet ; while the tail of 
the family cat furnished him with hair for his pencils. At the age of sixteen he obtained the 
consent of his parents to pursue painting, as a profession, in Philadelpliia. Several of his land- 
scapes executed on panels, over mantel-pieces, are prCvServed at the Hospital in Philadelphia, 
where his great picture of Christ. Ilealinsr the Sick is still exhibited. The sign of the Bull's 
Head tavern, which long hung in Strawberry-alley, was one of these early productions. It was 
a few years since purchased and carried to England. Its colors were remarkably fresh and well- 
preserved. 

After practising his art successfully in this country until 17.59, he embarked for Italy, where 
he spent about four jTjars in the study of the works of the great masters. On seeing the celebrated 
statue of the Apollo Bclvidere at Rome, he is said to have exclainjcd, " How like an Indian war- 
rior !" One day at Rome, while his master had stepped out a moment, West slyly painted a fly 
on the work on which his master was engaged. The master came in, resumed his work, and 
made several attempts to scare away the fly. At last he exclaimed, "Ah! it is that American." 

Mr. West reached London in lUi'J, where he settled, and ultimately attained the summit of his 
fame. He was married in 1705, to a lady of Philadelphia, Miss Shewell, who, liaving been pre- 
viously engaged to him, came out to meet him in London. Among the earliest of his produc 



308 ERIE COUNTY. 

tiims in London was the subject of Agrippina landing at Brundusium with the ashes of Gertianh 
cus. This painting originated from a conversation which took place at the table of Drummondj 
Archbishop of York, where our artist was a guest : it stamped the fame of Mr. West with 
the king, George III., who became not only his munificent patron, but his tried and intimate 
friend. 

When, after the battle of Brandywinc, several ministers of the court sought to misrepresent 
West to the king as a whig, or what was worse, a rebel, the king led him into conversation, at a 
levee, concerning the recent news of the battle. West openly but firmly set forth the wrongs hia 
native country had suffered, and defended their course as far as his Quaker principles would al- 
low. Tlie king, in presence of liis ministers, complimented him on his love of his native land, 
and told him he had raised himself in his esteem by the manly course he had taken. 

Our limits will not admit of following Mr. West througli his famous professional career. 
Honors and distinctions were heaped upon him, not only in England, but by eminent foreign 
bodies and princes. Tiie honor of knighthood offered him by King George, through the duke of 
Gloucester, was respectfully declined. The Quaker continued true to his principles. 

Mr. West died as calmly, as placidly as he had lived, on the 10th March, 1820, at the good old 
age of 81. His remains repose in St. Paul's cathedral. 



ELK COUNTY. 

As this is a new county, and its precise boundaries and other statistics 
£ire not yet ascertained, it will be noticed at the end of the volume. 



Erie county. 

Erie county Was separated from Allegheny by the act of 12th March, 
1800, but for several years, for all county purposes, Crawford, Erie, Mer- 
cer, Venango, and Warren, formed but one county, under the name of 
Crawford. On the 2d of April, 1803, Erie co. was fully organized for 
judicial purposes. The length of that part originally within the bounds 
of the province is 45 ms. by 10 in breadth : the triangle is 30 ms. long by 
18 wide : area of the whole co. 720 sq. ms. 

The low ridge which divides the short tributaries of the lake from those 
of the Allegheny, lies in a line nearly parallel with the lake shore, and 
about 8 or 10 ms. from it. It is remarkable that the soil on the south- 
eastern slope of this ridge is peculiarly adapted for grass, while that on 
the northwestern is very productive in wheat. This results no doubt 
from the fact that the northwestern slope is formed by the out-cropping 
edges of a variety of strata, (formations VIII, X, and XI, of the State 
Geologists,) principally of the Olive Slates, and argillaceous sandstones 
of formation VIII, and sorrie thin seams of limestone more or less pure ; 
while the southeastern slope is formed by the uppermost bed or roof of 
only one or two strata of sandstone and shales. From the mouth of 
Beaver river on the Ohio to the surface of Conneaut lake, the summit level 
of the canal, the ascent is only 418 feet. The surface of Lake Erie is 80 
feet lower than that of the Ohio at the mouth of Beaver. Erie co. lies 
entirely beyond the coal measures, the northwestern limit of that forma- 



ERIE COUNTY. 300 

tion being the hills of conglomerate passing near Meadville. The prin- 
cipal streams in the co. tributary to Lake Erie are Conneaut cr., Elk cr., 
Walnut cr., Mill cr., and several smaller streams east of Erie, named 4 
mile cr., 6 mile cr., &c., according to their distance from that place. The 
southern part of the co. is drained by Conneauttee cr., Cussawauga, Le 
Boeuf, and other branches of French cr. There are three beautiful lakes 
on the sources of these streams, called Conneauttee, Le Boeuf, and Plea- 
sant lakes. The streams furnish an abundance of water-power, espe- 
cially those which fall into the lake. 

A turnpike road runs from Erie to Waterford, and thence to Pittsburg : 
good common roads cross the county in all directions. The canal from 
Beaver enters the county by the valley of Conneaut cr., and thence con- 
tinues along the table land that borders the lake, to Erie. This canal 
lacks only three miles of being completed ; provision has been made for 
the purpose, and within a year probably this very important communica- 
tion will be opened. 

The population of this co. is composed chiefly of settlers from New 
England and New York, and from the lower parts of Pennsylvania. The 
former predominate, and the trade and manners of the county generally 
have taken their tone rather from New York than from Pennsylvania. 
The reason is obvious, from the peculiar geographical position of the 
county. 

The southern shore of Lake Erie is said to have been once occupied 
by the Eries or Irrironnons, a fierce and powerful tribe, of whom no trace 
now remains but their name. Although supposed originally to have been 
of the same family as the Iroquois or Five Nations, yet they waged with 
them long and bloody wars, and were at length utterly extirpated by 
them, about the years 1653 to '57, after the Iroquois had learned the use 
of firearms from the Dutch.* The name of the Eries was said to signify 
Wild-cats, indicating the character of the tribe. 

History sheds but a dim light on the transactions in the region con- 
tiguous to Presqu'isle previous to the year 1750. Jacques Cartier, an 
enterprising fisherman of France, had passed up the St. Lawrence to 
Montreal in 1535, and from that time forth, for more than two centuries, 
the efforts of the fearless adventurers, and the devoted missionaries of 
France were unremitted to extend the French dominion and the Catholic 
faith over the region around the great lakes, and down the valley of the 
Mississippi. 

The usual route, however, which their enterprises took, was from Mon- 
treal up the valley of the Ottawa river, and thence across to the head of 
Lake Huron. Having at an early date allied themselves with the Indian 
tribes of that region, and in consequence incurred the hostility of the 
Five Nations, who held sway over the territory around Lakes Ontario 
and Erie, they were prevented for more than a century from penetrating 
even to the northern shore of Lake Erie, and no distinct mention is made 
of their having touched the southern shore until after the year 1700. As 
early indeed as 1657, the Jesuit missions had been cautiously extended 
among the Senecas on the Genesee ; but it was nearly at the same time 
that the war of extermination was going on between the Iroquois and 

* Bancroft. 



310 ERIE COUNTY, 

the Eries. In 1679, Robert Cavalier de la Salle, better known as La Salle, 
first launched upon Lake Erie the Griffin, a bark of about 60 tons, and 
crossed over to the Mississippi by the Miami of the Lakes ; but there is 
no mention of his having touched the southern shore. By the treaty of 
Utrecht, in 1713, Louisiana was confirmed to France, and she still held 
the northern shores of the lakes by right of discovery ; while by the 
same treaty it was stipulated " that France should never molest the Five 
Nations subject to the dominion of Great Britain." But no exact limits 
were defined by the treaty, and each nation was guided by its own con- 
struction. France claimed that the mouth of a river governed its sources, 
and on this sweeping principle the bounds of Louisiana would include 
the whole basin of the Mississippi. The sources of the Allegheny, of the 
Yough'oghenyj and Monongahela would have been within the French 
dominions. Both the governors of Pennsylvania and Virginia protested 
loudly against this doctrine, but while the British ministry slumbered 
over their complaints, France was actively but covertly endeavoring to 
seduce the Six Nations from their allegiance to the British, and to estab- 
lish a chain of fortifications from Lake Erie to the head- waters of the 
Allegheny, and thence down the Ohio to the Gulf of Mexico. Fort Nia- 
gara was built by France in 1726. 

" Among the public officers of the French," says Mr. Bancroft, *' who 
gained influence over the red men by adapting themselves, with happy 
facility, to life in the wilderness, was the Indian agent, Joncaire. For 20 
years he had been successfully negotiating with the Senecas. He was 
become by adoption one of their own citizens and sons, and to the cul- 
ture of a Frenchman added the fluent eloquence of an Iroquois warrior." 
" I have no happiness," said he in council, " like that of living with my 
brothers," — and he asked leave to build himself a dwelling. " He is one 
of our children," it was said in reply, " he may build where he will." 
Tribes of the Delawares and of the Shawanees soon afterwards (1724 to 
'28) migrated to the Allegheny, and Joncaire soon found his way among 
them, and won them over to the French interest. By the treaty of Aix- 
la-Chapelle in Oct. 1748, a long and general war was smothered in Eu- 
rope, only to break out with renewed force in America. The French 
took advantage of the apparent cessation of hostilities, quietly to push 
their favorite line of fortifications across from Presqu'isle to the mouth 
of Venango river or French creek. The fort erected at Erie was known 
as Fort de la PresquHsle. It was probably erected early in 1749, but the 
precise time does not appear. It was during that year that the French 
sent emissaries and armed men throughout the Ohio valley to drive off" 
or arrest the English traders who had ventured into that region from the 
eastern colonies. The following extracts from the records of Pennsylva- 
nia, exhibit the alarm caused by these movements of the French, in the 
British provinces : 

June 30, 1749. — A letter, with some papers, received by express from Gen. Clinton, purporting 
that two New-England men, on their return from Canada, where they had been to solicit the re- 
lease of some prisoners, reported that they saw an army of 1,000 French ready to go on some 
expedition, and they were informed it was to prevent any settlements being made by the English 
on Belle-riviere, (Ohio ;) whereupon it was determined to dispatch a messenger to Mr. George 
Croghan, with a request that he would go immediately to Allegheny, and on his arrival, send away 
a trader, or some person he could confide in, to the lakes, or to the eastward, to discover wlietiu-r 
any French were coming in those parts, and if any, in what numbers, and what appearance they 
made, that the Indians might be apprised, and put upon their guard. 



ERIE COUNTY. 311 

Jan. 17, 1749-50. — The governor iiiformed the council that three several letters of an extraor- 
dinary nature in French, signed " Celeron,'''' were delivered to him by the Indian traders who came 
from Allegheny, informing him that this Capt. Celeron was a French officer and had the com- 
mand of 300 French and some Indians, sent this summer to Ohio and the Wabash from Canada 
to reprove the Indians there for their friendship to the English, and for suffering the English to 
trade with them. The governor sent one of the letters to tiic proprietaries in London, and an- 
other to the governor of New-York, that the same might be laid before the ministry. 

Letter from George Croghan, Logstown, in Ohio, Dec. 16, 1750. — He arrived there the 15th, 
was told by Indians they saw Jean Coeur [Joncaire] 150 miles up the river, where he intends 
builduig a fort. The Indians he had seen were of opinion the EngHsh should Iiace a fort or forts 
oil this river, to secure the trade. They expect a war with tiie French next spring. 

Feb. 6. Letter from Gov. Clinton, Fort George, Jan. 29, 1750. — " I send you a copy of an 
inscription on a leaden plate stolen from Jean Cceur in the Senecas' country, as he was going to 
the Ohio." 

Inscription on the leaden plate buried at Ohio. 

LaN. 1749. DV REGNE DE LOVIS XV ROY DE FRANCE NOVS CELERON COMMANDANT DVN DETACHMENT 
ENVOIE PAR MONSIEUR LE M'IS DE LA GALISSONIERE COMMANDANT GENERAL DE LA NOUVELLE FRANCE 
POVR RETABLIR LA TRANQUILLITE DANS QVELQVES VILLAGES SALVAGES DE CES CANTONS AVONS EN. 
TERRE CE PLAQVE AU CONFLVENT DE L'oHVO ET DE TCPADAKOJN* CE 29 JUILLET PRES DE LA RI- 
VIERE OYO AUTREMENT BELLE RIVIERE POUR MONUMENT DE RENOUVELLEMENT DE POSSESSION QUE 
NOUS AVONS PRIS DE LA DITTE RIVIERE OYO ET DE TOVTES CELLES QUI Y TOMBENT ET DE 
TOVTES LES TERRES DES DEUX COTES JUSQUE AVX SOVRCES DES DITTES RIVIERES AINSI QVE'n ONT 
JOVY OV DV JOVIR L/ES PRECEDENTS ROIS DE FRANCE ET QUILS SY SONT MAINTENUS PAR LES ARMES 
ET PAR LES TRAITES SPECIALMENT PAR CEVX DE RISWICK d' VTRECHT ET d' AIX-LA-CHAPELLE. 

Literal Translation. — In the year 1749 — reign of Louis XV., king of France, we, Celeron, 
commandant of a detachment sent by Monsieur the Marquis of Galissoniere, commander-in- 
chief of New France, to establish tranquillity in certain Indian villages of these cantons, have 
buried this plate at the confluence of the Ohio and of To-ra-da-koin, this 29th July — near the 
river Ohio, otherwise Beautiful river, as a monument of renewal of possession which we have 
taken of the said river, and of all its tributaries, and of all the land on both sides, as far as 
to the sources of said rivers, — inasmuch as the preceding kings of France have enjoyed [this 
possession,] and have maintained it by their arms and by treaties, especially by those of Riswick, 
Utrecht, and Aix-la-Chapelle. 

In a manuscript historical lecture delivered at Erie by Henry L. Har- 
vey, Esq., kindly loaned us by the author, we find the following particu- 
lars respecting the French fort at Presqu'isle : 

" The first of this chain of forts was erected on the same eminence of land where Erie now 
stands, and took its name from the adjoining peninsula — Presqu'isle being the French word for 
peninsula. This peninsula did not at that time extend as far down the lake by several hundred 
yards as at present. The point upon the shore, therefore, which could best command the then 
entrance, was the present eastern limit of the incorporated town. Over this point a thoughtless 
individual might now pass without observing any thing peculiar except a roughness of surface, 
and, as he begins to descend the eastern bank, a number of unwrought native stones, apparently 
marking some ancient burial-place. A little in the rear of this may be discovered the traces of 
the old fortress. Though a good portion has recently been levelled off for the convenience of a 
brick-maker, yet two of the bastions and the wall and ditch upon one side, remain sufficiently 

* There is evidently some typographical or copyist's error in this word. It is reprinted here as 
found in Hazard's Register, iv. 225, and in the translation we have supplied what we suppose was 
intended — probably some Indian name for French creek. This opinion is confirmed by a passage 
in an historical lecture delivered by Mr. Harvey of Erie. He says : The Iroquois, after attacking 
the Algonquins, commenced upon " the nation of the Eries or Irrironons, a powerful and war- 
like race inhabiting the south side of the beautiful lake which still bears their name — almost the 
only memento that such a nation ever existed — a name signifying cats — which they had adopted 
as characteristic of their tribe. After a somewhat severe contest, the assailants succeeded. Sev- 
en hundred of them attacked and carried the main fortress, though it was defended by two 
thousand ; and the survivors were either incorporated with the victors or fled to remote regions." 
It has been supposed by some that they went to the Lower Mississippi, where they organized 
under a new name. This opinion, however, rests upon nothing more than probabilities and vague 
conjecture, arising from a similarity of character in certain tribes there." Mr. Harvey had it 
from a Seneca chief, and from other sources, that the fort was situated somewhere about the 
mouth of Toran-a-da-kon, or French cr. This is probably the same name as that intended in 
the inscription. 



312 ERIE COUNTY. 

distinct to show for what purpose they were originally intended. This fort was made the head» 
quarters and depot of stores for the line of posts between this and the Allegheny river. Prior to 
1754 these posts were limited to Fort de la Presqvi'isle, Fort de la Riviere aux Boeufs, [at Water- 
ford,] and Fort Venango. The name of Riviere aux Boeufs was assigned to that stream on ac- 
coimt of the great number of Buffaloes found upon its meadows." 

In 1753, Gov. Dinwiddle of Virginia dispatched Maj. George Washing- 
ton, then a young man of twenty-one years, on a mission to Monsieur De 
St. Pierre, the commander at Fort Le BoBuf, to inquire into the designs of 
the French in thus occupying the dominions of his Britannic majesty. 
His companions were Mr, Gest, an early pioneer of Fayette co., John 
Davidson, an Indian interpreter, and Jacob Vanbraam, a Dutchman, act^ 
ing as interpreter in French. At Logstown on the Ohio, Tanacharison, 
the Indian half-king, Jeskakake, White Thunder, and the Hunter, Indian 
chiefs, joined him and accompanied through the forest to Venango. Jon- 
caire commanded a small outpost at Venango. He treated Washington 
courteously, but labored hard to seduce the Indian chiefs to his interest. 
Against his arts, however, Washington was on the alert, and as far as 
possible kept the Indians beyond his reach. (See Venango co.) The fol- 
lowing passages in Washington's journal relate to his visit at Fort Le 
BcBuf: 

7th. Monsieur la Force, commissary of the French stores, and three other soldiers, came over 
to accompany us up. We found it extremely difficult to get the Indians off to-day, as every 
stratagem had been used to prevent their going up with me. I had last night left John David- 
son (the Indian interpreter) whom I brought with me from town, and strictly charged him not to 
be out of their company, as I could not get them over to my tent ; for they had some business 
with Kustaloga, chiefly to know why he did not deliver up the French belt which he had in keep- 
ing ; but I was obliged to send Mr. Gest over to-day to fetch them ; which he did with great 
persuasion. 

At twelve o'clock we set out for the fort, and were prevented from arriving there until the 11th 
by excessive rains, snows, and bad travelling, through many mires and swamps ; these we were 
obliged to pass to avoid crossing the creek, which was impossible, either by fording or rafting, 
the water was so high and rapid. 

We passed over much good land since we left Venango, and through several extensive and 
very rich meadows, one of which I beUeve was nearly four miles in length, and considerably wide 
in some places. 

12th. I prepared early to wait upon the commander, and was received and conducted to him 
by the second officer in command. I acquainted him with my business, and offered my commis- 
sion and letter, both of which he desired me to keep until the arrival of Mons. Reparti, captain 
at the next fort, who was sent for, and expected every hour. 

This commander is a knight of the military order of St. Lewis, and named Legardeur de St. 
Pierre. He is an elderly gentleman, and has much the air of a soldier. He was sent over to 
take the command immediately upon the death of the late general, and arrived here about seven 
days before me. 

At two o'clock, the gentleman who was sent for arrived, when I offered the letter, «Slc. again, 
which they received, and adjourned into a private apartment for the captain to translate, who un- 
derstood a little English. After he had done it, the commander desired I would walk in and 
bring my interpreter to peruse and correct it — which I did. 

13th. The chief officers retired to hold a council of war; which gave me an opportunity of 
taking the dimensions of the fort, and making what observations I could. 

It is situated on the south or west fork of French creek, near the water, and is almost sur^ 
rounded by the creek and a small branch of it, which forms a kind of island. Four houses com- 
pose the sides. The bastions are made of piles driven into the ground, standing more than 12 
feet above it, and sharp at top ; with port-holes cut for cannon, and loop-holes for the smallarms to 
fire through. There are eight six-pound pieces mounted in each bastion, and one piece of four 
pound before the gate. In the bastions are a guard-house, chapel, doctor's lodging, and the corn- 
mander's private store — round which are laid platforms for the cannon and men to stand on. 
There are several barracks without the fort for the soldiers' dwelling, covered, some with bark, 
and some with boards, made chiefly of logs. There are also several other houses, such as sta- 
bles, smith's shop, &c. 

I could get no certain account of the number of men here ; but according to the best judgment 
I could form, there are an hundred, exclusive of officers, of which there are many. I also gave 



ERIE COUNTY. 313 

orders to the people who were with me, to take an exact account of the canoes which were haul- 
ed up to convey their forces down in tlic sprinj^. Tliis they did, and told fifty of birch bark, and 
an hundred and seventy of pine ; besides many others wliich were blocked out, in readiness for 
being made. 

14th. As the snow increased very fast, and our horses daily became weaker, I sent them off 
unloaded, under the care of Barnaby Currin and two others, to make all convenient dispatch to 
Venango, and there to wait our arrival, if tlurc was a prospect of the river's freezing ; if not, 
then to continue down to Sliana[)in's town, at the forks of Ohio, and there to wait until we 
came to cross the Allegheny ; intending myself to go down by water, as I had the otFer of a 
canoe or two. 

As I found many plots concerted to retard the Indians' business, and prevent their returning 
with me, I endeavored all tliat lay in my power to frustrate tlieir schemes, and hurried them on to 
execute their intended design. They accordingly pressed for admittance this evening, which at 
length was granted them, privately, to tlie commander and one or two otlier officers. The half- 
king told me that he oftered the wampum to the commander, who evaded taking it, and made 
many fair promises of love and friendship ; said he wanted to live in peace and trade amicably 
with them, as a proof of which, he would send some goods immediately down to the Lqggs town 
for them. But I rather think tlie design of that is, to bring away all our straggling traders 
they meet with, as I privately understood they intended to carry an officer, &,c., vi^ith them. And 
wiiat rather confirms this ojjinion, I was inquiring of the connnander by what authority he had 
made prisoners of several of our Engfish subjects. He told me that the country belonged to 
them ; that no Englishman had a right to trade upon tliose waters ; and that he had orders to 
make every person prisoner who attempted it on the Ohio, or the waters of it. 

I inquired of Capt. Reparti about the boy that was carried by this place, as it was done while 
the command devolved on him, between the death of the late general and the arrival of the pres- 
ent. He acknowledged that a boy had been carried past : and that the Indians had two or three 
white men's scalps, (I was told by some of the Indians at Venango, eight,) but pretended to have 
forgotten the name of the place where the boy came from, and all the particular facts, though he 
had questioned him for some hours as they were carrying past. I likewise inquired what 
they had done with John Trotter and James M'Clocklan, two Pennsylvania traders, whom they 
had taken with all their goods. Tiiey told me that they had been sent to Canada, but were now 
returned home. This evening I received an answer to his honor the governor's letter, from the 
commandant. 

15th. The commandant ordered a plentiful store of hquor, provisions, &lc., to be put on board 
our canoes, and appeared to be extremely complaisant, though he was exerting every artifice 
which he could invent to set our Indians at variance with us, to prevent their going until after 
our departure — presents, rewards, and every thing which could be suggested by him or his offi- 
cers. I cannot say that ever in my life I suffered so mucli anxiety as I did in this affair ; I saw 
that every stratagem which the most fruitful brain could invent, was practised to win the half-king 
to their interest ; and that leaving him there was giving them tlie opportunity they aimed at. I went 
to the half-king and pressed him in the strongest terms to go ; he told me that the commandant 
would not discharge him until the morning. I then went to the commandant and desired him to 
do their business, and complained of ill-treatment ; for keeping them, as they were part of my 
company, was detaining me. This he promised not to do, but to forward my journey as p,iuch as he 
could. He protested he did not keep them, but was ignorant of the cause of their stay ; though 
I soon found it out. He liad promised them a present of guns, <S6C., if they would wait until the 
morning. As I was very much pressed by the Indians to wait this day for them, I consented, on 
a promise that nothing should hinder them in the morning. 

16th. The French were not slack in their inventions to keep the Indians this day also. But 
as they were obliged, according to promise, to give the present, they then endeavored to try the 
power of liquor, which I doubt not would have prevailed at any other time than this ; but I urged 
and insisted with the king so closely upon his word, that he refrained, and set off with us as he 
had engaged. 

We had a tedious and very fatiguing passage down the creek. Several times we had like to 
have been staved against rocks ; and many times were obliged all hands to get out and re- 
main in the water half an hour or more, getting over the shoals. At one place the ice had lodg- 
ed, and made it impassable by water ; we were, therefore, obliged to carry our canoe across the 
neck of land, a quarter of a mile over. We did not reach Venango until the 22d, where we met 
with our horses. 

Fort Duquesne was built the following year, and only a small force 
was probably retained at Presqu'isle and Le BoBuf to guard the portage. 

The French abandoned Fort Duquesne late in 1758. In 1759, Sir 
Wm. Johnson attacked their fort at Niagara, and the French garrison at 
that post was reinforced by about 1,200 men, drawn from Presqu'isle and 

40 



314 ERIE COUNTY. 

the adjacent posts, and with provisions and cattle raised along the mead- 
ows of he BoBuf. 

"In 1760, the French yielded to the English power in Canada and on 
the western waters. Major Rogers was dispatched with forces to take 
possession of the posts along the southern shore of Lake Erie and at De- 
troit. At the latter post he became acquainted with Pontiac, the great 
and v.dly master-spirit of the northwestern tribes, who at first received 
him favorably ; but subsequently Pontiac saw reason to be jealous of the 
encroachments of the British power, and he devised a bold and deep 
scheme for the extermination of all the English posts in one day by a 
treacherous and simultaneous attack. This was to be made at each post 
under some friendly disguise to suit the circumstances of each place, and 
the day selected for the enterprise was the 4th June, 1763, the 25th anni- 
versary of George III.'s reign." 

The war belt was dispatched to all the surrounding tribes, the details 
of the scheme were arranged, and the wily prophet appealed to their su- 
perstition under the pretence of a revelation to him in a dream, in which 
the Great Spirit had said to him, " Drive them from the land ! drive them 
from it ! and when you are in distress I will help you." Mr. Harvey, in 
the lecture above alluded to, gives the following account of the attack 
on the fort at Presqu'isle. 

The troops had retired to their quarters to procure their morning repast ; some had already 
finished, and were sauntering about the fortress or the shores of the lake. All were joyous, in 
holiday attire, and dreaming of nought but the pleasures of the occasion. A knocking was heard 
at the gate ; and three Indians were announced, in hunting garb, desiring an interview with the 
commander. Their tale was soon told : they said they belonged to a hunting party who had 
started for Niagara with a lot of furs ; that their canoes were bad, and they would prefer dispos. 
ing of them here, if they could do so to advantage, and return rather than go further ; that their 
party were encamped by a small stream west of the fort, about a mile, where they had landed 
the previous night, and where they wished the commander to go and examine their peltries, as it 
was difficult to bring them, and they wished to embark from where they were, if they did not 
trade. The commander, accompanied by a clerk, left the fort with the Indians, charging his 
lieutenant that none should leave the fort, and none but its inmates be admitted imtil his return. 
Well would it probably have been had this order been obeyed. 

After the lapse of sufficient time for the captain to have visited the encampment of the Indians 
and return, a party of the latter — variously estimated, but probably about 150 — advanced towards 
the fort, bearing upon their backs what appeared to be large packs of furs, which they informed 
the lieutenant that the captain had purchased and ordered to be deposited in the fort. The strata- 
gem succeeded ; and when the party were all within the fort, the work of an instant threw off the 
packs, and the short cloaks which covered their weapons — the whole being fastened by one loop 
and button at the neck. Resistance, at this time, was useless, or ineffectual, and the work of 
death was as rapid as savage strength and weapons could make it. The shortened rifles, which 
had been sawed off for the purpose of concealing them under their cloaks, and in the packs of 
furs, were once discharged, and of what remained the tomahawk and knife were made to do the 
execution. The history of savage war presents not a scene of more heartless or bloodthirsty ven- 
geance than was exhibited on this occasion, and few its equal in horror. The few who were 
taken prisoners in the fort, were doomed to the various tortures devised by savage ingenuity, 
imtil, save two individuals, all who awoke to celebrate that day at this fort had passed to the 
eternal world. Of these two, one was a soldier who had gone into the woods near the fort, and 
on his return, observing a party of Indians dragging away some prisoners, he escaped, and im- 
mediately proceeded to Niagara. The other was a female who had taken shelter in a small build, 
ing below the hill, near the mouth of the creek. Here she had remained undiscerned until near 
night of the fatal day, — when she was drawn forth, but her life, for some reason, was spared, and 
she was made prisoner, and ultimately ransomed, and restored to civilized life. She was subse- 
quently married, and settled in Canada, where she was living since the commencement of the 
present century. From her statement and the information she obtained during her captivity, cor- 
roborated by other sources, this account of the massacre is gathered. 

Others have varied it so far as relates to the result, particularly Mr. Thatcher, who, in his Life 
of Pontiac, says, " The officer who commanded at Presqu'isle defended himself two days, during 



ERIE COUNTY. 31 5 

which time the savages are said to have fired his blockhouse about fifty times, but the soldiers 
extinguished the flames as often. It was then undermined) and a train laid for an explosion, 
when a capitulation was proposed and agreed upon, under which a part of the garrison was car- 
ried captive to the northwest. The officer was afterwards given up at Detroit." He does not, 
however, give any authority for his statements, while most Writers concur that all were destroyed. 
The number who escaped from Lc Boeuf is variously estimated, from 3 to 7. Their escape was 
effected through a secret or underground passage, having its outlet in the direction of the swamp 
adjoining Le Boeuf lake. Tradition, however, says that of these only one survived to reach a 
civilized settlement. 

So adroitly was the whole campaign managed, that nine of the garrisons received no notice 
of the design in time to guard against it, and fell an easy conquest to the assailants. These were, 
besides the three already named, Sandusky, Washtenaw, upon the Wabash river, St. Joseph's on 
Lake Huron, Mackinaw, Greenbay, and Miami on Lake Michigan. Niagara, Pittsburg, Ligonier, 
and Bedfoid, were strongly invested, but withstood the attacks until relief arrived from the east- 
ern settlements. The scattered settlers in their vicinity were generally murdered, or forced to 
repair to the forts. Depredations and murders were committed as far east as Carlisle and Read- 
ing, and the whole country was generally alarmed. 

Gen. Bradstrect, in 1764, went up the lake with 3,000 men to the relief of Detroit, passing 
Presqu'isle with his barges on the 5th day from Niagara, and dragging their barges across the 
peninsula. After relieving Detroit, on his return, in Aug. 1764, he entered into a treaty of peace 
at Presqu'isle with the Delawares and Shawnese ; but it was soon broken by the Indians, and 
even one of Col. Bouquet's messengers to Gen. Bradstrect, from Pittsburg, was murdered on his 
Way, and his head stuck on a pole beside the path. The frontier enjoyed no tranquillity until 
Wayne's expedition, in 1794. 

The treaty of peace with Great Britain, in 1783, was followed by a 
treaty with the Six Nations, at Fort Stanwix, in Oct. 1784. At the latter, 
the commissioners of Pennsylvania secured from the Six Nations the re- 
linquishment of all the territory within the state northwest of the bound- 
ary of 1768, (for which see Lycoming co.) This purchase was confirmed 
by the Delawares and Wyandots, in Jan. 1785, at Fort M'Intosh. The 
boundary between the state and New York was run out in 1785, 1786, 
and 1787, partly by David Rittenhouse, and afterwards by Andrew Elli- 
cott and other commissioners on the part of New York. Gen. William 
Irvine, who had been much engaged in examining the donation lands, had 
perceived at an early day that the northern boundary would so strike 
Lake Erie as to leave to Pennsylvania not more than four or five miles 
of coast on the lake, and that without a harbor. His exertions were at 
once united with those of other intelligent men of the state to secure 
from the U. S., and the aboriginal proprietors of the soil, the tract since 
known as the triangle. The preemptive right is believed to have been 
originally in the state of Massachusetts, from which it passed through 
various hands to the state of Pennsylvania. By a treaty, (probably made 
at Fort Harmar, near Marietta,) Jan. 9, 1789, with only a part of the Six 
Nations — 

"The signing chiefs do acknowledge the right of soil and jurisdiction to and over that tract of 
country bounded on the south by the north line of Pennsylvania, on the east by the west bound- 
ary of New York, agreeable to the cession of that state and Massachusetts to the U. S. ; and on 
the north by the margin of Lake Erie, including PresquHsle, and all the bays and harbors along 
the margin of said Lake Erie, from the west boundary of Pennsylvania to where the west bound- 
ary of New York may intersect the south margin of the said Lake Erie, to be vested in the said 
state of Pennsylvania, agreeable to an act of congress dated 6th June last," (1788.) "The said 
chiefs agree that the said state of Pennsylvania shall and may, at any time they may think 
proper, surve)', dispose of, and settle all that part of the aforesaid country lying and being west 
of a line running along the middle of the Conewago river, from its confluence with the Allegheny 
river into the Chadochque lake ; thence along the middle of said lake to the north end of the 
Bame ; thence a meridian line from the north end of the said lake to the margin or shore of Lake 
Erie." ^ 



316 ERIE COUNTY. 

On the 3d Marcli, 1792, the governor purchased the tract from the U. 
S. for 8151,640 25, continental money; and a deed of that date confirmed 
it to the state. The area of the triangle is 202,187 acres. 

Notwithstanding the treaty of Fort Stanwix and that of Fort Harmar, 
the cession of the Presqu'isle k\nds was a sore subject to many chiefs 
of the Six Nations, and especially to their master-spirit. Brant, the Mo- 
hawk chieftain. It was claimed that the treaty was invalid, Cornplanter 
having sold their lands without authority. Brant's favorite design waste 
restrict the Americans to the country east of the Allegheny and Ohio ; 
and he not only strenuously opposed and denounced every treaty that in- 
terfered with his plan, but was active in his endeavors to unite all the 
northern and western nations in one great confederacy, and, if necessary, 
to protect his favorite boundary by a general war. To this scheme he 
hoped, no doubt, to secure the cooperation of Great Britain, whose agents 
still held the Canadian posts, and covertly fostered the war carried on by 
the northwestern tribes. The settlement of the lands northwest of the 
Allegheny, and especially of the Presqu'isle lands, was never cordially 
acquiesced in by the Six Nations, not even by the Senecas ; and Corn- 
planter, who had assented to the treaty, became very unpopular among 
his own people. It was charged upon him, at the council of Canandai- 
gua, in Octi 1794, that he and Little Billy had received, at Fort Harmar, 
$2,000, and at Philadelphia $2,000 more, as the price of Presqu'isle.* 
Nevertheless, Cornplanter himself is found protesting to the U. S., at 
Buffalo cr., in June, 1794, against the garrison established by Gen. Wayne 
at Presqu'isle^ when he went out against the Miamis. 

Soon after the cession of the triangle, the settlement law of 1792 was 
passed, and these lands were included in its provisions, with those south 
of the old provincial boundary. The first settlements in Erie co. were 
made by pioneers under that law, and the same scenes of litigation oc- 
curred which have been alluded to under the head of Crawford co., 
(p. 260.) Many instances of personal violence occurred between con- 
tending claimants. Lynch law was the favorite code. The squatters 
would league together to prevent the legal claimants from depriving them 
of their improvements. This region suffered, in common with all that 
west of the Allegheny, from hostile incursions of savages. It was some 
recompense, however, to such as were driven off in this way, that they 
thereby secured a title to their lands without being compelled to perform 
a five years' actual residence, in compliance wdth the law. Tradition 
even states that some land-jobbers, when no actual invasion took place, 
were in the habit of getting themselves alarmed, attacked, and driven 
off by parties of white men disguised as Indians ; and on these fictitious 
attacks they procured prcoentive ccrtifiixitcs. (See p. 261.) Such an ar- 
rangement would hardly seem to have been necessary ; for the frontier 
was, beyond all question, in a dangerous and deplorable stale, and suffer- 
ings were endured by the daring pioneers, the relation of which chills 
one's blood. Their titles at one time had like to have been disturbed by 
a claimant whose lien was much older than the law of 1792, and who 
could enforce it by a process more to be dreaded than that of Judge 
Lynch. The following extracts are from a letter, dated 19th July, 1794 

* Stone's Red Jacket, p. 138. 



ERIE COUNTY 3^7 

written by the Mohawk chieftain, Joseph Brant — Thayendanegea — to 
Col. Smith, " for Gov. Simcoe," of Upper Canada. The letter is contained 
in Col. Wm. L. Stone's Life of Brant. 

" In regard to the Presqu'islc business, should we not get an answer at the time limited, it ia 
our business to push those fellows hard, and therefore it is my irltention to form my camp at 
Pointe Appineau ; and I would esteem it a favor if his excellency, the lieutenant-governor, would 
lend me four or five battcaux. Should it so turn out, and should those fellows not go off, and 
O'Bail [Cornplantcr] continue in the same opinion, an expedition against those Yankees must of 
Consequence take place. His excellency has been so good as I0 fui'niah us with a cwt. of powder^ 
and ball in proportion, which is now at Fort Erie ; but in the event of an attack upon Le Boeuf 

Eeople, I could wish, if consistent, that his excellency would order a like quantity in addition to 
e at Fort Erie in order to be in readiness : likewise I would hope for a little assistance in provi- 
sions. ***** 

" I understand some new regiments are raising or to be raised. In that case I would consider 
myself much favored should some of my relations, young men, have an equal chance of being 
provided for. A few days ago I sent seven men to Cadaragara, to remind O'Bail that he should 
Watch any movement of those people [the settlers at Presqu'isle] very narrowly ; and that he 
should be ready to march immediately after the expiration of the time, should they not then 
evacuate that place." 

This letter exhibits in a strong light the slender thread by which de- 
pended the peace between the United States and the Six Nations, as well 
as with Great Britain. Indeed, in all the Wars of the northwestern fron- 
tier. Brant and other individual chiefs were conspicuous on the war-path. 
Gen. Wayne's treaty with the northwestern tribes put an end to Brant's 
ambitious designs, and the wave of civilization rolled on across the Ohio 
and Allegheny. 

Among the earlier settlers of this county were Mr. Wm. Miles, Robert 
King, Martin King, Gen. Charles Martin, Mr. Wm. Connolly, now of Ve- 
nango CO., Col. John Reed, father of Rufus S. Reed, Esq., Thomas Reese, 
an early surveyor, who is still living, John Cochran, Thomas Foster, 
Robert Brown, Daniel Dobbins, Mr. Kelso, Thomas Wilson, James Dun- 
can, Gen. Callender Irvine, and others whose names have iiot come to 
our knowledge. 

Mr. Wm. Miles, who is still living at a very advanced age at Girard, 
was at Fort Freeland, on the W. branch of Susquehanna, when it was 
captured in 1778. He was then a lad or a young man, and was taken 
prisoner to Canada, where he remained until after the close of the revo- 
lution, when he crossed the lake, and settled in the Presqu'isle country. 
He was one of the corps of surveyors for laying off the donation lands, in 
1785. He related the following anecdote to a friend, who communicated 
it to the compiler. 

" When the surveyors all started from Pittsburg, in a body, they placed their instruments, bag- 
gage, &-C., in two canoes, and took several Indians along as guides and boatmen. These In- 
dians had been recommended to the party by the fur traders. The latter, however, were jealous 
of the new surveys, as a settlement of the country would destroy their trade, and they exaggerated 
to the surveyors the dangers of their undertaking, and the hostile dispositions of the Indians 
Mr. Miles had suspected these Indians, who had been recommended by the traders, and remon- 
strated against takij»g them, but was overruled. On the route the surveyors stopped at the last 
white man's cabin on the river, some 15 miles above Pittsburg, to refresh themselves, leaving the 
Indians to take care of the canoes. On returning tQ the river after an hour or two, Indians, 
canoes, instruments, and baggage, were all gone ! What was to be done ? Miles asked if any 
one had in his pocket a map of the river. One was fortunately found. He readily discovered 
that the Indians, on the presumption that they had ascended the river, must necessarily pass a 
very circuitous bend, and might be easily overtaken by taking a straight path through the woods. 
The compass was gone, but Miles was enabled to steer the straight course by his knowledge of 
the moss on the trees, and other Indian signs. They came out above the bend, secreted them- 
selves in the bushes, and waited the approach of the Indians, who soon hove in sight. When 



318 ERIE COUNTY. 

the old chief found he had been detected, he very coolly and cunningly determined -Jo pretend 
ignorance and innocence, and stepping out of the canoe with a smile, greeted the surveyors with, 
How do ? How do ?" 

Erie, the seat of justice, is situated upon a bluff affording a prospect 
of Presqu'isle bay, the peninsula which forms it, and the lake beyond. 
The borough is regularly laid out with spacious streets ; the site is level, 
the soil dry and porous ; the buildings generally are well-constructed, the 
public edifices, except the courthouse, are splendid, and in short, the town 
is one of the pleasantest in Pennsylvania. Its commercial advantages 
.too, are, or soon will be, in accordance with its external appearance. 
The harbor, four miles and a half long by half a mile wide, is one of the 
best on the lake. It has been recently much improved, and steamboats 
enter without difficulty. The eastern entrance has a channel from 1 1 to 
20 feet deep, and the U. States is ejigaged in improving the western* 
The harbor is generally free from ice at least a month sooner than that 
of Buffalo. The peninsula was, within remembrance, a sand-bank, but 
is now covered with a growth of young timber. The state canal from 
here to the mouth of Beaver is nearly completed, (three miles only unfin- 
ished,) and as soon as it is opened a considerable increase of business may 
be anticipated. The canal basin connected with the harbor is 2,000 feet 
long by 1,000 wide. The town contains the usual county buildings, and 
7 churches, Presbyterian, Episcopal, Baptist, Methodist, Associate Re- 
formed, German Lutheran, and Roman Catholic ; a female seminary ; the 
Erie bank ; a splendid Doric temple of marble, formerly used by a branch 
of the U. S. Bank of Pa. ; the Reed House, which is a magnificent hotel 
on the plan of the Astor House ; several other good hotels ; an academy, 
2 flouring-mills, 2 iron foundries, and many stores and forwarding houses. 
Mill creek, near the town, furnishes an ample water-power, and still 
more will be obtained from the locks of the canal. Population in 1820, 
617; in 1830, 1,451 ; in 1840, 3,412. Erie is 120 miles from Pittsburg, 
90 from Buffalo, and 100 from Cleveland. 

The town of Erie was laid out by Gen. Wm. Irvine and Andrew Elli- 
cott, in 1795, in conformity with the act passed 18th April, of that year. 
Suitable reservations were made of certain lots for the use of the United 
States to build " forts, magazines, arsenals, and dock-yards thereon." Mr. 
Ellicott had charge of the corps of surveyors, and Gen, Irvine commanded 
a small detachment of troops for the protection of the surveys. A monu- 
ment, similar to an ordinary grave-stone, is standing at the northeast cor- 
ner of the town, on the brow of the bluff, inscribed ERIE, 1795. N. lat. 
42° 8' 14". The first section of the town was incorporated as a borough 
29th March, 1805. The place at that time contained about 100 houses. 
The academy was incorporated in 1811 ; and the land for the lighthouse 
was granted the same year to the U. States. 

Gen. Wayne, when he went out to the Maumee in 1794, established a 
small garrison here ; and on his return in December, 1796, he died at the 
garrison, in a small log-cabin, and was buried, at his own request, at the 
foot of the flag-staff. A rude paling, and a rough stone with the initials 
A. W., long marked his resting-place, until, in 1809, his remains were 
transferred by his son to the churchyard of his ancient place of worship 
in Delaware co. 

In the large view here inserted, may be seen on the right side of the 



ERIE COUNTY. 319 

square the splendid mansion of Rufus S. Reed, Esq., and beyond it the 
Erie bank, of which he is president. On the left of the square, beyond 
the courthouse, is seen the magnificent Reed House, a lasting monument 
of the enterprise of the gentleman whose name it bears. Such is the 
appearance of the square in 1843. — Let us look back about fifty years. 
Mr. Wm. Connolly, now of Franklin, says he came out to Erie in the 
spring of 1795 with his cousin Thomas Reese, surveyor of the district, 
who is still living. In June of the same year he saw land there Col. John 
Reed, father of Rufus S. Reed, in a bark boat, with a quantity of groceries, 
ilquors, and Indian goods. Col. Reed was the first white settler of the 
place. He proceeded to erect a log-cabin, and soon after made it a dou- 
ble cabin, and called it — not the Reed House — but the Presqu'isle Hotel ; 
Avhere he entertained the traders and travellers of the lake shore. Col. 
Reed was from Rhode Island. The jovial scenes that may have been 
enacted around those primitive firesides by Indians, soldiers, traders, sur- 
veyors, speculators, and casual adventurers, may be more easily conceived 
than described. 

While the region around Pittsburg was dependent upon Northern New 
York for its supplies of salt, Erie and Waterford, though not large, were 
busy towns, (see p. 86.) During the last war, too, there was much heavy 
transportation of military stores across the Le Boeuf portage, for the use 
of the squadron on the lake. Navigation by steam was commenced on 
Lake Erie in 1818, when the first steamboat was built at Black Rock: 
she bore the significant name of Walk-in-the-Wate7\ The novelty of the 
sight as she made her first trip through the lake excited great curiosity, 
especially among the aborigines. She was lost in 1822. The Superior 
immediately succeeded her. The most important impetus, however, was 
given to the growth of Erie by the great projects of internal improvement 
which originated between 1830 and 1836. Heavy expenditures were 
made by the U. S. on the harbor ; the canal to Beaver was surveyed and 
located ; a great railroad was projected through Warren, McKean, Ly- 
coming, and Columbia counties, to connect with the Danville and Potts- 
ville road ; another to join the New York and Erie railroad ; and a 
branch of the U. S. Bank of Pa. was located here. The spark of specu- 
lation being lighted, speculators from Buffalo and Rochester and New 
York city came in with the most modern inventions for making money 
without industry, and the town shot ahead with dangerous rapidity. 

The following extracts from successive newspapers of that day, will 
serve to show the rapid progress of the speculation. 

June 12th, 1830. — The spirit of speculation which has wrought such wonders upon the line of 
the Erie canal has never visited this borough. No extensive business is done on fictitious capi- 
tal. The soil is owned by its occupants, and no part of it is covered by foreign mortgages. No 
branch of business is overdone, if we except, perhaps, one or two of the professions. The growth 
of Erie has at no time exceeded that of the surrounding country. Its increase has been com- 
mensurate only with the increase of business. It has consequently never felt those reverses 
which always attend villages of mushroom growth. Many men with small capitals have become 
independent, and some opulent. Erie possesses advantages which must forever secure to it im- 
portant and lucrative business. Its harbor is decidedly the safest and best on the lake. Our 
water privileges are equal to our present wants, and an increase may be expected from the con- 
struction of the Pennsylvania canal. 

That Erie will be a successful rival of her sister villages on the borders of the lake, we have 
not a shadow of doubt. But let not her growth be forced. Every doubtful or chimerical specu- 
lation should be discountenanced, and, above all, let not our village lots fall into the hands of 
those who calculate jjreat speculations on their rise. This is the bane which is most to be dreaded 



320 ERIE COUNTY. 

in all our growing villages.— We must construct a wharf out to Mr. C. M. Reed's pier, where 
there is deep water. 



Feb. 27th, 1836.— Erie Bank. We are informed that the entire stock of $200,000 has been 
subscribed, and we believe paid in. [News at tlie same time of probable passage of appropriation 
m Congress for improvement of harbor.] 

Feb. 27th, 1836.— The receipt of positive news of the final passage of the canal and (U. S.) 
bank bill at this place, on Monday evening, gave a new impetus to the rise of real estate. It 
advanced immediately about 100 per cent., and has since continued rising at the rate of from ten 
to twenty per cent, a day. Sales have been made this week amounting to near half a million of 
dollars. The sales too are none of your sham sales got up for effect. They are bona fide, and 
liberal, almost invariably made by the purcliasers, who are mostly men of heavy capital from the 
east— Buffalo, Rochester, and New York— and persons able to sustain prices, so far as they buy 
for speculation, and to improve what they buy for use. There is no danger of retrograde. The 
tide of prosperity has set in favor of Erie, and it must go ahead. The Fates cannot make it 
otherwise. Real estate will continue to rise, and we would sincerely recommend any friend of 
ours who wishes to purchase, to do so as soon as possible. 

March 1. — Real estate. Sales increase in briskness, and prices still rising. The amount of 
s^es on Saturday and yesterday (Monday) amomited to over $300,000. Good bargains are yet 
offered to any one wlio has cash to invest for first payments, and at prices which cannot fail of 
advancing, in as great a ratio, as they have done for several weeks back. 

It is estimated that the sales in our borough last week amounted to a million and a half of 
dollars ; they are still going on and daily advancing in prices. 

A company has bought land at the mouth of Twenty-mile cr., to construct a harbor there. 

A lot of ground sold in Erie in Feb. for $10,000— was sold in March, in Buffalo, to a company 
for $50,000. ^ 



April 2d, 1836.— For the sake of our numerous correspondents, who look with distrust upon all 
excitement in the grave business of laying out bona fide capital, we will briefly and o-enerally re- 
ply that there is no sham nor get-up to the land transactions here-away ; and that^neither col- 
lapse nor the ordinary fever and ague stages need be apprehended for this place ; it has grown 
steadily and slowly thus into public favor, and its present towering prospects have a foundation, 
in the nature of things, not only permanent and enduring, but natural and everlasting. Look at 
the position of Ene on the map, read the reports of the U. S. engineers as to the harbor ; above 
all, at this crisis, observe the enlightened legislation of the commonwealth in anticipating the de- 
mand for commercial facilities at this favored spot. 

June 11th.— Twelve wja^er lots oi 32 feet front sold, notwithstanding the severe pressure in 
the money market, at an aggregate price of over $40,000. 

The most important event that has occurred at Erie was the building 
and equipment of Perry's victorious fleet. 

Capt. Perry, then only 26 years of age, arrived at Erie on the 27th Feb. 
1813, and immediately urged on the work which had been already com- 
menced. The northern frontier of Pennsylvania and Ohio was at that 
time little better than a wilderness ; supplies and artisans had to be 
brought from the Atlantic coast, and the timber for the larger vessels was 
to be cut fresh from the forest. In the face of a thousand obstacles, Perry 
succeeded in getting his vessels ready to leave the harbor in the early 
part of August ; though he was still greatly in want of officers and of 
men, particularly seamen. He was soon after joined by a party of sea- 
men under the orders of Capt. Elliot, then just promoted to the rank of 
master and commander. Leaving Erie, the fleet went up towards the 
head of the lake, where various manojuvres took place for some days be- 
tween the two squadrons, before a meeting took place. Perry had gone into 
Put-in bay, on the 6th Sept., and on the 9th determined to go out the next 
day and attack the enemy. The following able and spirited sketch of 
the battle is extracted from the biography of Com. Perry, by James 
Fennimore Cooper, Esq., published in Graham's Magazine, for May, 1843 



ERIE COUNTY. 321 

Although longer than our limits will fairly admit, yet the compiler would 
not feel justilied in abridging it. 



The vessels under the command of Capt. Per- 
ry, and which were present on the morning of 
the 10th of Sept., 1813, were as follows; the 
Ohio, Mr. Dobbins, having been sent down the 
lake on duty a few days before, viz. : 

Ouns. Metal. 

Lawrence, Capt. Perry, 'iO 2 long 12s, 18 32 lb. carronades. 

Niagara, Capt. Elliut, 20 2 lujig 12s, 18 ."?•-' lb. oarionades 

Caledonia, Lieut Turner, 3 2 long 2-ls, 1 32 lb. carronade. 

Ariel, Lieut. Packott, 4 4 123. 

Soniers, Mr. Alniy, 2 1 long 24, 1 32 lb. carronade. 

Porcupnie, Mr. Senatt, 1 1 long 32. 

Scorpion, Mr. Chaniplin, 2 1 long 24, 1 32 lb. carronade. 

Tigress, Lieut. (,\mklin, 1 1 long 32. 

Trippe, Lieut. Holdup, 1 1 long 32. 

Total number of guns, 54 



The English vessels were as follows, their 
force being, as stated by Capt. Barclay — 



Detroit, Capt. Barclay, 19 guns; 2 long 24s, 1 long 18 on pivot, 

(5 long 12s, 8 long its, 1 24 lb. carronade, 1 18 lb. do. 
Queen (Charlotte, Capt. Fiiinis, 17 guns ; 1 long 12 on pivot, 

2 lonz 9s, 14 24 lb. carronades. 
Lady Prevost, Lieut, liuclian, 13 guns ; 1 long 9 on pivot, 2 

long 6s, lU 12 lb. carronades. 
Hunter, Lieut. Bignall, 10 guns ; 4 long 66, 2 long 49, 2 long 

2s, 2 12 lb. carronades. 
Little Belt, 3 guns ; 1 long 12 on pivot, 2 long 6b. 
Chippewa, Mr. Campbell, 1 long 9 on pivot. 

Total number of guns. 63. 

It is proper to add that all the guns of all the American vessels, with the exception of those 
of tlie Lawrence and the Niagara, were on pivots, and could be used together. The vessels which 
carried them, however, were without bulwarks, and their crews were exposed to even musketry 
in a close action. Of these vessels, the Lawrence, Niagara, and Caledonia were brigs ; the Trippe 
was a sloop ; and the remainder were schooners. 

The force of the British has been variously stated, as to the metal, tliough all the accounts 
agree as to the vessels and the number of the guns. 

On the morning of the 10th Sept., the Britisli squadron was seen in the offing, and the Ameri- 
can vessels got under way, and went out to meet it. The wind, at first, was mifavorable, but so 
determined was Perry to engage, that he decided to give the enemy the weather-gage, a very im- 
portant advantage with the armament he possessed, should it become necessary. A shift of 
wind, however, brought him out into the lake to windward, and left him every prospect of en- 
gaging in a manner more desirable to himself. 

The enemy had hove-to, on the larboard tack, in a compact line ahead, with the wind at south- 
east. This brought his vessels' heads nearly, or quite, as high as south-southwest. He had 
placed the Chippewa in his van, with the Detroit, Barclay's own vessel, next to her. Then fol- 
lowed the Hunter, Queen Charlotte, Lady Prevost, and Little Belt, in the manner named. Perry 
had issued his order of battle some time previously, but finding that the enemy did not form his 
line as he had anticipated, he determined to make a corresponding change in his own plan. Ori- 
ginally it had been intended that the Niagara should lead the American line, in the expectation 
that the Queen Charlotte would lead that of the English ; but finding the Detroit ahead of the 
latter vessel, it became necessary to place the Lawrence ahead of the Niagara, in order to bring 
the two commanding vessels fairly alongside of each other. As there was an essential difference 
of force between the two English ships, the Detroit being a vessel at least a fourth larger and 
every way heavier than the Queen Charlotte, this prompt decision to stick to his own chosen ad- 
versary is strongly indicative of the chivalry of Perry's character ; for many an ofiicer would not 
have thought this accidental change on the part of his enemy a sufficient reason for changing 
his own order of battle, on the eve of engaging. Calling the leading vessels near him, however, 
and learning from Capt. Brevoort, of the army, and late of the brig Adams, who was then serv- 
ing on board the Niagara as a marine officer, the names of the different British vessels, Capt. 
Perry communicated his orders for the Lawrence and Niagara to change places in the contem- 
plated line — a departure from his former plan, which would bring him more fairly abreast of the 
Detroit. 

At this moment, the Lawrence, Niagara, Caledonia, Ariel, and Scorpion were all up, and near 
each other ; but the Trippe, Tigress, Somcrs, and Porcupine were still a considerable distance 
astern. All of these small craft but the Porcupine had been merchant vessels, purchased into 
the service and strengthened ; alterations that were necessary to enable them to bear their metal 
but which were not likely to improve whatever sailing qualities they might possess. 

It was now past ten, and the leading vessels mancEuvred to get into their stations, in obedience 
to the orders just received. This brought the Scorpion a siiort distance ahead, and to windward 
of the Lawrence, and the Ariel a little more on that brig's weather-bow, but in advance. Then 
came the Lawrence herself, leading the main line, the two schooners just mentioned being directed 
to keep to windward of her — the Caledonia, the Niagara, the Tigress, the Somers, the Porcupine, 
and the Trippe. The prescribed distance that was to be maintained between the different ves- 
sels was half a cable's length. 

The Americans were now astern and to windward of their enemies, the latter still lying gal- 
lantly with their topsails aback, in waiting for them to come down. Perry brought the wind 
abeam, in the Lawrence, and edged away for a position abreast of the Detroit ; the Caledonia and 
Niagara following in their stations. The two schooners ahead were also well placed, though the 
Ariel appears to have soon got more pn the Lawrence's beam than the order of battle had directed. 

41 



322 ERIE COUNTY. 

All these vessels, howeyer, were in as good order as circumstances allowed ; and Perry determined 
to close, without waiting for the four gun-vessels astern to come up. 

The wind had been light and variable throughout the early part of the morning, and it still 
continued light, though sufficiently steady. It is stated to have been about a two-knot breeze 
when the American van bore up to engage. As they must have been fully two miles from the 
enemy at this time, it would of course have required an hour to have brought them up fairly 
alongside of the British vessels, most of the way under fire. The Lawrence was yet a long dis- 
tance from the English when the Detroit threw a twenty-four pound shot at her. When this gun 
was fired, the weight of the direct testimony that has appeared in the case, and the attendant 
circumstances, would show tiiat the interval between the heads of the two lines was nearer two 
than one mile. Perry now showed his signal to engage, as the vessels came up, each against her 
designated opponent, in the prescribed order of battle. The object of this signal was to direct 
the different commanders to engage as soon as they could do so with efl^ect ; to preserve their sta- 
tions in the fine ; and to direct their fire at such particular vessels of the British as had been 
pointed out to them severally in previous orders. Soon after an order was passed astern, by trum- 
pet, for the difTerent vessels to close np to the prescribed distance of half a cable's length from 
each other. This was the last order that Perry issued that day from the Lawrence to any vessel 
of the fleet, his own brig excepted. It was intended principally for the schooners in the rear, 
most of which were still a considerable distance astern. Tlie Caledonia and Niagara were accu- 
rately in their stations, and at long gun-shot from the enemy. A deliberate fire now opened on 
the part of the enemy, which was returned from the long-gun of the Scorpion, and soon after 
from the long-guns of the other leading American vessels, tiiough not with much apparent efiect 
on either side. The first gun is stated to have been fired at a quarter before twelve. About 
noon, finding that the Lawrence was beginning to suff'er, Perry ordered her carronades to be 
tried ; but it was found that the brig was still too distant for the shot to tell. He now set his top- 
gallantsail and edged away more for the enemy, suffering considerably from the fire of the long- 
guns of the Detroit in particular. 

The Caledonia, the Lawrence's second astern, was a prize-brig, that had been built for burden 
rather than for sailing, having originally been in the employment of the Northwest Co. Although 
her gallant commander, Lieut. Turner, pressed down with her as fast as he could, the Lawrence 
reached ahead of her some distance, and consequently became the principal object of the British 
fire ; which slie was, as yet, unable to return with more than her two long-twelves, the larboard, 
bow gun having been shifted over for that purpose. The Scorpion, Ariel, Caledonia, and Niaga- 
ra, however, were now firing with their long-guns, also, carronades being still next to useless. 
The latter brig, though under short canvass, was kept in her station astern of the Caledonia only 
by watching her sails, occasionally bracing her main-topsail sharp aback, in order to prevent run- 
ning into her second ahead. As the incidents of this battle have led to a painful and protracted 
controversy, which no biographical notice of Perry can altogether overlook, it may be well to add 
here that the facts just stated are proved by testimony that has never been questioned, and that 
they appear to us to relate to the only circumstance in the management of the Niagara, on the 
10th of Sept., that is at all worthy of the consideration of an intelligent critic. At the proper 
moment, this circumstance shall receive our comments. 

It will be remembered that each of the American vessels had received an order to direct her 
fire at a particular adversary in the British line. This was done to prevent confusion, and was 
the more necessary as the Americans had nine vessels to the enemy's six. On the other hand, 
the English, waiting the attack, had to take such opponents as offered. In consequence of these 
orders, the Niagara, which brig had also shifted over a long-twelve, directed the fire of her two 
chase-guns at the Queen Charlotte, and the Caledonia engaged the Hunter, the vessel pointed 
out to her for that purpose ; leaving the Lawrence, supported by the Ariel and Scorpion, to sus- 
tain the cannonading of the Detroit, supported by the Chippewa, as well as to bear the available 
fire of all the vessels in the stern of the English line, as, in leading down, she passed ahead to 
her station abreast of her proper adversary. Making a comparison of the aggregate batteries 
of the five vessels thus engaged at long-shot, or before carronades were fully available, we get, on 
the part of the Americans, one 24 and 6 12s, or seven guns in all, to oppose to one 24, one 18, 
three 12s, and five 9 pounders — all long-guns. This is estimating all the known available long- 
guns of the Ariel, Scorpion, and Lawrence, and the batteries of the Chippewa and the Detroit, 
as given by Capt. Barclay in his published official letter, which, as respects these vessels, is prob- 
ably minutely accurate ; though it is proper to add that an American officer, who subsequently 
had good opportunities for knowing the fact, thinks that the Chippewa's gun was a 12 pounder. 
Although the disparity between 7 and 10 guns is material, as is the difference between 96 
and 123 pounds of metal, they do not seem sufficient to account for the great disparity of the 
injury that was sustained by the Lawrence, more especially in the commencement of the action. 
We are left then to look for the explanation in some additional causes. 

It is Imown that one of the Ariel's twelves burst early in the day. This would at once bring 
the comparison of the guns and metal, as between the five leading vessels, down to 6 to 10 of 
the first, and 84 to 123 of the last. But we have sepn that both the Lawrencp and Niagara 



ERIE COUNTY. 323 

illilfted each a larboard-boVv gun over to the starboard side — a coiirse that almost any commander 
would be likely to adopt under the circumstances of the action. It is not probable that the De- 
troit, commencing her fire at so great a distance, with the certainty that it must be some time 
before her enemy could get within reach of his short-guns, neglected to bring her most available 
pieces into battery also. Admitting this to have been done, there would be a very different result 
in the figures. The Detroit fought 10 guns in broadside, and she had an armament that would 
permit her to bring to bear on the Lawrence, at one time, two 24s, one 18, six 12s, and one 9 
pounder. This would leave the comparison between the guns as 6 are to 11, and between the 
jnetal as 84 arc to 147. Nor is this all. The Hunter lay close to the Detroit, and as the vessel 
which assailed her was still at long-shot, it is probable that she also brought the heaviest of her 
guns into broadside, and used them against the nearest vessel ; more particularly as her guns 
Were light, and would be much the most useful in such a mode of firing. 

But other circumstances conspired to sacrifice the Lawrence. Finding that he was suffering 
heavily, and that he had got nearly abreast of the Detroit, Perry furled his topgallant-sail, hauled 
up his foresail and rounded to, opening with his carronades. The distance from the enemy at 
which this v/as done, as well as the length of time after the commencement of the fire, have giveil 
rise to contradictory statements. The distance. Perry himself, in his official letter, says was 
" within canister shot," a term too vague, to give any accurate notion that can be used in a cri- 
tical analysis of the facts of the engagement. A canister shot, thrown from a heavy gun, would 
probably kill at a mile ; though seamen are not apt to apply th? term to so great a range. Still 
they use all such phrases as "yard-arm and yard-arm," "musket-shot," "canister-shot," and 
" pistol-shot" very vaguely 5 one applying a term to a distance twice as great as would be under- 
stood by another. The distance from the English line, at which the Lawrence backed her topsail, 
has been placed by some as far as half a mile, and by others as near as 300 yards. It was pro- 
bably between the two, nearer to the last than to the first ; though the brig, as she became crip- 
pled aloft, and so long as there was any wind, must have been slowly drifting nearer her enemies. 

On the supposition that there w*as a two-knot breeze the whole time, that the action commenced 
when the Lawrence was a mile and a half from the enemy, and that she went within a quarter 
of a mile of the British line, she could not have backed her topsail until after she had been under 
fire considerably more than half an hour. This was a period quite sufficient to cause her to suffer 
heavily, under the peculiar circumstances of the case. 

The effect of a cannonade is always to deaden, or even " to kill," as it is technically termed by 
seamen, a light wind. Counteracting forces neutralize each other, and the constant explosions 
from_ guns, repel the currents of the atmosphere. This difficulty came to increase the critical 
nature of the Lawrence's situation, the wind falling to something very near, if not absolutely to a 
flat calm. This fact, which is material to a right understanding of the events of the day, is un- 
answerably shown in the following manner. 

The fact that the gun-boats had been kept astern by the lightness of the wind, is mentioned by 
Perry, himself, in his official account of the battle. He also says, " at half past two, the wind 
springing up, Capt. Elliot was enabled to bring his vessel, the Niagara, gallantly into close ac 
tion," leaving the unavoidable inference that a want of wind prevailed at an earlier period of the 
engagement. Several officers testify that it fell nearly calm, while no one denies it. One officer 
says it became "perfectly calm," and others go near to substantiate this statement. There is a 
physical fact, however, that disposes of this point more satisfactorily than can ever be done by 
the power of memories, or the value of opinions. Both Perry and his sailing master say that the 
Lawrence was perfectly unmanageable for a considerable time. This period, a rigid construction 
of Perry's language would make two hours ; and by the most liberal that can be given to that of 
the master, must have been considerably more than one hour. It is physically impossible that a 
vessel, with her sails loose, should not drift a quarter of a mile, in an houi-, had there been even a 
two-knot breeze. The want of this drift, which would have carried the Lawrence directly down 
into the English line had it existed, effectually shows, then, that there must have been a consid- 
erable period of the action, in which there was little or no wind, and corroborates the direct testi- 
mony that has been given on this point. 

Previously, however, to its falling calm, or nearly so, and about the time the Lawrence backed 
her topsail, a change occurred in the British line. The Queen Charlotte had an armament of 
three long-guns, the heaviest of which is stated by Capt. Barclay to have been a 12 pounder, on 
a pivot, and fourteen 24lb. carronades. The latter guns were shorter than common, and, of 
course, were useless when the ordinary American 321b. guns of this class could not be served. 
For some reason which has not been quite satisfactorily explained, this ship shifted her berth, 
after the engagement had lasted some time, filling her topsail, passing the Hunter, and closing 
with the Detroit, under her lee. Shortly after, however, she regained the line, directly astern of 
the commanding British vessel. The enemy's line being in very compact order, and the distance 
but trifling, the Queen Charlotte was enabled to effect this in a few minutes, there still being a 
little wind. The Detroit probably drew ahead to enable her to regain a proper position. 

This evolution on the part of the Queen Charlotte has been differently accoimted for. At the 
time it was made the Niagara was engaging her sufficiently neai: lo do execution ivith her long 



ERIE COUNTY. 

twelves, and, at the moment, it was the opinion on board that bri^, that she had diiven her oppo- 
nent out of the hne. As the Queen Charlotte opened on the Lawrence with her carronades, as 
soon as she gfot into her new position, a more plausible motive was that she had shifted her berth, 
in order to brin^r her short-guns into efficient use. The letter of Capt. Barclay, however, gives 
a more probable solution to this manceuvre, than either of the foregoing conjectures. He says 
that Capt. Finnis, of the Queen Charlotte, was killed soon after the commencement of the action, 
and that her first lieutenant was shortly after struck senseless by a splinter. These two casual- 
ties threw the command of the vessel on a provincial officer of the name of Irvine. This part of 
Capt. Barclay's letter is not English, and lias doubtless been altered a little in printing. Enougii 
remains, however, to show, tliat he attaches to the loss of the two officers mentioned, serious con- 
sequences ; and in a connection that alludes to this chaiige of position, since he speaks of the 
prospect of its leaving him the Niagara also to engage. From the fact that the Queen Charlotte 
first went under the lee of the Detroit, so close as to induce the Americans to think she was foul 
of the quarter of that ship, a position into which she never would have been carried had the mo- 
tive been merely to get nearer to the Lawrence, or further from the Niagara, we infer that the 
provincial officer, finding jiimsclf unexpectedly in his novel situation, went so near to the Detroit 
to report his casualties and to ask for orders, and that he regained the line in obedience to in- 
structions from Capt. Barclay in person. 

Whatever was the motive for changing the Queen Charlotte's position in the British line, the 
feffect on the Lawrence was the same. Her fire was added to tliat of the Detroit, which ship 
appeared to direct all her guns at the leading American brig, alone. Indeed, there was a period 
in tliis part of the action, during which most, if not all of the guns of the Detroit, the Queen 
Charlotte, and Hunter, were aimed at this one vessel. Perry appears to have been of opinion 
that it was a premeditated plan, on the part of the enemy, to destroy the commanding American 
vessel. It is true, that the Ariel, Scorpion, Caledonia, and Niagara, from a few minutes after 
the commencement of the action, were firing at the English ships, but that the latter disregarded 
them, in the main, would appear from the little loss the three small American vessels sustained, 
in particular. The Caledonia and Niagara, moreover, were still too distant to render their assist- 
ance of much effijct. About this time, however, the gun-boats astern got near enough to use 
their heavy guns, though most of them were yet a long way off. The Somers would seem to 
have engaged a short time before the others. 

At length, Capt. Elliot finding himself kept astern by the bad sailing of the Caledonia, and his 
own brig so near as again to be under the necessity of bracing her topsail aback, to prevent going 
into her, determined to assume the responsibility of changing the line of battle, and to pass the 
Caledonia. He accordingly hailed the latter, and directed that brig to put her helm up and let 
the Niagara pass ahead. As this order was obeyed, the Niagara filled and drew slowly ahead, 
continuing to approach the Lawrence as fast as the air would allow. This change did not take 
place, however, until the Lawrence had suffered so heavily as to render her substantially a beaten 
ship. 

The evidence that has been given on the details is so contradictory and confused, as to render 
it exceedingly difficult to say whether the comparative calm of which we have spoken occurred 
before or after this change in the relative positions of the Lawrence and Caledonia. Some wind 
there must have been, at this time, or the Niagara could not have passed. As the wind had 
been light and baffling most of the day, it is even probable that there may have been intervals in 
It, to reconcile in some measure these apparent contradictions, and which will explain the incon- 
sistencies. After the Niagara had passed her second ahead, to do which she had made sail, she 
continued to approach the Lawrence In a greater or less degree of movement, as there may have 
been more or less wind, until she had got near enough to the heavier vessels of the enemy to open 
on them with her carronades ; always keeping in the Lawrence's wake. The Caledonia, having 
pivot guns, and being now nearly or quite abeam of the Hunter, the vessel she had been directed 
to engage, kept off more, and was slowly drawing nearer to the enemy's line. The gun-vessels 
astern were closing, too, though not In any order, using their sweeps, and throwing the shot of 
their long heavy guns, principally 32 pounders, quite to the head of the British line ; beginning 
to tell effectually in the combat. 

As the wind was so light, and the movements of all the vessels had been so slow, much time 
was consumed in these several changes. The Lawrence had now been under fire more than two 
hours, and, being almost the sole aim of the headmost English ships, she was dismantled. Her 
decks were covered with killed and wounded, and every gun but one in her starboard battery was 
dismounted, either by shot or Its own recoil. At this moment, or at about half past two, agreea- 
bly to Perry's official letter, the wind sprung up and produced a general change among the ves- 
sels. One of Its first effects was to set the Lawrence, perfectly unmanageable as she was, astern 
and to leeward, or to cause her to drop, as it has been described by Capt. Barclay, while the 
enemy appear to have filled, and to commence drawing ahead. The Lady Prevost, which had 
been in the rear of the British line, passed to leeward and ahead, under the published plea of 
having had her rudder injured, but probably suffisring from the heavy metal of the American gun. 
vessels as they came nearer. An intention existed on the part of Capt. Barclay to get his vessels 



ERIE COUNTY. 325 

[The narrative is continued on the next page.] 

[Mr. Cooppr illustrates his narrative with three diagrams, of which we have room for only two. According to his first di- 
agram the two fleets occupied nearly the same relfilive position as in diagram H, except that they were a little more distant. 
Nos. 1 and '2 of the Americans were as in dingrain II ; the others were in a straight line in the regular order of the numbers 
The irregularity of the numbers in diagram II, shows the changes of position in both fleets. Mr. Cooper says, in connec- 
tion with diagram I :J 

The English are heading about S. S. W., a little off, lying-to ; the Americans about S. W., or with the wind abeam : 
the leading American vessels about a mile from the enemy, and the sternmost more than two. The Lawrence having 
made sail, IS leaving the Caledonia. The witnesses who testily against Capt. Elliott, evidently think he ought to have 
passed the Caledonia in this stage of the battle, without orders. 

DIAGRAM NO. II. 

A, F.nglish. 1, Chippewa. 2, Detroit. 3, Hunter. 4, Queen Charlotte. 5, Lady Prevost. fi, Little Belt. 

B, Avicrican. 1, Scorpion. 2, Ariel. 3, Lawrence. 4, Caledonia. 5, Niagara. 6, Seiners. 7, Porcupine. 8, Tigress. 9, 
Trippe. 



W,^ 




-4i -^-^ 


SB 


* 




/ 







In this diagram the Lawrence is lying abreast of the Enghsh ships, hove-to ; No. 5, the Niagara, has passed No. 4, the 
Caledonia, and the vessels astern are endeavoring to get down. The distances are not accurate, on account of the small 
space on which the diagram is drawn, but the intention is to represent the Lawrence at about a quarter of a mile from the 
enemy, and the Niagara nearly as far astern of her. The Niagara, Caledonia, &c., are all placed a little too far to leeward 
in this diagram. The, four sternmost American vessels, at this period of the action, were probably a mile and a half from 
the enemy, but making the shot of their long heavy guns tell. At this period of the action it must have been nearly, or 
quite calm. 

DIAGRAM NO. III. 



6^ . A 



"^^ j ta?" 4 



"^^ !-#& 



\.1e: 




This diagram represents No. 3i the Lawrence, as crippled and dropping out of the combat, the English forging ahead. 
No. 5, the Niagara, has passed ahead, and is abreast of the two English ships, distant from IJlOO to 1,500 feet ; or about aa 
near as the Lawrence ever got. There is no question that this is near the position in which Perry found her, and when he 
backed her topsail, previously to bearing up. No. 4, the Caledonia, has also passed the Lawrence, and is closing. The 
other vessels astern are closing also, but their distance was probably greater than represented in the diagram. The precise 
positions of Nos. 1 and 2, the Scorpion and Ariel, cannot be given at this particular moment; but they were both to wind' 
ward of the Niagara, as is proved on oath, and denied by no one who was in the battle. On the part of the English some 
changes had also taken place. The Prevost had gone to leeward and ahead, while the Charlotte had passed the Hunter 
even in diagram No. 2. The dotted lines from No. 5, Niagara, and No. 4, Caledonia, show the general courses steered by 
each in passing the Lawrence. 

Taking this diagram as the starting point, let the reader imagine the English attempting to ware, and their two ships, 
Nos. 2 and 4, getting foul, while the Niagara, No. 5, (Am.) keeps dead away, passes thein, firing at Nos. I and 5, Chippe- 
wa and Prevost, with her larboard guns, and the two ships with her starboard ; then let him suppose the Niagara hauling 
upon the starboard tack to leeward of the two English ships, raking them, while all the other American vessels close with 
the English, to windward, and he will get an idea of the closing evolutions of the battle. We have traced a dotted line 
ahead of the Niagara to show the course she steered, though, as the English kept off also, the combatants ran a greater 
distance to leeward than is here given. There may not be perfect accuracy in these diagrams, but they must be near the 
truth It is also probable that, during the whole action, the English, while lying-to, kept bo much off as to continue to 
draw ahead, in order tu protract the cnfiaeemeiit at lone shoL 



326 ERIE COUNTY. 

round, in order to brin^ fresh broadsides to bear. The larboard battery of the Detroit by this timS 
Was nearly useless, many of the guns having lost even their trucks, and, as usually happens in a 
long cannonade, the pieces that had been used were getting to be unserviceable, from one cause 
or another. 

At this moment the Niagara passed the Lawrence to windward, and then kept off towards the 
head of the enemy's line, which was slowly drawing more towards the southward and Westward. 
In order to do this, she set topgallant-sails and brought the wind abaft the beam. The Caledonia 
also followed the enemy, passing inside the Lawrence, having got nearer to the enemy, at that 
moment, than any other American vessel. As soon as Perry perceived that his own brig was 
dropping, and that the battle was passing ahead of him, he got into a boat, taking with him a 
young brother, a midshipman of the Lawrence, and pulled after the Niagara, then a short distance 
ahead of him. When he reached the latter brig, he found her from three to five hundred yards to 
windward of the principal force of the enemy, and nearly abreast of the Detroit, that ship, the 
Queen Charlotte, and the Lady Prevost being now quite near each other, and probably two cables' 
length to the southward and Westward ; or that distance nearly ahead of the Lawrence, and about 
as far from the enemy's line as the latter brig had been lying for the last hour. 

Perry now had a few words of explanation with Capt. Elliot, when the latter officer volunteered 
to go in the boat, and bring down the gun-vessels, which were stiU astern, and a good deal scat- 
tered. As this was doing precisely what Perry wished to have done, Capt. Elliot proceeded on 
this duty immediately, leaving his own brig, to which he did not return until after the engage- 
ment had terminated. Perry now backed the main-topsail of the Niagara, being fairly abeam of 
his enemy, and showed the signal for close action. After waiting a few minutes for the different 
vessels to answer and to close, the latter of which they Were now doing fast as the wind con- 
tinued to increase, he bore up, bringing the wind on the starboard quarter of the Niagara, and 
Btood down upon the enemy, passing directly through his fine. Capt. Barclay, with a view of 
getting his fresh broadsides to bear, was in the act of attempting to ware, as the Niagara ap- 
proached, but his vessel being much crippled aloft, and the Queen Charlotte being badly handledj 
the latter ship got foul of the Detroit, on her starboard quarter. At this critical instant, the 
Niagara had passed the commanding British vessel's bow, and coming to the wind on the star- 
board tack, lay raking the two ships of the enemy, at close quarters, and with fatal effect. By 
this time, the gun-vessels under Capt. Elliot had closed to windward of the enemy, the Caledonia 
in company, and the raking cross-fire soon compelled the enemy to haul down their colors. The 
Detroit, Queen Charlotte, Lady Prevost, and Hunter, struck under this fire, being in the melee of 
vessels ; but the Chippewa and Little Belt made sail and endeavored to escape to leeward. They 
were followed by the Scorpion and Trippe, which vessels came up with then; in about an hour, 
and firing a shot or two into them, they both submitted. The Lawrence had struck her flag also, 
soon after Perry quitted her. 

Such, in its outline, appears to have been the picture presented by a battle that has given rise 
to more controversy than all the other naval combats of the republic united. We are quite aware 
that by rejecting all the testimony that has been given on one side of the disputed points, and by 
exaggeratmg and mutilating that which has been given on the other, a different representation 
might be made of some of the incidents ; but, on comparing one portion of the evidence with 
another, selecting in all instances that which in the nature of things should be best, and bringing 
the whole within the laws of physics and probabilities, we believe that no other result, in the 
main, can be reached, than the one which has been given. To return more particularly to our 
subject. 

Perry had manifested the best spirit, and the most indomitable resolution not to be overcome, 
throughout the trying scenes of this eventful day. Just before the action commenced, he coolly 
prepared his public letters, to be thrown overboard in the event of misfortune, glanced his eyes 
over those which he had received from his wife, and then tore them. He appeared fully sensible 
of the magnitude of the stake wliich was at issue, remarking to one of his officers, who possessed 
his confidence, that this day was the most important of his life. In a word, it was not possible 
for a commander to go into action in a better frame of mind, and his conduct in this particular 
might well serve for an example to all who find themselves similarly circumstanced. The pos- 
sibility of defeat appears not to have been lost sight of, but in no degree impaired the determina- 
tion to contend for victory. The situation of the Lawrence was most critical, the slaughter on 
board her being terrible, and yet no man read discouragement in his countenance. The survi- 
vors all unite in saying that he did not manifest even the anxiety he must have felt at the omin- 
ous appearance of things. The Lawrence was effectually a beaten ship an hour before she 
struck ; but Perry felt the vast importance of keeping the colors of the commanding vessel flying 
to the last moment ; and the instant an opportunity presented itself to redeem the seemingly wan- 
ing fortimes of the day, he seized it with promptitude, carrying off the victory not only in triumph, 
but apparently against all the accidents and chances which for a time menaced him with defeat 

His victory at once raised Perry from comparative obscurity to a high degree of renown before 
the nation. With the navy he had always stood well, but neither his rank nor his age had given 
him an opportunity of becoming known to the world. The government granted gold medals t" 



ERIE COUNTY. 827 

• 

Perry and his second in command, and the former was promoted to be a captain, his commission 

being dated on the 10th Sept. 1813. As he returned to the older parts of the country, his journey 
was a species of triumph, in which warm spontaneous feeling, however, rather than studied ex- 
hibition, predominated. 

After several years of useful and honorable service in the navy, Com. 
Perry died at Trinidad, on the 23d Aug. 1819, at the age of 34. Several 
of the victorious vessels, with their prizes, lay sunk for many years in the 
harbor at Erie. The Queen Charlotte, and perhaps others of them, were 
recently raised and put into use on the lake. 

Waterford, a pleasant borough, is situated at Le Boeuf lake, on the 
turnpike between Erie and Pittsburg, 13 miles southeast of Erie. The 
town contains an academy, a flouring-mill, one or more churches, &c. 
Population in 1840, 403. This place was laid out by Andrew Ellicott, in 
1794, and the survey was confirmed by the act of 1795. It had been set- 
tled as early as 1792-93. The state had a garrison here about that time 
for the protection of the surveyors on the donation and state lands. A 
part of the old blockhouse still remains, attached to the large hotel where 
the stages stop. Among the first settlers here were Robert King, Martin 
Strong, Gen. Charles Martin, and others. The place was then known as 
Le Boeuf, the name of Waterford having been given by the law of 1795. 
The early French history of this place is given above, in the history of 
the county. Waterford was a busy point while the transportation of salt 
was carried on across the portage from Presqu'isle, and down the waters 
of Le BcEuf and French crs. to Pittsburg. This trade ceased with the 
opening of the salt-wells on the Kiskiminetas, about the year 1820. 

Northeast is situated near the lake, on the Buffalo road, 16 miles north- 
east from Erie. It is a very neat and pleasant borough, containing, by 
the census of 1840,339 inhabitants. Sixteen-mile cr. enters the lake near 
this place, and affords water-power for several manufacturing establish- 
ments. This place was formerly called Burgettstown. 

A curious case of partial insanity, resulting, we understand, from belief in Rev. Mr. Miller's 
theory respecting the end of the world, has lately occurred at Northeast, Pa., the statements rela- 
tive to which are furnished by a friend. The subject is a young man named Putnam, who im- 
bibed the notion that he should die on the last day of the year just expired. For some length 
of time he had been laboring under this delusion, which he strenuously declared was made known 
to him by revelation. So infatuated was he with the idea, that he gave up his business, employed 
las time in drawing devices on the tomb-stones in the grave-yard, and occupied nine days in 
hewing out a sepulchre in which to die — a grave six feet deep in a rock I Accordingly, having 
made all the preparations, he proceeded to his tomb, which was situated in a secluded spot, ac- 
companied by some two hundred persons, present by invite, and unflinchingly laid himself down 
in his grave to die. He remained there for the space of an hour and a half, the assembled multi- 
tude, no doubt, waiting with anxious suspense to see him givs up the ghost ; but, to use a vulgar 
phrase, " he couldn't come it." The miserable man crept out of his hole and departed thence, 
strongly impressed that he should not die that day. — Fredonia Censor. 

Wattsburg is at the forks of French cr., 18 miles southeast from Erie. 
There is a fine water-power here. Population in 1840, 131. A rail- 
road was once projected from Erie, through this place, to Jamestown, 
and thence to connect with the New York and Erie road. 

Girard is a flourishing village, on the road to Cleveland, 16 miles west 
of Erie. The canal is located through this place ; and it enjoys also the 
advantage of the water-power of Elk cr. 

Fairview is about 9 miles west of Erie, near the confluence of Walnut 
cr. with the lake. It contains several grist, paper, and fulling mills. 



328 FAYETTE COUNTY. 



FAYETTE COUNTY. 

Fayette county was taken from Westmoreland by the act of 26th 
Sept. 1783. Length 30 miles, breadth 27 ; area, 824 sq. miles. The 
population, according to an estimate of Mr. Beeson, consisted in 1770 of 
not more than 50 or 100 whites ; in 1780 there were 3,959 taxables ; in 
1790, by census, 13,043 free persons, and 282 slaves ; in 1800,20,067 free 
persons, and 92 slaves ; in 1810, 24,714 ; in 1820, 27,285 ; in 1830, 29,172 : 
and in 1840, 33,574. 

The physical features of this county are strongly marked. The east- 
ern portion consists of an elevated and rather rugged belt, (perhaps it 
might be called a valley,) bounded on the east and west by two lofty and 
well-defined mountain ranges. A strange confusion has been allowed to 
prevail in the names of these mountains. The eastern range, south of 
the Youghiogheny,* is called Sugar Loaf mountain on the state map, 
deriving its name from a bold knob surmounting the range near the 
Yough'ogheny. North of that river the range is continued unbroken as 
far as the Conemaugh river, in Cambria co., under the name of Laurel 
hill, — while the other range, directly west of it, is called Chestnut hill ; 
but on tracing this latter ridge southward across the Yough'ogheny, it 
also receives the name of Laurel hill. This confusion in bestowing the 
same name upon two distinct ridges, probably originated at the time the 
two military roads were cut out by the army, — Braddock's road, now the 
national road, and Forbes' road, now the Bedford and Pittsburg turnpike. 
The summits of these mountains are about 2,500 ft. above the level of 
the sea, and about 1,000 ft. above the intervening valley. Between these 
two mountains are several smaller detached ridges. The western section 
of the CO. presents an undulating surface, in some parts rather hilly, well 
watered, abounding in coal and limestone, and well adapted for all agri- 
cultural purposes. Many of the valleys are exceedingly fertile. In the 
mountainous districts iron ore is abundant, and there are several furnaces 
and forges in operation. There is a mineral spring on lands of Andrew 
Stuart, Esq., eight miles east of Uniontown, near the national road, pos- 
sessing qualities highly medicinal. Its location is in a deep glen, amid 
grand and picturesque scenery. Salt springs are found by boring, in the 
southwestern part of the county, on some of which salt works are 
erected. 

The Monongahela river flows in a very circuitous course along the 
whole western boundary of the co. The Yough'ogheny, breaking through 
both the great mountain ranges, and tumbling over several rocky ledges, 
crosses the co. in a northwestern direction, uniting with the Monongahela 
in Allegheny co. The other more important streams are Indian cr. and 
Jacobs cr., tributaries of the Yough'ogheny, and Redstone cr. and Dun- 
lap's cr., tributaries of the Monongahela, with a number of smaller 
streams. The Ohio-pile falls, on the Yough'ogheny, between the moun- 
tains, form a wild and picturesque scene. The water here descends 
some 60 feet in the course of a mile. If either of the great public im- 

* Pronounced Yoh'-o-gany. 



FAYETTE COUNTY, 329 

provements which are contemplated on this route (the Bait. & Ohio rail- 
road and the Chesapeake and Ohio canal) should be completed, this point 
may be the site of a large manufacturing town. It is at present nearly 
in a state of nature. Hon. Mr. Stewart, the proprietor, has made the 
commencement of an improvement by erecting a house and saw-mill ; 
but the rugged nature of the surrounding country, and the want of access 
by good roads, will not justify a large expenditure at present. 

Tlie great national road crosses the mountains, and passes through 
Uniontown and Brownsville, affording convenient means of transporta- 
tion to market ; or rather, by its great amount of travel and emigration, 
bringing the market to the products of the county. Agriculture is the 
chief business of the citizens. Much attention has recently been given 
to the production of wool. Manufactures are prosecuted to a considera- 
ble extent — especially those of iron, cotton, woollen, salt, and glass, and 
the building of boats on the Monongahela. 

Delany's cave, in Laurel hill, is situated some nine miles southeast of 
Uniontovi^n. It is described, by those who have explored it, as composed 
of a series of chambers and narrow passages, with occasional perpendicu- 
lar precipices, and streams of water through some of the rooms. Beau- 
tiful specimens of white spar are found on the rocky floors, formed by the 
constant dripping of water from above. The rocks are blue sandstone 
and limestone. A visiter says — 

" Persons visiting tliis wonderful curiosity cannot be too careful of their lights, as it would cer- 
tainly prove an utter impossibility to get out without the assistance of a light. We were informed 
in the neighborhood, by an eye-witness to the fact, that two young men, Grain and Merrifield, 
had gone in to a considerable depth, and returning, lost their course, and wandered about till their 
candles were all burnt out. When they were found, two days after, they were resigned to their 
fate, and one of them not able to speak. We saw the name of " Grain" written on the rocks in a 
very remote part of the cave, dated 1802. 

The first attempts at a settlement of white men in the region now oc- 
cupied by Fayette, Washington, Greene, and Allegheny counties, were 
made by the Ohio Company, This company was formed in Virginia and 
London, in the year 1748, by Thomas Lee, Lawrence and Augustine 
Washington — brothers of Gen. Washington — Mr. Hanbury, a London 
merchant, and nine others, for the purpose of settling lands and carrying 
on the Indian trade on a large scale. The king granted to the company 
500,000 acres of land on very easy terms, which were — that 200,000 acres 
should be immediately selected, and to be held for ten years free from any 
quit-rent or tax to the king, on condition that 100 families be seated upon 
them within seven years, at the company's expense ; and a fort to be built, 
and a garrison maintained sufficient to protect the settlement. The lands 
were to be chiefly taken on the south side of the Ohio, between the Mo- 
nongahela and Kenawha rivers ; on the north side, if deemed expedient 
by the company. Their first operations were to import a great quantity 
of goods for the Indian trade, to explore the country, and to conciliate and 
inake treaties with the Indians. 

Mr. Christopher Gist (who has been termed the Daniel Boone of Fayette 
CO.) was sent out in 1750 to explore the country and make a report. He 
spent the whole summer and winter in visiting both sides of the Ohio for 
several hundred miles. " He set out from the south branch of the Poto- 
mac, proceeded northward to the heads of Juniata river, crossed the moun- 
tains, and reached the Allegheny, then called Ohio, by the valley of the 

42 



330 FAYETTE COUNTY. 

Kiskeminetas. He crossed the Allegheny about four miles above the 
Forks where Pittsburg now stands, and must have passed through the high 
gorge now occupied by Alleghenytown, the hill where the seminary 
stands, concealing, as it does yet, from the valley, the mouth of the Mo- 
nongahela, of which Mr. Gist makes no mention. Had he known the ex- 
istence and general range of the Monongahela valley, it is extremely im- 
probable that he would not have followed that route. The further route of 
Mr. Gist was down the Ohio to some point below Beaver river, and thence 
over to the Muskingum valley, westward to the Great Miami, called by 
him Miniami. On his return he crossed the Ohio at the mouth of the 
Scioto, and thence over what he names the Cuttawa country, now Ken- 
tucky, and by Western Virginia and North Carolina, to the Potomac." 
His journal is still preserved, and is said to be in possession of Hon. 
Charles Fenton Mercer, of Virginia. 

In July, 1752, Mr. Gist on the part of the company, and Col. Fry, with 
two others, on the part of Virginia, concluded a treaty with the Indians 
at Logstown, (14 miles below the Forks of the Ohio,) by which the In- 
dians agreed not to molest the settlements of the company southeast of 
the Ohio ; but they refused to recognise any English title to these lands ; 
and denied that a previous treaty made at Lancaster, (in 1744,) had been 
made M^ith their consent, or that it conveyed any lands beyond the Alle- 
gheny mountains. An attempt was made to settle the lands with Ger- 
man emigrants ; but the intolerant system of English episcopacy, which 
then prevailed in Virginia, and which extorted church-rates from dissent- 
ers, was repulsive to the German sects, and they preferred the toleration 
guarantied in the province of Wm. Penn. It should be observed in this 
connection, that the whole valley of the Monongahela, including the 
country around the Forks of the Ohio, was for many years supposed to 
be in Virginia, and a great part of the land titles in this region originated 
in patents from the governors of that state. 

It was the intention of the company to lay off a town and fort at the 
mouth of the Chartiers cr., a few miles below Pittsburg, and Mr. Gist 
was appointed surveyor for that purpose ; but the project was never ex- 
ecuted.i Soon after the treaty at Logstown in 1752, Mr. Gist made 
a settlement and built a cabin on the tract of land since called Mount 
Braddock, and induced eleven families to settle around him on lands pre- 
sumed to be within the company's grant. His dwelling stood a few paces 
from the elegant mansion of the late Col. Meason, distinguished as an 
enterprising proprietor of iron works at an early day in Fayette co. 

From the scanty records of those times, it would seem that Mr. Gist 
was a man of great integrity, intelligence, and fortitude, and was emi- 
nently useful to Washington in his subsequent movements in this region. 
The Ohio Company appears to have erected a storehouse at the mouth 
of Redstone cr., and to have made a small establishment at the Forks of 
the Ohio, but the disturbed state of the frontier prevented them from 
bringing any large amount of goods beyond the Allegheny mountains. 
The French war interrupted their operations entirely ; and the company 
was afterwards, in 1770-72. merged in a more extensive one, in which 
Thomas Walpole, Dr. Franklin, Gov. Pownal, and others, were concerned. 
The revolution breaking out about that time, put an end to both compa- 
nies, and the title to their lands was never perfected. 



FAYETTE COUNTY. 331 

In Octooer, 1753, Major George Washington, then 21 years of age, 
called at Mr. Gist's plantation, while on his way as a messenger to the 
commandant of the French forces at Le Bceuf, to inquire into the designs 
of the French. He received a very misatisfactory answer, and prepara- 
tions were made, in the ensuing year, by Gov. Dinwiddle of Virginia, to 
repel their encroachments. A regiment was raised under the command 
of Col. Joshua Fry, for the purpose of erecting a fort at the Forks of the 
Ohio. Washington was appointed second in command, with the rank of 
lieutenant-colonel. A small party of Capt. Trent's company was hastily 
sent forward to commence the fort, but were interrupted by the arrival 
of Cai»t. ContrecQsur with a thousand French and Indians, who drove 
away the English and erected Fort Duquesne. (See Allegheny, Erie, 
and Venango counties.) This M^as the first act of open hostility. The 
news reached Col. Washington while he was posted at Will's creek (now 
Cumberland) with three companies, waiting the arrival of Col. Fry with 
the remainder of the regiment and the artillery. He wrote immediately 
for reinforcements, and pushed forward with his companies towards the 
Monongahela, as fast as the process of cutting a new road through the 
wilderness would permit. His intention was to reach the mouth of Red- 
stone, there to wait for the arrival of the artillery and reinforcements un- 
der Col. Fry, and then drop down the Monongahela by water to the 
Forks. He had designed to descend the Yough'ogheny, but after an ex- 
amination of the falls, abandoned the design. 

Learning that the French were coming out to meet him, Washington hurried forward to the 
Great Meadows, and threw up a hasty intrenchment. This place is 10 miles east from Union- 
town, a few rods south of the present national road, between the 52d and 53d miles from Cumber, 
land. Commanded as it is by elevated ground on both sides within one hundred yards of the 
fort, it would seem to be injudiciously chosen for defence ; but Washington knew the French and 
Indians could bring no artillery, and the meadows being entirely free from timber, the enemy 
would be compelled to emerge upon the open plain, beyond the protection of the woods, before he 
could efficiently attack the fort. Washington learned from Tanacharison, the half-king, a chief 
of the Six Nations, and from Mr. Gist, that La Force was out, from Fort Duquesne, with a party 
of French and Indians, and their tracks had been seen within five miles of the Great Meadows. 
He immediately dispatched a party of 75 on horseback, to reconnoitre their position, but they 
were not to be found. Washington writes on 29th May, 1754 — 

" About 9 o'clock the same night, I received an express from the half-king, who was en- 
camped with several of his people about six miles off, that he had seen the tracks of two French, 
men crossing the road, and that, behind, the whole body were lying not far off, as he had an 
accoimt of that number passing Mr. Gist's. I set out with forty men before ten. and it was 
from that time till near sunrise before we reached the Indians' camp, having marched in small 

fiaths through a heavy rain, and a night as dark as it is possible to conceive. We were frequent- 
y tumbling one over another, and often so lost that fifteen or twenty minutes' search would not 
find the path again." 

",When we came to the half-king, I counselled with him, and got his assent to go hand in 
hand and strike the French. Accordingly he, Monocawacha, and a few other Indians, set out 
with us, and when we came to the place where the tracks were, the half-king sent two Indians 
to follow their tracks, and discover their lodgment, which they did at half a mile from the road, 
in a very obscure place surrounded with rocks. I thereupon, in conjunction with the half-king 
and Monocawacha, formed a disposition to attack them on all sides, — which we accordingly 
did, and, after an engagement of about fifteen minutes, we killed ten, wounded one, and took 
Iwenty-one prisoners. The principal officers taken are M. Drouillon and M. La Force, of whom 
your honor has often heard me speak as a bold, enterprising man, and a person of great subtlety 
and cunning. With these are two cadets." 

" In this engagement we had only one man killed, and two or three wounded, (among whom 
was Lieut. Waggener, slightly,) — a most miraculous escape, as our right wing was much exposed 
to their fire, and received it all." 

In his journal he had also noted — 

" As I marched on with the prisoners, (after the action,) they informed me that they had b«en 



332 FAYETTE COUNTY. 

sent with a summons for me to depart — a specious pretext, that they might discover on Camp; 
and reconnoitre our force and situation. This was so evident, that I was astonished at their as- 
surance in telling me that they came as an embassy. By their instructions, they were to obtain 
a knowledge of the roads, rivers, and country, as far as the Potomac. Instead of coming as 
ambassadors — public, and in an open manner — they came secretly, and sought out the most hid- 
den retreats, much better suited for deserters than ambassadors. Here they encamped ; here 
they remained concealed for whole days together, within five miles of us. They sctit ont spies to 
reconnoitre our camp. The whole body then moved back two miles. Thence they sent messen- 
gers, as directed in the instructions, to acquaint M. Contrecueur with the place we vrere in, and 
with our disposition, that he might forward his detachments to enforce the summons as soon as 
it should be given. An ambassador lias no need of spies ; his character is always sicrcd. Since 
they had so good an intention, why should they remain two days wlihin five miles of us, without 
giving me notice of the summons, or of any tiling which related to their embassy ? This alone 
would be suflicJent to raise the strongest suspicions ; and the justice is certainly due tl^m, that, 
as they wished to conceal themselves, they could not have chosen better places than they did." 

" They pretend that they called to us, as soon as we were discovered ; which is absolutely 
false, — for I was at the head of the party in approaching them, and I can aflirm, that as soon as 
they saw us they ran to their arms, without calling, which I should have heard if they had done 
so." 

And in a subsequent letter to Gov. Dinwiddie, Washington says, speaking of some deserters 
from the French, " These deserters corroborate what the others said and we suspected. La 
Force's party were sent oat as spies, and were to show that summons if discovered or overpow- 
ered by a superior party of ours. They say the commander was blamed for sending so small a 
party."* 

* No transaction in the life of Washington has been so much misrepresented, or so little un- 
derstood, as this skirmish with Jumonville. It being the first conflict of arms in the war, a no- 
toriety was given to it, particularly in Europe, altogether disproportioned to its importance. War 
had not yet been declared between Great Britain and France, and indeed the diplomatists on both 
sides were making great professions of friendship. It was the pahey of each nation to exagger- 
ate the proceedings of the other on their colonial frontiers, and to make them a handle for re- 
crimination and complaints, by throwing upon the adverse party the blame of committing the first 
acts of aggression. Hence, when the intelligence of the skirmish with Jumonville got to Paris, 
it was officially published by the government, in connection with a memoir and various papers, 
and his death was called a murder. It was said that, while bearing a summons as a civil mes- 
senger, without any hostile intentions, he was waylaid and assassinated. The report was indus- 
triously circulated, and gained credence with the multitude. Mr. Thomas, a poet, and scholar 
of repute, seized the occasion to write an epic, entitled " Juvionville,'" in which he tasked his 
invention to draw a tragical picture of the fate of his hero. The fabric of the story, and the in- 
cidents, were alike fictitious. But the tale passed from fiction to history, and to this day it is 
repeated by the French historians, who in other respects render justice to the character of Wash- 
ington, and who can find no other apology for this act than his youth and inexperience and the 
ferocity of his men. 

" The mistakes of the French writers were not unknown to Washington ; but, conscious of 
having acted in strict conformity with his orders and military usage, he took no pains to correct 
them, except in a single letter to a friend, written several years afterwards, which related mostly 
to the errors in the French account of the subsequent action of the Great Meadows. Unfortu- 
nately, all his correspondence, and the other papers which he wrote during this campaign, were 
lost the next year at the battle of the Monongahela, and lie was thus deprived of the only au- 
thentic materials that could be used for explanation and defence. The most important of these 
papers have recently been found, [by Mr. Sparks, in his rescarclies in England,] and they afford 
not only a complete vindication of Col. Washington in this afTair, but show that it met with the 
unqualified approbation of the governor and legislature of Virginia, and of the British ministry." 
— Sparks' Life and Writin<rs of Washington — where the incidents of this campaign are ably 
and fully delineated, and the conduct of Washington, both in this affair and the capitulation at 
the Great Meadows, are clearly explained and triumphantly vindicated against the charges of the 
French. 

There is in the possession of Mr. Vcech, of Uniontown, a copy of the English translation of a 
work published by the French in 1756, entitled " Memoire Conteuant le Precis des Fails, avec 
leur Pieces Justificatives, pour servir de Reponse aux Observations envoyees, par les Ministres 
d'Angleterre dans les Coiirs de P Europe. A Paris, de VImprimerie Roy ale, 1756 ;" or, A 
Memoir, containing a Statement of Facts, with corroborative documents, intended as an answer 
to the Observations circulated by the British Ministry among the Courts of Europe. This work 
contains the French dispatches from Fort Duquesne, the capitulation at the Great Meadows 
and Washington's journal, or rough notes of this campaign ; but it is said the journal had been dis- 
torted and mutilated, to suit the views of the French ministry. (See Marshall's Washington.) 



FAYETTE COUNTY. 333 

Washington having sent his prisoners to the governor, prepared his intren; Jiments, by erecting 
a stockade, for receiving a more formidable attack from the French, which he had good reason 
to expect, after they should have heard of the loss of Jumonville's party. To this stockade he 
gave the name of Fort Necessity. Col. Fry had died in Virginia, and the chief command de- 
volved on Col. Washington. Capt. Mackay, of the royal army, with an independent company of 
100 men, arrived at the Great Meadows. Washington, leaving him in command of the fort, 
pushed on over Laurcll hill, cutting the road with extreme labor through the wilderness, as far as 
Gist's plantation. Tliis tedious march occupied them two weeks. During the march they were 
joined by the Half-king, and a nmnerous body of Indians, with their families, who had espoused 
the English cause. 

A strong detachment was at length announced as being on their march from Fort Duquesne, 
under the command of Mons. de Viiliers. It was at first determined to receive them at Gist's ; 
but on further information of the enemy's force, supposed to be nine hundred men, it was deter- 
mined to retreat to Fort Necessity, and if possible, to Wills creek. Their provisions were short, 
their horses worn down, and it was with excessive labor and fatigue that tliey readied the fort, 
after a forced march of two days. Here only a small quantity of flour was found ; but sujjplies 
were hourly expected, and it was therefore determined to fortify the place as well as circumstan- 
ces would permit, and abide the event. 

On the 3d July the enemy appeared, and commenced firing from the woods, but without effect, 
Washington had drawn up his men outside of the fort with the view of inviting an encounter ir» 
the open field. This the French and Indians declined, hoping to draw him into the woods. It 
rained constantly during the day, and the muskets became wet, and were used with difficulty. 
Washington's troops withdrew within the trenches and fired as opportunities occurred. In the 
evening the French proposed a parley, wliich Washington at first declined, suspecting a design 
to gain an entrance to the fort, and discover his weakness ; but he afterwards consented to send 
an officer to them. Capt. Van Braam, a Dutchman, who pretended to understand French, was 
scut to them, and returned with proposals, in the French language, for capitulation. These pro- 
posals, after being modified in some particulars by the besieged party, were agreed to. The gar- 
rison was to be permitted to leave the fort with the honors of war, taking their baggage, except 
their artillery, with them. They were not to be molested by the French, nor, as far as it could 
be prevented, by the Indians. Since their cattle and horses had been killed in the action, they 
were to be permitted to conceal such of their effects as could not be carried away, and to leave a 
guard with them until they could return with horses to take them away ; but on condition that 
they should not within one year attempt any establishment there, or on that side the mountains. 
The prisoners taken at the time of JumonviUe^s death* were to be retiu-ned, and Captains Van 
Braam and Stobo were to be retained by the French as hostages, until the return of the pris- 
oners. On the following morning Washington, with the garrison, left the fort, taking such 
3 as they could carry, and transporting the wounded upon their backs. The Indians, 



they could carry, and transporting the wounded upon 
contrary to the stipulation, annoyed them exceedingly, and pilfered their baggage. After a toil, 
some march they at length arrived at Wilis creek, where they found rest and refreshment. 

The year 1755 was rendered memorable by the unfortunate expeditioTi 
and defeat of Gen. Braddock. The particulars may be found under the 
head of Allegheny co. Gen. Braddock was a brave man, and had en- 
joyed much experience in military life : but he was naturally haughty, 
imperious, and self-complacent, disdaining to receive counsel from his 
subordinates, and, what was less excusable in a general, despising his 
enemy. These peculiarities of his personal character were undoubtedly 
the cause of losing his army, and his own life. While on his m^rcli, Col. Cro- 
ghan,from Penns3'lvania, a distinguished frontier-man, with a hundred In- 
dians, offered his services to aid the expedition by scouring the forest in 
advance of the army, and bringing intelligence of the enemy's move- 
ments. Washington, with his peculiar modesty and courtesy, advised him 
to accept their aid ; his advice was apparently listened to ; but the In- 
dians were treated so coolly that they withdrew in disgust. Braddock 
not only despised Indians, but all Indian modes of fighting ; denouncing 
the habit of the provincial troops of fighting Indians from behind trees, 
and insisting upon their coming out upon the open field, " like English 

* In the French proposals this expression was insidiously written, " a Vassassinat de M. Ju. 
jnonville ;" and as Van Braam, the stupid interpreter, did not explam the force oi the expreS' 
eion to Washington, tlie capitulation was signed in that shape. 



334 



FAYETTE COUNTY. 



men," The provincial troops were no dastards ; and could they, with 
their favorite champion, have had their own way, the fortunes of that fatal 
day would have been changed. 

After Braddock fell, the retreating soldiers carried their wounded gen- 
eral for four days, until they reached seven miles beyond Dunbar's camp, 
where he expired. He was buried in the centre of the road which his 
advancing army had cut ; and to prevent the discovery of the grave, and 
to save the body from savage dishonor, soldiers, horses, and wagons were 
passed over it. Some of the soldiers so marked the trees near the spot, 
that those who visited the west many years after could point it out with 
certaint}^ Col. Burd, who continued the road to Redstone in 1759, men- 
tions it in his journal. It is near a small run, a few rods north of the 
national road, between the 53d and 54th mile from Cumberland, and a lit- 
tle west of the Braddock's run tavern, kept by Mr. R. Shaw. The pres- 
ent national road deviates from Braddock's road near Mr. Shaw's, and 
crosses Laurel hill by a more southerly route. Before this w^as located, 
the old road was the great thoroughfare between the Monongahela set- 
tlements and Baltimore. Some twenty years since, while a party of la- 
borers were repairing the old road, and digging away the slope of the 
hill, they disinterred some bones, with sundry military trappings, which 
were at once known by the old settlers to be those of Braddock. One 
and another took several of the most prominent bones, and the other:^ 
were reinterred under the tree on the hill, near the national road. Mr. 
Stewart, of Uniontown, (father of the Hon. Andrew Stewart.) afterwards 
collected the scattered bones from the individuals who had taken them, 
and sent them, it is believed, to Peale's museum in Philadelphia. A 
plain shingle, marked " Braddock's Grave," nailed to the tree where a 
part of the bones are reinterred, is the only monument to point out to the 
traveller the resting-place of the proud and brave but unfortunate hero 
of the old French war. 




Braddock's Grave. 

In the annexed view the position of the two men marks the spot where 
the bones were disinterred : the old road is beyond the men ; and the sin- 
gle tree on the hill to the right, marks the spot where the bones were^e- 



FAYETTE COUNTY. 335 

interred. A passing coach shows the present national road. The specta- 
tor is supposed to be looking towards the southeast. 

There had long existed a tradition in this region that Braddock was 
killed by one of his own men, and more recent developments leave little 
or no doubt of the fact. A recent writer in the National Intelligencer, 
whose authority is good on such points, says : 

W^hen my father was removing with his family to the west, one of the Fausetts kept a public 
house to the eastward from, and near where Uniontown now stands, as the county seat of Fayette, 
Penn. This man's house we lodged in about the tenth of October, 1781, twenty. six years and a 
few months after Braddock's defeat, and there it was made any thing but a secret that one of the 
family dealt the deatli-blow to tiie British general. 

Thirteen years afterwards I met Thomas Fausett in Fayette co., then, as he told me, in his 
70th year. To him I put the plain question, and received the plain reply, " / did shoot him .'" 
He then went on to insist, that, by doing so, he contributed to save wiiat was left of the army. 
In brief, in my youth I never heard the fact either doubted or blamed, that Fausett shot Braddock. 

Hon. Andrew Stewart of Uniontown, says he knew, and often con- 
versed with Tom Fausett, who did not hesitate to avow in the presence 
of his friends that he shot Gen. Braddock. Fausett was a man of gigan- 
tic frame, of uncivilized half-savage propensities, and spent most of his 
life among the mountains as a hermit, living on the game which he killed. 
He ^vould occasionally come into town and get drunk. Sometimes he 
would repel inquiries into the affair of Braddock's death by putting his 
fingers to his lips, and uttering a sort of buzzing sound ; at others he would 
burst into tears, and appear greatly agitated by conflicting passions. 

In spite of Braddock's silly order that the troops should not protect 
themselves behind the trees, Joseph Fausett had taken such position, 
when Braddock rode up in a passion, and struck him down with his 
sword. Tom Fausett, who was but a short distance from his brother, 
saw the whole transaction, and immediately drew up his rifle and shot 
Braddock through the lungs, partly in revenge for the outrage upon his 
brother, and partly, as he always alleged, to get the general out of the 
way, and thus save the remainder of the gallant band who had been 
sacrificed to his obstinacy and want of experience in frontier warfare. 

Dunbar's camp, and the scene of Jumonville's defeat, are near the Lau- 
rel hill, between the present national road and the gorge of the Yough- 
'ogheny, about five miles east of Uniontown. 

After the disastrous termination of Gen. Braddock's expedition, Fay- 
ette CO. remained a desolate wilderness unoccupied by civilized men un- 
til 1759, when Col. J. Burd was sent by Col. Bouquet, then commanding 
at Carlisle, to continue the cutting of Braddock's road where incomplete, 
as far as the mouth of Redstone cr., the present site of Brownsville. The 
following are extracts from Col. Burd's journ«.l, on file among the archives 
at Harrisburg. 

" Ordered, in Aug. 1759, to march with 200 men of my battalion to the mouth of Redstone or., 
where it empties itself into the river Monongahela, to cut a road somewhere from Gen. Braddock's 
road to that place as I shall judge best, and on my arrival there to erect a fort in order to open a 
communication by the river Monongahela to Pittsburg, for the more easy transportation of provi- 
sions, &c., from the provinces of Virginia and Maryland. Sent forward the detachment under 
the command of Lieut. Col. Shippen, leaving one officer and thirty men to bring our five wag- 
ons." 

* * * " When I have cut the road and finished the fort, I am to leave one officer 
and twenty-five men as a garrison, and march with the remainder of my battalion to Pittsburg." 

[He was ordered to pass by Fort Cumberland, and after inspecting the stores there, to continue 
on his route, which seems to have been along the road previously opened by Gen. Braddock, and 
which is now nearly the route of the well-known Cumberland road.j 



330 FAYETTE COUNTY. 

[In those good old times a chajjlain accompanied even so small a detachment, and the preaching 
of a sermon is regularly recorded in the journal every sabbath, unless very stormy weather pre- 
vented. Although the conflicts of the elements sometimes interrupted their devotions, yet it 
seems no turbulence of the human passions and desires was allowed to prevent them, for we find 
it recorded in the journal on one sabbath, " The troops liked to mutiny this morning for want of 
provisions, — had sermon at 3 P. M. ;" and at one time, when it rained, the sermon was postponed 
" until to-morrow." Dr. Allison appears to have been the chaplain. The greater part of the 
journal is occupied with details of the daily occurrences, such as the arrival of pack-horses, load- 
ed with flour, — the purchase of bullocks, sheep, &c., — breaking of wagons, — arrival and dispatch 
of messengers, — short allowances of provisions, — desertion of men, — the nature of the route and 
aspect of the rugged mountain passes. When they arrived at the Redstone, such was the wil- 
derness nature of the country, and so little did any of the party know of the route, that it re- 
quired a reconnaissance of a day or two before they were satisfied that it was the stream they 
sought. After a laborious research, and several scouting excursions by Col. Burd, Col. Shippen, 
Lieut. Graydon, and the hunters, they found some old blazes about 1(5 miles from the mouth of 
Redstone, which they supposed to have been made by Col. Washington, and which they assumed 
as a guide for their new road. A few extracts will show the character of their route.] 

" 10 Sept. Saw Col. Washington's fort, which was called Fort Necessity. It is a small circu- 
lar stockade, with a small house in the centre ; on the outside there is a small ditch goes round it 
about 8 yards from the stockade. It is situate in a narrow part of the meadows commanded by 
three points of woods. There is a small run of water just by it. We saw two iron swivels." 

"11 Sept. Marched this morning ; 2 miles from hence we found Gen. Braddock's grave, about 
20 yards from a little hollow in which there was a small stream of water, and over it a bridge. 
We soon got to Laurel hill ; it had an easy ascent on this side, but on the othe^ide very steep. 
At the foot of the hill we found the path that went to Dunlop's place, that Col. Shippen and Capt. 
Gordon travelled last winter, and about a quarter of a mile from this we saw the big rock so 
called. From hence we marched to Dunbar's camp, — miles, which is situated in a very stony 
hollow, surrounded by hills, and commanded on all sides ; the worst chosen piece of ground for 
an encampment I ever saw. Here we saw vast quantities of cannon-ball, musket bullets, broken 
shells, and an immense destruction of powder, wagons, &,c. Reconnoitred all the camp, and at- 
tempted to find the cannon and mortars, but could not discover them, although we dug a great 
many holes, where stores had been buried, and concluded the French had carried them off. We 
continued our march and got to Guest's place ; here we found a fine country. 

" 13 Sept. Determined, if the hunters should not return before noon, to begin to open the road 
along some old blazes, which we take to be Col. Washington's. At noon began to cut the road 
to Redstone ; began a quarter of a mile from camp, the course N. N. W. The course of Gen. Brad 
dock's road N. N. E., and turns much to ye eastward. Opened this afternoon about half a mile 
Marked two trees at the place of beginning thus : 

The road to Redstone. Col. J. Burd, 1759. 
The road to Pittsburg. 1759. 

[In a few miles they crossed Redstone, and cut the road along a ridge in a W. N. W. course 
He seems to have been accompanied here by Col. Cresap, probably of Cumberland.] 

" 22. Saturday. This morning I went to the river Monongahela, reconnoitred Redstone, &c., 
and concluded upon the place for the post, being a hill in the fork of the river Monongahela and 
Nemocalling's cr., the best situation I could find, and returned in the evening to camp. The 
camp moved two miles to Coal run. This run is entirely paved in the bottom with fine stone 
coal, and the hill on tjae south side of it is a rock of the finest coal I ever saw. I burned about a 
bushel of it on my fire. 

" 23. Sunday. Continued working on the road. Had sermon to-day at 10 A. M : at noon 
moved the camp 2 1-2 miles to the river Monongahela. No batteaux arrived." 

[" His Excellency Gen. Stanwix" appears to have commanded at Pittsburg at this time. Soon 
after this they suffered much for want of provisions, and were once threatened with a mutiny. 
The road when measured was 16 1-4 miles and 16 perches " from the place of beginning to the 
centre of this fort."] 

" 28 Oct. Sunday. Continue on the works ; had sermon in the fort." 

The last entry in the book is — " 4 Nov. Sunday. Snowed to-day — no work. Sermon in the 
fort. Doctor AUison sets out for Philadelphia." 

Further notice is taken of this fort in connection with the history of 
Brownsville. 

The opening of Col, Burd's road afforded facilities of communication 
for pioneers, and previous to the revolution a considerable number were 
established throughout the county- Col. Crawford, Col. Paul, and Col. Cre- 
sap were among the more distinguished. The following extract from Rev. 



FA\ETTE COUNTY. 337 

Joseph Doddridge's notes may serve to give an idea of the usages of those 
primitive days. 

The settlements on this side of the mountains commenced along the Monongahela, and be- 
tween that river and the Laurel ridge, in the year 1772. In the succeeding year they reached 
the Ohio river. The greater number of the first settlers came from the upper parts of the then colo- 
nies of Maryland and Virgiuia. Braddock's trail, as it was called, was the route by which the 
greater number of them crossed the mountains. A less number of them came by the way of \/ 
Bedford and Fort Ligonier, the military road from Pennsylvania to Pittsburg. They effected 
their removals on horses furnished with pack-saddles. This was the more easily done, as but 
few of these early adventurers into the wilderness were encumbered with much baggage. 

Land was the object which invited tlie greater number of these people to cross the mountain, 
for as the saying then was, " It was to be had here for taking up ;" that is, building a cabin and 
raisino- a crop of grain, however small, of any kind, entitled the occupant to four hundred acres 
of land, and a pre-emption right to one thousand acres more adjoining, to be secm-ed by a land- 
otfice warrant. This right was to take effect if there happened to be so much vacant land, or any 
part thereof, adjoining the tract secured by the settlement right. 

At an early period the government of Virginia appointed three commissioners to give certifi- 
cates of settlement rights. These certificates, together with the surveyor's plat, were sent to the 
land-office of the state, where they laid six months, to await any caveat which might be offered. 
If none was offered, the patent then issued. 

There was, at an early period of our settlements, an inferior kind of land title denominated a 
" tomahawk right," which was made by deadening a few trees near the head of a spring, and 
marking the bark of some one or more of them with the initials of the name of the person who 
made the improvement. I remember having seen a number of tiiose " tomahawk rights" when a 
boy. For a long time many of them bore the names of those who made them. I have no know- 
ledge of the efficacy of the tomahawk Improvement, or whether it conferred any right whatever, 
unless followed by an actual settlement. These rights, however, were often boui/ht and sold. 
Those who wished to make settlements on their favorite tracts of land, bought up the tomahawk 
improvements, rather than enter into quarrels with those who had made them. Other improvers 
of the land, with a view to actual settlement, and who happened to be stout veteran fellows, took 
a very different course from that of purchasing the " tomahawk rights." When annoyed by the 
claimants under those rights, they deliberately cut a few good hickories, and gave them what was 
called In those days a " laced jacket," tliat is, a sound whipping. 

Some of the early settlers took the precaution to come over the mountains in the spring, leav- 
ing their families behind to raise a crop of corn, and then return and bring them out In the fall. 
This I should think was the better way. Others, especially those whose families were small, 
brought them with them in the spring. My father took the latter course. His family was but 
small, and he brought them all with him. The Indian me;il wliich he brought over the mountain 
was expended six weeks too soon, so that for that length of time we had to live without 
bread. The lean venison and the breast of wild turkeys we were taught to call bread. 
The flesh of the bear was denominated meat. This artifice did not succeed very well. After 
hving in tliis way for some time we became sickly, the stomach seemed to be always empty, and 
tormented with a sense of hunger. I remember how narrowly the children wafched the growth 
of the potato tops, pumpkin and squash vines, hoping from day to day to get something to an- 
swer in the place of bread. How delicious was the taste of the young potatoes when we got 
them I What a jubilee when we were permitted to pull the young corn for roasting ears. Still 
more so when it had acquired sufficient hardness to be made into johnny cakes by the aid of a 
tin grater. We then became healthy, vigorous, and contented with our situation, poor as it was. 
My father, with a small number of his neighbors, made their settlements in the spring of 1773 
Though they were in a poor and destitute situation, they nevertheless lived in peace ; but their 
tranquillity was not of long continuance. Those most atrocious murders of the peaceable inof- 
fensive Indians at Captina and Yellow cr., brought on the war of Lord Dunmore in the spring of 
(he year 1774. Our little settlement then broke up. The women and children were removed to 
Morris' fort in Sandy creek glade, some distance to the east of Uniontown. The fort consisted 
of an assemblage of small hovels, situated on the margin of a large and noxious marsh, the efflu- 
via of which gave the most of the women and children the fever and ague. The men vs^ere com- 
pelled by necessit}' to return home, and risk the tomahawk and scalping knife of the Indians, in 
raising corn to keep their families from starvation the succeeding winter. Those sufferings, 
dangers, and losses were the tribute we had to pay to that thirst for blood which actuated those 
veteran murderers who brought the war upon us ! The memory of the sufferers in this war, as 
well as that of their descendants, still looks back upon them with regret and abhorrence, and the 
page of history will consign their names to posterity with the full weight of infamy they deserve. 
My father, like many others, believed that, having secured his legal allotment, the rest of the 
country belonged of right to those who chose to settle in it. There was a piece of vacant land 
adjoining his tract, amounting to about 200 acres. To this tract of land he had the pre-emption 
right, and accordingly secured it by warrant ; but his conscience would not permit him to setain 

43 



338 FAYETTE COUNTY. 

it in his family ; he therefore gave it to an apprentice lad whom he had raised in his house. This 
lad sold it to an uncle of mine for a cow and calf, and a wool hat. 

Owing to the equal distribution of real property directed by our land laws, and the sterling in- 
tegrity of our forefathers in their observance of them, we have no districts of " sold land," as it 
is called, that is, large tracts of land in the hands of individuals, or companies, who neither sell 
nor improve them, as is the case in Lower (/anada, and the northwestern part of Pennsylvania. 
These unsettled tracts make huge blanks in the population of the country where they exist. 

The division lines between those whose lands adjoined were generally made in an amicable 
manner, before any survey of them was made, by the parties concerned. In doing this they 
were guided mainly by the tops of ridges and water courses, but particularly the former. Hence 
the greater number of farms in the western parts of Pennsylvania and Virginia bear a striking 
resemblance to an amphitheatre. The buildings occupy a low situation, and the tops of the sur- 
rounding hills are the boundaries of the tract to which the family mansion belongs. 

Our forefathers were fond of farms of this description, because, as they said, they are attended 
with this convenience, " that every thing comes to the house down hill." 

Most of the early settlers considered their land as of little value, from an apprehension that 
after a few years cultivation it would lose its fertility, at least for a long time. I have often heard 
them say that such a field would bear so many crops, and another so many, more or less than 
that. The ground of this belief concerning the short-lived fertility of the land in this country, 
was the poverty of a great proportion of the land in the lower parts of Maryland and Virginia, 
which, after producing a few crops, became unfit for use, and was thrown out into commons. 

My reader will naturally ask where were their mills for grinding grain ? Where their tanner- 
ies for making leather ? Where their smith-shops for making and repairing their farming uten- 
sils ? Who were their carpenters, tailors, cabinet workmen, shoemakers, and weavers ? The 
answer is, tliose manufacturers did not exist, nor had they any tradesmen, who were professedly 
such. Every family were under the necessity of doing every thing for themselves as well as they 
could. The hommony block and hand-mills were in use in most of our houses. The first was 
made of a large block of wood about three feet long, with an excavation burned in one end, wide 
at the top, and narrow at the bottom, so that the action of the pestle on the bottom threw the 
corn up to the sides towards tiie top of it, from whence it continually fell down into the centre. 
In consequence of this movement, tlie whole mass of the grain was pretty equally subjected to 
the strokes of the pestle. In the fall of the year, while the Indian corn was soft, the block and 
pestle did very well for making meal for johnnycake and mush, but were rather slow when the 
corn became hard. 

The sweep was sometimes used to lessen the toil of pounding grain into meal.* This was a 
pole of some springy elastic wood, thirty feet long or more ; tiie butt end was placed under the 
side of a house, or a large stump. This pole was supported by two forks, placed about one third 
of its length from the butt end, so as to elevate the small end about fifteen feet from the ground ; 
to this was attached, by a large mortise, a piece of a sapling, about five or six inches in diameter, 
and eight or ten feet long. The lower end of this was shaped so as to answer for a pestle. A 
pin of wood was put through it at a proper height, so that two persons could work at the sweep 
at once. This simple machine very much lessened the labor, and expedited the work. I remem- 
ber that when a boy I put up an excellent sweep at my father's. It was made of a sugar-tree 
sapling. It was kept going almost constantly from morning till night by our neighbors for 
several weeks. In the Greenbriar country, where they had a number of saltpetre caves, the first 
settlers made plenty of excellent gunpowder by the means of those sweeps and mortars. 

A machine, still more simple than the mortar and pestle, was used for making meal, while the 
com was too soft to be beaten. It was called a grater. This was a half-circular piece of tin, 
perforated with a punch from the concave side, and nailed by its edges to a block of wood. The 
ears of corn were rubbed on the rough edges of the holes, while the meal fell through them on the 
board or block to which the grater was nailed, which, being in a slanting direction, discharged 
the meal into a cloth or bowl placed for its reception. This to be sure was a slow way of making 
meal, but necessity has no law. 

The hand-mill was better than the mortar and grater. It was made of two circular stones, 
the lowest of which was called the bed-stone, the upper one the runner. These were placed in 
a hoop, with a spout for discharging the meal. A stafl:' was let into a hole in the upper surface 
of the runner, near the outer edge, and its upper end through a hole in a board fastened to a joist 
above, so that two persons could be employed in turning the mill at the same time. The grain 
was put into the opening in the runner by hand. These mills are still in use in Palestine, the 
ancient country of the Jews. To a mill of this sort oiu: Saviour alluded when, with reference to 
the destruction of Jerusalem, he said, " Two women shall be grinding at a mill, the one shall be 
taken and the other left." This mill is much preferable to that used at present in Upper Egypt 
for making the dhoura bread. It is a smooth stone, placed on an inclined plane, upon which the 
grain is spread, which is made into meal, by rubbing another stone up and down upon it. 

* See the cut under Potter county. 



FAYETTE COUNTY. 339 

Our first water-mills were of that description denominated tub-mills. It consists of a perpen- 
dicular shaft, to the lower end of which a horizontal wheel of about four or five feet in diameter 
is attached ; the upper end passes through the bed-stone, and carries the runner after the manner 
of a trundlehead. These mills were built with very little expense, and many of them answered 
the purpose very well. Instead of bolting cloths, sifters were in general use. They were made 
of deer-skins, in the state of parchment, stretched over a hoop, and perforated with a hot wire. 

Our clothing was all of domestic manufacture. We had no other resource for clothing, and 
this indeed was a poor one. The crops of flax often failed, and the sheep were destroyed by the 
wolves. Linsey, whicii is made of flax and wool — the former the chain, and the latter the filling 
— was the warmest and most substantial cloth we could make. Almost every house contained 
a loom, and almost every woman was a weaver. 

Every family tanned their own leather. The tan-vat was a large trough sunk to the upper 
edge in the ground. A quantity of bark was easily obtained every spring in clearing and fencing 
land. This, after drying, was brought in, and in wet days was shaved and pounded on a block 
of wood, with an axe or mallet. Ashes were used in place of lime for taking off the hair. Bears' 
oil, hogs' lard, and tallow, answered the place of fish oil. The leather, to be sure, was coarse ; 
but it was substantially good. The operation of currying was performed by a drawing knife with 
its edge turned, after the manner of a currying knife. The blacking for the leather was made of 
soot and hogs' lard. 

Almost every family contained its own tailors and shoemakers. Those who could not make 
shoes, could make shoepacks. These, like moccasins, were jnade of a single piece of leather, with 
the exception of a tongue piece on the top of the foot. This was about two inches broad, and 
circular at the lower end. To this the main piece of leather was sewed with a gathering stitch. 
The seam behind was like that of a moccasin. To the shoepack a sole was sometimes added. 
The women did the tailor work. They could all cut out and make hunting shirts, leggins, and 
drawers. 

The state of society which existed in our country at an early period of its settlement is Well 
calculated to call into action every native mechanical genius. This happened in this country. 
There was in almost every neighborhood some one whose natural ingenuity enabled him to do 
many things for himself and his neighbors far above what could have been reasonably expected. 
With the few tools which they brought with them into the country, they certainly performed 
wonders. Their ploughs, harrows with wooden teeth, and sleds, were in many instances well 
made. Their cooper ware, which comprehended every thing for holding milk and water, was 
generally pretty well executed. The cedar ware, by having alternately a white and red stave, 
was then thought beautiful ; many of their puncheon floors were very neat, their joints close, and 
the top even and smooth. Their looms, although heavy, did very well. Those who could Hot 
exercise these mechanic arts were imder the necessity of giving labor or barter to their neighbors 
in exchange for the use of them, so far as their necessities required. 

The county seat of Fayette is the borough of Union, usually called 
Uniontown. It is a large, flourishing, and rather compactly built town, 
situated on the national road, four miles west of Laurel hill and 62 from 
Cumberland. Two forks of Redstone cr. encircle the town. Besides the 
usual county buildings, which are neat and spacious, there are here a 
college, including a preparatory department, a female seminary, Presby- 
terian, Cumberland Presbyterian, Methodist, Reformed Methodist, Baptist, 
African, and Episcopal churches. Madison College, at this place, estab- 
lished originally in 1808, as an academy, became a college in 1825, and 
was incorporated as such in 1827. It was formerly under the charge of 
the Methodist Episcopal Church ; but the gentleman now at the head of 
it is a Presbyterian clergyman from Scotland. 

The place abounds in excellent hotels, and recently Mr. Stockton, an 
enterprising proprietor of stages on the national road, has erected a most 
costly and spacious establishment of this kind. The travel and wagon 
transportation on the national road gives great life and bustle to the 
principal street of Uniontown. Scarcely an hour of the day passes when 
a stage-coach may not be seen passing through the town. The property 
invested in these passenger lines is immense. Some idea may be formed of 
its importance from the fact that one proprietor, during the recent suspen- 
sion of specie payments, is said to have kept in circulation and in good 



340 



FAYETTE COUNTY. 



credit about $500,000 worth o{ shinplasters along the line of the road. The 
annexed view shows the entrance from the east to the main street of the 




Uniontown from the East. 

town. The house of .Judge Ewing is seen on the left. The building on the 
right is occupied by law-offices. The courthouse is not seen, being in the 
rear of the open space on the right. At the extreme end of the street, in 
the distance, is the site of the cabin of the first settler of the town. Popu- 
lation in 18 40, 1,710. 

Uniontown was laid out by Henry Beeson about the year 1767 or '(59. 
Mr. Beeson was a Quaker from Berkeley co., Virginia. His cabin stood 
upon the place now occupied by the residence of Mr. Veech, at the west 
end of the town. At that time all the iron and salt for this region was 
transported on pack-horses from Cumberland ; and while Mr. Beeson was 
absent on one of these expeditions, his wife was greatly alarmed at 
seeing several groups of Indians skulking about the house, apparently 
with hostile intentions, and occasionally engaged in earnest conversation. 
She could understand a little of the French and Indian of one old man 
who was evidently communicating to his comrades the fact that Mr. 
Beeson was one of the " broad brims," or Wm. Penn's men, and that his 
family ought therefore to pass unmolested. The Indians soon after this 
dispersed without doing any injury : — a beautiful commentary on tht 
peaceful policy of Wm. Penn. Jacob Beeson came several years aftei 
Henry, and purchased the Veech place from his brother, who removed lo 
the south part of the town. Jacob Beeson was the former owner of the 
site of Mr. Stockton's elegant mansion at the west end. Windle Brown 
and his two sons, and Frederick Waltzer, lived about four miles west of 
Uniontown before Braddock's defeat. Mr. Freeman Lewis came here in 
1796 ; and about that time the courthouse and market-house were 
erected. Since then the town has gradually increased with the opening 
of the country. 

Brownsville, a large borough, is situated 12 miles N. W. of Unionto^^m, 
at the intersection of the national road with the Monongahela river. It 
occupies a commanding point as a place of business, enjoying the advan- 



FAYETTE COUNTY. 



341 



tajo^es of the national road, and the improved navigation of the Mononga- 
hela, and the hope of being the future point of divergence of the Balti- 
more and Ohio railroad towards Pittsburg. Since the completion of the 
latter work to Cumberland, late in 1842, the business of the place is 
much augmented, during high-water, by the shipment of goods by steam- 
boat for the lower rivers. 

The inexhaustible veins of coal, of superior quality, must give the place 
a preference for manufacturing establishments. There are here a bank, 
a masonic lodge, two Methodist, one Reformed Methodist, one Presbyte- 
rian, one Catholic, and one Episcopal church, and one Friends' meeting- 
house ; two foundries, two machine shops, three paper-mills, one rolling- 
mill and nail manufactory, three glass factories, two piano manufactories, 
and many other manufactories of various articles. Population of Bridge- 
port, 788 ; Brownsville, 1,362. The above statistics include also the 
borough of Bridgeport, which is the shipping place for Brownsville, and 
only separated from it by Dunlap's, originally Nemocalling's cr-, which 
here enters the Monongahela. 

Over this creek there has been a succession of bridges of different descriptions, one of which 
was a chain bridge, of the kind patented by the Hon. James Finley of this county. This bridge, 
suspended partly over the land and partly over the water, at the height of 25 to 30 feet, fell with 
a terrible crash early in the year 1820. It was covered with snow to a considerable depth, and 
gave way under that and the weight of a large road wagon heavily laden with merchandise. 
The teamster fell into the water, and escaped with very little injury, his wagon upon land, which 
prevented much damage to the goods. The wagon and team were much injured, several of the 
liorses being either killed or drowned. Over this creek now, on the route of the national road, 
there is a bridge entirely of cast iron. This bridge is about 80 feet span, built at the expense of 
the United States government. It is the only one of the kind, and probably the most splendid 
piece of bridge architecture in the United States. 

The splendid bridge over the Monongahela, G30 feet long, was built 
about the year 1832, at a cost of about $50,000. The borough of Browns- 




Brownsville and Bridgeport from the National Road. 

ville w-as incorporated in January, 1815. The annexed view was taken 
from near the national road, where it winds up the hill west of the town. 
Brownsville is seen on the hill, and Bridgeport at the further end of the 
bridge. 



342 FAYETTE COUNTY. 

The following particulars relating to the history of Brownsville were 
copied, by permission, from a manuscript sketch by James L. Bowman, 
Esq. He afterwards sent the sketch to the American Pioneer, where it 
appeared in February, 1843. 

On an elevated and commanding bank on the east side of the Monongahela river there was once 
one of those ancient fortifications, similar to others which have been discovered at different points 
through the valley of the Mississippi. When or by whom erected, remains in doubt to this day. 
The military skill displayed in the location and laying out of these forts, and the remains of some 
articles of mechanism found tlicrein, have impressed the idea upon the public, that this country 
was once the abode of a race of people more advanced in civilization and the arts than the pres- 
ent aborigines. It is known that nothing of the kind is now resorted to for defence by any of 
the tribes of Indians. If then those fortifications were the work of the ancestors of the present 
race, a retrogression in civilization must have taken place. The site of the one to which we 
have reference was a judicious one. On the northwest the Monongahela river washed the base 
of the hill, on the northeast and south were deep ravines, and on the east a flat of some extent. 
An approach by a hostile force from either direction could easily be discovered by those within, 
nor could the weapons of attack at that day used reach the fort from the adjacent ground. Sev- 
eral acres were enclosed within ; and near to, without, were springs of pure and limpid water. 

Situated, as we have already stated, at the head of the immense Mississippi valley, it appears 
as if intended as a junctional point between the east and west, and to which the main trail over 
the intervening mountains was directed. Hence, we may suppose, it was a prominent point with 
the aborigines, as it was evidently of attraction to the whites in their trading excursions with the 
Indians. It was first known as the " Old Fort :" as those excursions were extended further 
west, and similar works discovered, it was designated as the " Old Fort at Redstone ;" and in 
after years it became known as " Redstone Old Fort," by which name it is familiar to hundreds 
of the early settlers of Kentucky, as the place of their embarkation when emigrating to the 
"bloody ground." After the successful campaign of Gen. Forbes, in 1758, and the capture of 
Fort Du Qucsne, it became necessary to form a more intimate and accessible communication 
between the settlement and that distant but important post, and also the establishment of others 
appurtenant thereto, to prevent the predatory incursions of the savages into the settled parts of 
the territory. 

Col. Burd, in 1759, was dispatched with 200 men to cut a road from Braddock's road to the 
Monongahela river, so as to form a more direct communication with Fort Pitt. We have seen 
it stated, in a creditable work, that the fort at that time was built by Captain Paull ; that was 
doubtless an error, as the journal of Col. Burd is ample evidence to settle that matter. The 
probability is, that after the accomplishment of the object for which the commanding officer was 
sent, he placed Capt. Paull in command, and returned to report. We have been more minute 
in detailing the route of Col. Burd than we should otherwise have been, for the purpose of evi- 
dencing the accurate knowledge of the country at that day, and the judicious selection of the 
route ; inasmuch as Col. Williams, Thomas Moore, and John Kerr, the first commissioners ap- 
pointed by government for locating the national road, after a laborious and minute examination, 
very nearly pursued the route of Braddock's road and that of Col. Burd to reach the same point ; 
and although a departure took place at the formation of the road, we believe it has ever been 
considered, by those acquainted with the two routes, that the original location of the commis- 
sioners was the most practicable and of easy grade. 

The name given to the fort at that time constructed, was " Fort Burd ;" but so accustomed 
had the traders and hunters been with that of " Redstone Old Fort," that they did not abandon 
it. Block-houses were also erected, but how long it remained a stationed military post we can- 
not state ; certain it is, however, that it retained its pre-eminency as a place of rendezvous for the 
white men, who acted as spies to watch the movements of the numerous tribes of Indians in- 
habiting the head waters of the Ohio and tributaries ; and when settlements were made on the 
west side of the Allegheny ridge, it was resorted to as a place of concentration for defence in 
cases of alarm or expected attacks. 

Among the distinguished men of that day, for endurance and boldness in savage warfare, was 
Capt. Michael Cresap ; and although coupled and stigmatized with the unfortunate murder of 
Logan's family, we are nevertheless disposed to admire his brave and adventurous disposition, 
and award to lilin a credit for the many rescues of the whites, by the timely notices of the sav- 
ages' approach, acquired by him in his vigilant watchfulness of their warlike movements. This 
fort was Capt. Cresap's rallying place for himself and those under his direction. Thither they 
resorted at stated periods to interchange views and adopt plans for future action ; or at more con- 
genial times, when the warlike dispositions of the red men were lulled into inaction, and the 
tomahawk and scalping-knlfe, stained with the blood of innocent victims, were converted mto 
emblems of the chase. To those hardy men, these were periods of conviviality. The days were 
spent in atldctic exercises, and in the evenings, aromid a " huge log fire," they would recount 



FAYETTE COUNTY. 343 

their respective adventiu-es and hair-breadth escapes ; or, if perchance a fiddle or a jewsharp 
was possessed by any of the inmates, it was occasionally brought into requisition, and the monot- 
ony disturbed by the hilarity of a stag dance. 

The scrutinizing mind of Crcsap discovered, at that early day, that this location would, at a 
future period, become valuable, and accordingly took measures to secure a Virginia title, by a 
tomahawk improvement, to several hundred acres, embracing the fortification. Not content, 
however, with girdling a few trees and blazing others, he determined to make liis object sure, and 
that a construction of the act for the deed could not be given to his measures, he built a hewed 
log house with a shingle roof nailed on. That is believed to have been the first shingled house 
west of the mountains in that part of the great domain. We have not the data to fix the precise 
year of its erection, but from jircumstances suppose it to have been about the year 177U. He 
retained the title for years, and disposed of it to Thomas and Basil Brown, brothers, who had 
come from Maryland.* 

The establishment, from 1770 to 1774, of several stockade forts at different points on the Ohio, 
with intermediate private ones and block-houses, restricted the operations of the savages pretty 
much to the west side of that stream, and intercepted marauding parties upon the settlements on 
the east side. Security being thus measurably given to the settlements on the Monongahela, in- 
duced others to join, and the country became rapidly populated. The emigration was principally 
from Maryland and Virginia, many bringing with them their slaves and the impression that they 
would be within the fimits of the " Old ]3ominion ;" nor were they apprised of the mistake until 
the line was actually run by the commissioners of the two states. Such of them as retained a 
prepossession for the customs, habits, and laws of their native state, disposed of their improve- 
ments and descended the river to Kentucky, as more congenial to their desire. These removals 
gave place to many of the society of Friends from Chester county, Pennsylvania, and from New 
Jersey. In 1785, the town of Brownsville was laid out on the site of the old fortification. The 
rapid settlement of Kentucky, which was then taking place, gave to this point a celebrity as a 
place of embarkation. Employment was given to mechanics of different kinds, particularly boat 
builders, for the construction of Kentucky boats, as they were called, in contradistinction to the 
Orleans boats, which were of a larger and better finished kind, having a longer voyage to undergo. 
By means of these boats, the emigrants, with their families, slaves, and horses, descended to the 
place of debarkation, which was generally at Limestone, now Maysville. Supplies necessary, not 
merely for their consumption during the voyage, but for six and twelve months thereafter, were 
generally procured and carried with them, as well as agricidtural and other necessary heavy im- 
plements, which could not easily be brought with them from the east. This was of great benefit 
to the farmers and mechanics, as it gave a market for their productions and an impetus to the 
improvement of the town and country. 

Hitherto the settlers had to depend principally for their necessaries, such as iron, nails, salt, 
and many other things, upon the towns of Hagerstown and Winchester, whither they resorted 
with their pack-horses, carrying furs, ginseng, snakeroot, &c., to barter. In 1787, several stores, 
with what was then considered good stocks of goods, were established, and finding it their inter- 
est to supply the articles necessary for a new country, they necessarily drew the attention of the 
settlers, and in a few years dispensed with their eastern trips for the obtalnment of supplies. The 
merchandise, salt, &c., was still brought out on pack-horses ; two men could manage ten or 
fifteen horses, carrying each about 200 pounds, by tying one to the other in single file ; one of the 
men taking charge of the lead horse to pioneer, and the other the hinder one to keep an eye on 
the proper adjustment of the loads, and to stir up any that appeared to lag. Bells were indis- 
pensable accompaniments to the horses, by which their position could be more easily ascertained 
in the morning when hunting up, preparatory to a start. Some grass or leaves were inserted into 
the bell to prevent the clapper from operating during the travel of the day. 

The first wagon load of merchandise that was brought over the mountains on the southern 
route, or that now nearly traversed by the national road, was in 1789. They were for Jacob 
Bowman, who had settled at Brownsville as a merchant in 1787, and is still residing at that 
place. The wagoner was John Hayden, who also resided in Fayette county, until his death, a 
few years ago. He drove four horses, brought out about twenty hundred pounds, for which he 
received three dollars per hundred, and was nearly a month making the trip to and fro, from 
Hagerstown, Maryland, a distance of about 140 miles. By means of the great improvement in 
the road, six horses will now haul seventy or eighty hundred, between the same places, in seven 
days, for one dollar per hundred. 

The great demand for iron in its various ramifications, and the expense of transportation from 
the east, caused an early and successful discovery of the ore in the mountainous regions there, 
abouts. The first blast furnace west of the mountains was erected on Dunbar cr., about fifteen 

* On the brow of the hill on wliich the town is built is an ancient graveyard. One of the stones 
contains the following inscription, which is here copied verbatim : — " Here lies the body of 
Thomas Brown who once was owner of this town who departed this life March 1797 — aged 59 
years." 



344 FAYETTE COUNTY. 

miles cast of Brownsville, by Col. Isaac Meason, John Gibson, and Moses Dillon, the latter of 
whom afterwards settled in Ohio and erected similar works on Licking, near Zancsville, and, for 
aucrht we know, it was the first furnace in the " Buckeye state." The first abovementioned was 
called " Union furnace," and was successfully carried on for many years. Others were soon 
added, and the number increased in a few years to fifteen or twenty, such being the great de- 
mand for their productions to supply that immense and fertile western valley. To several, 
forges were added as accompaniments, by which the mctul was converted, by means of heavy 
hammers, into bar iron. 

The facility of obtaining the raw material, and the abundance of bituminous coal for working 
it, caused the establishment of various manufactories in this section. Among them we may 
name that of a steam-engine shop, under the direction of David French, in Bridgeport, from which 
emanated an engine which was put on board the hull of the steamer Enterprise in 1814. The 
hull of this boat had also been built and belonged to a company there. She was the first steamer 
that ever ascended the Mississippi and Ohio rivers from New Orleans to Pittsburg. 

In 1796, Samuel Jackson and Jonathan Sharplcss, two ingenious mechanics of the society of 
Friends, who had been raised in the neighborhood of the extensive paper-mills of the Gilpins, on 
Brandywine, erected and put into operation the " Redstone Paper-mill," four miles east of Browns- 
ville. This was the first manufactory of the kind west of the mountains. The second was that 
on Little Beaver cr., erected in 1805-6, by John Beaver, Jacob Bowman, and John Coulter, and 
called the " Ohio Paper-mill," being within the limits of that state. 

Durinor the whiskey insurrection, in 1794, Samuel Jackson, who was of the society of Friends, 
and conscientiously opposed to distillation, favored the acts of government as a means of sup- 
pression. He had dubbed one of the insurgent meetings a scrub Congress. It gave umbrage to 
them, and at a subsequent meeting it was proposed that a file of men should be despatched to the 
residence of Samuel, about a mile distance therefrom, and bring him before them for condemna- 
tion and punishment. Samuel did not altogether like the visit nor the intent of his visiters, and 
beino- a laro-e athletic man, might have given them some trouble had he laid aside broad-brim 
and drabby ; but being a man of peace, he submitted without resistance, and accompanied his 
escort, with his peculiar and accustomed step, his long arms thrown crosswise behind, with as 
much thoughtfulness as if he were going to one of his own ^^ fourth day meetings." The late 
Jud^e Breckenridge, who was of the assemblage, was personally acquainted with Samuel, and 
entertained a friendly regard for him, mounted the stand and commenced a harangue, in which 
he admitted that Samuel had been remiss in applying so opprobrious an epithet to so august and 
legitimate an assemblage of sovereign people, but that he attributed it more to a want of reflec- 
tion on his part than to any enmity or design ; and the best retaliation would be to pay him in 
his own coin, by stigmatizing him as a scrub Quaker. It had the intended effect. The insur- 
gents took with it, and Samuel was discharged with the appellation of being a scrub Quaker. 
Had it not been for the turn thus given to it by Judge Breckenridge, it is very likely that 
Samuel would have been injured in his person, or, as others had been, in the destruction of his 
property. 

CoNNELLSviLLE, on One side of the Yough'ogheny, and New Haven on the 
other, are flourishing villages, 12 miles northeast of Uniontown. At New 
Haven is a very extensive woollen factory. There are also in the vicin- 
ity two large paper-mills, and a number of furnaces and forges. The 
Yough'ogheny is a very precipitous stream, and affords excellent mill- 
sites. The place contains an Episcopal, Baptist, two Methodist, and a 
Presbyterian church. Population of the township, 1,436. 

Connellsville took its name from Zachariah Connell, who laid it out 
some 50 years since. It was incorporated as a borough in 1806. New 
Haven was laid out in 1796, by Col. Isaac Meason. The first settlers in 
the vicinity were Col. Crawford, Col. Paull, the Rogers family, Zachariah 
Connell, Benjamin Wells, and others. 

The residence of Col. Wm. Crawford was on the left bank of the river, 
a little below New Haven. The ruins — a few old logs — were still re- 
maining in 1839. The site is said to be precisely opposite the place 
where Braddock's enthusiastic army crossed the river on their way down, 
and the place is still called Braddock's ford. Col. Crawford emigrated 
from Berkeley co., A'^irginia, in 1768, with his family, having been out the 
year previous to fix upon a site, and erect his cabin. He was a captain 
in Forbes' expedition in 1758. He was the intimate friend of Gen. Wash- 



FAYETTE COUNTY. 



345 



ington, who was frequently an inmate of his humble dwelling during his 
visits to this region for the purpose of locating lands and attending to 
public business. Col. Crawford was one of the bravest men on the fron- 
tier, and often took the lead in parties against the Indians across the Ohio. 
His records and papers were never preserved, and very little else than a 
few brief anecdotes remain to perpetuate his fame. At the commence- 
ment of the revolution, he raised a regiment by his own exertions, and 
held the commission of colonel in the continental army. In 1782, he ac- 
cepted, with great reluctance, the command of an expedition to ravage 
the Wyandott and Moravian Indian towns on the Muskingum. On this 
expedition, at the age of 50, he was taken prisoner, and put to death by 
the most excruciating tortures. 

Perryopolis is pleasantly situated within half a mile of the Yough- 
'ogheny run, about 14 miles north of Uniontown. It lies in a rich agri- 
cultural country. Much of the peculiar kind of sand for the glass-works 
at Pittsburg is taken from this place. It was laid out at the close of the 
last war, by Dr. Thomas Hersey, John Shreve, and Robert (or Samuel) 
Burns. 

Bellevernox is a new town on the Monongahela, 25 miles above Pitts- 
burg, aJnd bids fair tu become a manufacturing place. Population esti- 
mated at 400. 

The other villages of Fayette co. are New Geneva, WooDBRmcE, Hay- 
DENTowN, Smithfield, Monroe, Germantown, M'Clellandstown, New Sa- 
lem, Merritstown, MmDLETowN, and Cookstovvn. 

New Geneva is situated on the right bank of the Monongahela, at the 
mouth of George's creek. The place contains some 00 dwellings, a 
church, an extensive steam flour-mill, and a manufactory of glass. 

The place derives its name from Geneva, in Switzerland, the native 
land of Albert Gallatin. The extensive glass-works here were establish- 
ed many years ago, by Mr. Gallatin, in connection with Mr- Nicholson, 




Gallatin^s Mansion. 



and the Messrs. Kramer, Germans. As this was then the only establish- 
ment of the kind in the western country, its products met a lively de- 
mand, and the concern proved very profitable. Mr. Gallatin, being en- 

44 



346 FAYETTE COUNTY 

gaged in more important affairs, sold out his interest to the younger men, 
the Kramers, who carried it on to advantage. 3Ir. Gallatin dwelt for 
some years in a log-cabin near the river ; but after he became distin- 
guished in public life, he caused a more splendid mansion to be erected 
on the high grounds about two miles above Geneva. 

The place is now in possession of a French gentleman of fortune, who 
is either a relative or intimate friend of Mr. Gallatin : and who is exten- 
sively concerned in commercial and manufacturing enterprises at the vil- 
lage. The farm, though not remarkably fertile, is extensive, and %vell 
provided with buildings. A long circuitous avenue, shaded with tall cher- 
ry and forest trees, imparts an aristocratic air to the grounds. 

The followina: particulars were derived from a highly respectable and 
aged gentleman, long intimate with Mr. Gallatin : 

Albert Gallatin was bom at Geneva, in Switzerland, on the '29th Jan. 1761. He was left an 
orphan in his infancv ; but under the kind protection of a female relative of liis mother, received 
a very thorough education, and graduated at the University of Geneva in 1779. His family 
friends were wealthv and higlilv respectable : and we have biE^n told that his aged grandfather, 
with whom he resided, was deeply imbued with the aristocratic prejudices of the ancient resime. 
Young Albert, on the conti^ary, was an ardent republican, and made no secret of liis adhesion to 
the revolutionarv school. Without the knowledge or consent of his family, Albert, then only 19, 
with a comrade of the same sentiments, left the home of his father to seek glory and fortune, 
and freedom of thought, in the infant repubhc of America. He was recommended by a friend to 
the patronage of Dr. Franklin, then at Paris. He arrived in Boston in July, 1780, and soon after 
proceeded to Maine, where he purchased land, and resided till the end of 1781 at Machias and 
Passamaquoddv. Here he served as a volunteer under Col. John AUen. and made advances from 
his private purse for the support of the garrison. In the spring of 1782 he was appointed in- 
structor in the French language at Harvard University, where he remained about a year. Going 
to Virginia in the fall of 1783. to attend to the claims of a European house for advances to that 
state, he fell in with manv of the eminent men of the state, and particularlv with Patrick Henry, 
who treated him with marked kindness and respect, and predicted his future eminence. In ac- 
cordance with Mr. Henry's advice, Mr. Gallatin sought his fortune in the new and wild country 
then just opening on the Oliio, and purchased considerable tracts of l?Jid in Western Virginia, be- 
tween 1783 and 1785. In Dec. 1785, he purchased his plantation at New Greneva, where he 
subsequcntlv established the glass-works. 

His talents for pubUc life soon became extensively known, and he was honored, in 1789, with 
a seat in the convention to amend the constitution of Pennsylvania. In that convention he took 
a decided stand on the democratic side, opposing the pretensions of property as an element in po- 
litical power, and advocating the extension of the right of sulFrage, restricted only by length of 
residence. ^Mien the new federal constitution was before the country for adoption, he took ground 
against it ; but when adopted, lent it his efficient support. He became distinguished with all par. 
ties in the legislature for his ready comprehension of the great questions at issue, particularly of 
financial subjects; and was elected to the U. S. senate in Feb. 1793. notwithstanding there ex- 
isted a majority in the legislature opposed to his ovm party, and though he had himself expressed 
doubts respectiiig his own eligibility. ^\"hen he took his seat in the senate, in Dec, the question 
of his citizenship was revived, and he lost his seat, after an elaborate examination and report, on 
the ground that he had not been nine j-ears a legally naturalized citizen of the United States. 
The question was decided by a strict party vote of 14 to 1"2, in Feb. 1794. between the federalists 
and democrats. Mr. Gallatin soon after married a daughter of Com. Nicholson, a distinguished 
officer of our naw, and returned to Favette co. "V\"hile contesting his seat in the senate, he re- 
OOived, through Robert Morris, a tliousand guineas from his family friends, who, it would seem, 
had not for some time previouslv been apprised of his movements in this country. 

During tlie Whiskey insurrection of 1794, Mr. Gallatin, although sympathizing with the in- 
svirgcnts in lawful and constitutional opposition to the law, yet boldly and of>enly opposed the 
adoption of warlike and treasonable measures. In this course he was sustained by the people 
of his own county : and his popularitv was evidenced in Oct. of the same year by his election to 
congress from the Washington and Greene co. district, (although he did not reside in it.) in oppo- 
sition to Hugh H. Breckeuridge. Both were of the democratic party. Mr. Gallatin was not 
aware of his being himself a candidate until the election was announced to him. He had been 
at the same time elected to the legislature from Fayette co. 

In congress, where he contiaued during three terms, he was distinguished as a leader of hi3 
party, in conjunction with Madison and Giles. He was appointed secretary of the treasury by 
Mr. Jefferson, in 1801 — a post which he occupied for a nimiber <»f years with preeniiaent ability. 



FRANKLIN COUNTY. 347 

His official reports are models of clearness and conciseness : in one of thesis he originated the 
project of the National Road. 

On retiring from the cabinet, in 1813, he entered upon his diplomatic career in Europe, as one 
of the commissioners at Ghent, in negotiating the peace with Great Britain ; and soon afterwards 
associated with Messrs. Adams and Clay, at London, in negotiating the commercial treaty with 
that power. He continued in Europe, as ambassador at Paris, until 1823, when he retm-ned to 
the new mansion, which had been built during his absence, at New Geneva, and spent a few 
years in dignified retirement. He was again minister to England in 1826. On his return he 
sold his place at New Geneva, and resided for a time in Baltimore ; and subsequently removed 
to New York, where he is still living. He has been for some years president of the " National 
Bank," (not the U. S. Bank,) of that city. He stands decidedly at the head of the financiers of 
the country, and holds high rank both as a statesman and a scholar. Notwithstanding his for- 
eign birth, his state papers exhibit a perfect mastery of our language, and show no sign whatever 
of foreign idiom. His career has been alike honorable to himself, to his adopted country, that 
fostered and appreciated his talents, and to his native land. 



FRANKLIN COUNTY. 

Franklin county was established on the 9th Sept. 1784, having pre- 
viously been the southwrestern part of Cumberland co., known as the 
Conococheague* settlement. Length 30 m., breadth 25 ; area 734 sq. m. 
Population in 1790, 15,655; in 1800, 19,638; in 1810,23,173; in 1820, 
31,892 ; in 1830, 35,037; in 1840, 37,793. 

The county consists of a broad valley, generally composed of undula- 
ting slate and limestone lands, and bounded on the east by the South 
mountain, which rises to an elevation of from 600 to 900 feet above the 
middle of the valley. On the northwest rises the more rugged and ele- 
vated ridge of the Kittatinny, or North mountain, and behind it the still 
higher ridge of the Tuscarora, which is about 1,700 feet above the middle 
of the valley. The Kittatinny mountain, hitherto remarkably continuous 
and regular in its form, seems to terminate near the Chambersburg and 
Bedford turnpike, or to turn backward ; while the Cove mountain, a spur 
of the Tuscarora, diverging immediately west of the termination of the 
Kittatinny, seems to supply the deficiency, and continues the chain into 
Virginia. Between these mountains and spurs are several very narrow 
and fertile valleys, called coves. Path valley and Amberson's valley are 
of this character. The principal waters have their sources in the moun- 
tains on both sides of the county, and nearly all unite in forming the 
Conococheague cr., which empties into the Potomac. The Antictam cr., 
also flows into Maryland, and the sources of the Conodoguinet into Cum- 
berland CO. These streams supply an immense amount of water-power, 
of which it has been estimated that not more than half has yet been use- 
fully applied. The limestone lands east of the Conococheague are well 
watered, fertile, and in a high state of cultivation, estimated at 180,000 
acres. West of the Conococheague the slate lands prevail, estimated at 
160,000 acres; not quite so fertile as the limestone, but more easily cul- 
tivated, and abounding in pure streams and luxuriant meadows. There 
is a strip from one to two miles wide, east of the limestone, at the base 
of the South mountain, known as '* pine-land," which is said to be equal 

* The old settlers pronounce this word Conny-co-jig. 



348 FRANKLIN COUNTY. 

for fertility and certainty of product to any in the county — estimated at 
20,000 acres. It is composed of sand, mixed with clay and water-worn 
pebbles. The mountainous districts, on the eastern and western bounda- 
ries, contain about 110,000 acres. The staple agricultural products are 
wheat, rye, corn, and oats. Some attention has been paid to the cultiva- 
tion of the mulberry. 

Iron ore is found in a line along the base of the South mountain, near 
where the limestone joins the other strata. It is of the pipe and honey- 
comb kind, and is said, in appearance and in the quality of its iron, to 
resemble that from which the celebrated Juniata iron is made. There is 
also a stratum producing iron along the Path valley, perhaps in the 
same relative geological position as near the South mountain. On both 
these mountains are extensive forests, to supply fuel for the manufacture 
of iron. There is a tradition that the Indians used to get lead in the 
South mountain, but the whites have not found it. 

White marble is found in various parts of the county. The manufac- 
tures of the county are generally those adapted to agricultural districts, 
flouring, fulling, and sawing ; with several furnaces, forges, paper-mills, 
an axe factory, and one or two cotton and several woollen factories. 
Much has been done to facilitate the intercourse of the citizens with each 
other, and with those of other sections of the country. Besides the ordi- 
nary public roads, there are 63 miles of stone turnpike, and 23 large 
stone bridges ; and 26 miles of railroad. A stone turnpike runs from 
Chambersburg to Pittsburg, another to Carlisle, another to Gettysburg ; 
and one runs from Waynesburg to McConnellstown, through Mercersburg. 
The Cumberland Valley railroad, from Harrisburg, terminates at Cham- 
bersburg, whence the Franklin railroad continues the communication 
through Greencastle to Hagerstown, in Maryland. There are some 40 
or 50 churches, in which religious instruction is regularly dispensed ; and 
at Mercersburg, a college and theological seminary. A great proportion 
of the dwellings of the inhabitants are of stone or brick ; and in the lime- 
stone districts nearly all the stables and barns are built of the same ma- 
terial. 

The original population of the county was of the Scotch-Irish race, 
and many of their descendants still remain ; but the German population, 
which has more recently come in, is fast gaining in numbers over the de- 
scendants of the original pioneers. 

"It is a tradition well supported, that a great part of the best lands fn 
the Conococheague valley were, at the first settlement of the country, 
what is now called in the western states prairie. The land was without 
timber, covered with a rich, luxuriant grass, with some scattered trees, 
hazel-bushes, wild plums, and crab-apples. It was then called generally 
*the barrens.' The timber was to be found on or near the water-courses, 
and on the slate soil. This accounts for the preference given by the 
early Scotch-Irish settlers to the slate lands, before the limestone lands 
were surveyed or located. The slate had the attractions of wood, water- 
courses, and water-meadows, and was free from rock at the surface. Be- 
fore the introduction of clover, artificial grasses, and the improved sys- 
tem of agriculture, the hilly limestone land had its soil washed off, was 
disfigured with great gullies, and was sold as unprofitable, for a trifle, by 
the proprietors, who sought other lands in Western Pennsylvania. It is 



FRANKLIN COUNTY. 349 

now, under German cultivation, the most beautiful and fertile section of 
the county." 

CiiAMnERSBURG, the seat of justice of Franklin county, is one of the most 
flourishing inland towns in the state. It is pleasantly situated at the con- 
lliicnce of the Falling Spring and Conococheague creeks, 148 miles west 
of Philadelphia, 48 southwest of llarrisburg, and 77 northwest of Balti- 
more. The town was laid out in 1704, but remained a small village until 
after the peace of 1783, and the establishment of the county in 1784, 
since which it has enjoyed a progressive improvement. It contains at 
present about 600 houses, substantially, and many of them tastefully 
built ; generally of brick or stone. The population within the borough 
limits in 1830, was 2,794, and in 1840, 3,239. Its public buildings are, a 
splendid new courthouse of brick, (erected in 1842,) with an Ionic colon- 
nade in front, and surmounted by a beautiful cupola, a jail, eight churches, 
a spacious academy, a banking-house of a superior style of architecture, 
and a masonic hall ol" elegant structure. There are also several well- 
built and well-kept hotels ; and three weekly newspapers, two in Eng- 
lish and one in German. 

The water-power of the creeks which pass through the town drives 
two flour-mills, two fulling-mills, an immense straw-paper mill, a cotton 
and woollen manufactory, oil-mill, carding machines, and the machinery 
of Dunlap and Madeira's celebrated edge-tool factory. The water-power 
in, and within five miles of, Chambersburg is equal to the propelling 100 
pair of stones, furnishing facilities for manufacturing purposes not sur- 
passed by any in the state — except those at Beaver. The town is sur- 
rounded by a healthy country, of great fertility, and in a high state of 
cultivation and improvement. The Harrisburg and Pittsburg turnpike 
passes through the town, and is joined here by the turnpike from Gettys- 
burg and York, and one from Baltimore. The Cumberland Valley rail- 
road from Harrisburg terminates here ; and the Franklin railroad, connect- 
ing with it, runs on through Greencastle to Hagerstown. The constant 
arrival of passengers by the railroad going west to Pittsburg by stage, 
or passing down by the same route, imparts animation to the place. 

The annexed view shows the entrance to the diamond or public square, 
on approaching it from the north. The drug-store on the right is the 
first stone house erected in the place ; beyond it are seen the stage-office, 
at Culbertson's hotel ; and beyond that the bank, with a pleasant yard be- 
fore it. On the left is another hotel. The tall steeple in the distance is 
that of the German Reformed church. The new courthouse is not seen, 
being to the left of the public square. The citizens of the town are no- 
ted for their intelligence and steady, industrious, moral, and religious 
habits, and are not deficient in enterprise. 

"During the French war of 1755, the war of the revolution, and the 
intermediate Indian wars, Chambersburg was a small frontier village, al- 
most the outpost of civilization. A considerable trade was carried on 
with the more remote settlements on the Pittsburg road, by means of 
pack-horses. In time of peace some traflic was carried on with the In- 
dians. The vicinity of an Indian frontier is not the purest school of mor- 
als. The restraints of law and religion become relaxed. The laws of 
the provincial legislature were ill suited to the sudden and anomalous 
emergencies of frontier life, and the people were very apt to make a law 



350 FRANKLIN COUNTY. 

unto themselves, and institute a code of morals that would not be tolera- 
ted in better organized communities. The rigid discipline of the Scotch 
Presbyterians was introduced at a very early period into the Conococheague 
settlements, but it surpassed its powers to curb the wild and lawless spirit 
of the Indian traders and frontier-men. As a consequence of this state 
of things, the Conococheague towns were infested during the revolution 
with a band of desperate marauders and counterfeiters, who bid defiance 
to all laws. They had an organized line from Bucks county through 
Chester and the Cumberland valley, into Virginia. The Doanes of Bucks 
county, Fritz of Chester county, and the men of Conococheague, (whose 
names might be mentioned if it were thought necessary,) together with 
other confederates in Virginia and Carolina, drove a brisk trade during 
the revolution by stealing horses and cattle, and disposing of them to the 
British. When the British retired, they carried on an extensive trade 
among themselves, by stealing horses at the south ; passing them along 
the line to the north where they could not be recognised, and exchanging 
them for others stolen at the north ; thus at that early day anticipating 
the golden dreams of our modern financiers, by ' equalizing the exchanges.' 
The long narrow valleys and secluded coves behind the Blue mountain 
afforded a convenient route, and secure hiding-places. These were no 
shabby villains : they wore the finest dresses, sported the best horses, and 
could display more guineas and jewelry than any others in the settle- 
ment ; and though the source of their sudden wealth was suspected, no 
one dared to prove it against them. When not engaged in the more im- 
portant department of the trade, they resorted to counterfeiting continen- 
tal money, and sauntering around the towns, where they would amuse 
themselves by putting tricks upon travellers. Wo betide the unlucky 
Doctor Syntax who in those days hitched his horse in the diamond after 
night. If fortunate enough to find him at all, he would have great diffi- 
culty in recognising him, with his mane, tail, and ears cropped, and pos- 
sibly a little paint added by way of ornament. And equally unfortunate 
was any man who resisted or threatened to bring theni to justice. His 
barn or his crops would be destroyed by fire. They thus for a long time 
defied public sentiment by threats, or eluded justice by concealment. At 
last two of them near Chambersburg, meeting a man on the highway 
with a bottle w^hich they presumed to be whiskey, demanded it of him ; 
he gave it up without remark, and on tasting they found it to be yeast ! 
They broke it over his head in a rage, and otherwise abused him. This 
led to their arrest, and the detection of other crimes ; and they were 
hung at Carlisle. On being called out to execution, they refused to come ; 
but a smoke of brimstone made in the cell brought them to speedy sub- 
mission." 

The following interesting details relating to the early history of Cham- 
bersburg, and the other Conococheague settlements, the compiler was 
kindly permitted to copy from a manuscript sketch, written in 1832, by 
the Hon. George Chambers. 

James, Robert, Joseph, and Benjamin Chambers, four brothers, emigrated from the county of 
Antrim, in Ireland, to the province of Pennsylvania, between the years 1726 and 1730. They 
settled and built a mill shortly after, at the mouth of Fishing or., now in Dauphin co., on the 
Susquehanna, and appropriated a tract of very fine land at that place, which was lately owned 
and occupied by Archibald McAlister ; though the land-office of Pa. was not open for the sale of 
lands west of the Susquehanna, as they were not purchased of the Indians till Oct. 1736, yet 



FRANKLIN COUNTY. 351 

the proprietary offices and agents were disposed to encourage settlements west of that river with 
the consent of the Indians, who were concihuted by the settlers. These settlements were incited 
and recog-nised, though without official grants, in order to resist the encroachments of the Mary- 
landers, on what was considered part of the province of Pa. This policy, and the fine country 
forming that part of the Kittatinny valley extending from the Susquehanna, at the mouth of Co- 
nodoguinct, along the waters of the beautiful Conococheague to the Potomac, induced men of 
enterprise to seek and locate desirable situations for water-works and farms in the valleys of those 
two streams and of Yellow Breeches creek. These adventurous brothers were among the first to 
explore and settle in this valley. James made a settlement at the head of Green Spring, near 
Newville, Cumberland ; Robert at the head of Middle Spring, near Shippensburg ; and Joseph 
and Benjamin at the confluence of Falling Spring and Conococheague creeks, where Chambers- 
burg is situated. These settlements and locations were made about or before 1730. By an ar- 
rangement among the brothers, Joseph returned to their property at the mouth of Fishing cr., and 
Benjamin, the younger brother, improved his settlement at the Fulling Spring. He built a hewed 
log-house, which he covered with lapped shingles, fastened by nails, a style of building out of 
the common mode of round logs and clapboard roofs secured by beams. Some time after, Ben- 
jamin being induced to visit the east side of the Susquehanna, left his house unoccupied for a 
short time, and on his return, he found it burned to ashes. This was afterwards ascertained to 
be the work of an unprincipled hunter, who was induced to do it for the sake of the nails, which 
at that day, in this wild region, were esteemed no ordinary prize. 

Benjamin prosecuted anew his improvements, building houses, clearing lands, and soon after 
the commission from the proprietary government to Samuel Blunston, allowing licenses for the 
settlement of lands west of the Susquehanna, on 30th March, 1734, Benjamin obtained from 
Blunston a license authorizing and securing his settlement by a grant of four hundred acres of 
land at the Falling Spring's mouth on both sides of the Conococheague, for the conveniency of a 
grist-mill and plantation, then Lancaster county. Having acquired the art and business of a 
millwright, he built himself, immediately, a saw-mill at the mouth of Falling Spring. This was 
an important improvement to himself and others disposed to settle in the surrounding wilderness. 
In a few years after he erected a flouring-mill ; an accommodation which contributed much to 
the comfort of the early settlers, and had considerable influence in inducing settlements in the 
vicinity. 

Benjamin Chambers was about twenty-one years of age when he made his settlement on the 
Falling Spring. He had, when living east of the Susquehanna, been attracted to the spot by a 
description he received from a hunter, who had observed the fine waterfaU in one of his excursions 
through the valley. He was the first white settler in what is now Franklin county. From his 
acquaintance with the art and business of a millwright, and the use and value of water-power, his 
attention was directed to advantageous situations for water-works. He married shortly after his 
settlement a Miss Patterson, residing near Lancaster, who was the mother of his eldest son James. 

He maintained a friendly intercourse with the Indians in his vicinity, who were attached to 
him ; with them he traded, and had so much of their confidence and respect that they did not 
injure him or offer to molest him. On one occasion, being engaged in haymaking in his meadow 
below Chambersburg, where the foundry and brick-yards now are, he observed some Indiana 
secretly stalking in the thickets around the meadow. Suspecting some mischievous design, he 
gave them a severe chase, in the night, with some dogs, across the creek and through the woods, 
to the great alarm of the Indians, who afterwards acknowledged they had gone to the meadow 
for the purpose of taking from Benjamin his watch, and carrying oft" a negro woman whom he 
owned ; and who, they thought, would be useful to raise corn for them : but they declared that 
they would not have hurt the colonel. 

He used his influence with his acquaintances to settle in his neighborhood, directing their atten- 
tion to desirable and advantageous situations for farms. His first wife lived but a few years 
Some time afterwards he married a Miss Williams, the daughter of a Welsh clergyman, residing in 
Virginia. She was born in Wales, and brought over to this country when very young. By her 
he had seven children, viz. : Ruhannah, married to Dr. Colhoun — William, Benjamin — Jane, 
married to Adam Ross — Joseph, George — and Hetty, married to Wm. M. Brown, Esq. Col. 
Benjamin Chambers was commissioned a justice of the peace, and also a colonel of the militia 
under the royal government at an early period. As an arbitrator he settled many controversies 
between his neigiibors, and from his reputation for judgment and integrity, he was appealed to 
for direction and advice by the early settlers. He gratuitously prescribed and administered medi- 
cine to many, and as there was no regular physician in the neighborhood, it is said he was called 
upon to bleed and extract teeth for the relief of his acquaintances. 

During the controversy between Lord Baltimore and the Penns, relating to the boundary be- 
tween the provinces, Benjamin Chambers, who will hereafter be designated as Col. Chambers, 
was prevailed on to visit England to assist by his knowledge and testimony in terminating this 
controversy, which was embarrassing and protracting the settlement of these provinces. 

From England he visited Ireland, his native soil, and prevaded on a number of acquaintances 
to accompany him, with their families, and settle in his neighborhood, having afforded them 



352 FRANKLIN COUNTY. 

assistance. As the western Indians, after Braddock's defeat, in 1755, became troublesome, and 
made incursions east of the mountains, killinjT and making prisoners of many of the white inhab- 
itants. Col. Chambers, for the security of ills family and his neighbors, erected, where the borough 
of Chambersburg now is, a large stone dwelling-house, surrounded by the water from Falling 
Spring, and situated where the large straw-papermill now is. The dwelling-house, for greater 
security against the attempts of the Indians to fire it, was roofed with lead. The dwellings and 
the mills were surrounded by a stockade fort. This fort, with the aid of firearms, a blunderbuss, 
and swivel, was so formidable to the Indian parties who passed the country, that it was but seldom 
assailed, and no one sheltered by it was killed or wounded ; although in the country around, at 
different times, those who ventured out on their farms, were surprised and either slaughtered or 
carried off prisoners, with all the horrors and aggravations of savage warfare. 

A man by the name of McKinney, who had sought shelter with this family in the fort about 
1756, ventured out in company with his son to visit his dwelling and plantation, where the IIol- 
lowell paper-mill is, on the creek, below Chambersburg. Tliey were discovered, however, by the 
Indians, and both killed and scalped, and their dead bodies brought to the fort and buried. Col. 
Chambers was active in organizing the militia, and was of much assistance to Gen. Forbes in 
1758, in giving him information and aiding him in the opening of a road, as well as affording him 
supplies in his march through the valley, and across the mountains, in his campaign. His saw 
and flour mills were of such accommodation and notoriety in the Conococheague settlement, that 
they were long known and spoken of for a great distance around as " the mills." The first flour- 
mill, built in part with logs, was burned, and a stone mill was afterwards erected by the colonel, 
part of the walls of which are incorporated in those of the fulling-mill and cotton factory of Tho- 
mas Chambers. 

In 1764, Col. Chambers laid out the town of Chambersburg adjoining his mills. The inter- 
course with the western country being at that time very limited, and most of the trade and travel 
along the valley to the south, he was induced to lay his lots in that direction, and the town did 
not extend beyond the creek to the west. Some of the old trees of his orchard are still standing, 
(in 1832,) on the west of the creek, on the grounds of Joseph Chambers and Mr. King's heirs. The 
increasing trade with the western country, after the revolution, produced an extension of the town 
on the west side of the creek, which was located by Capt. Benjamin Chambers, son of the colonel, 
about 1791. The first stone house erected in the town is still standing at the northwest corner 
of the diamond, built by J. Jack, about 1770, and now owned by L. Denig, Esq. The first courts 
holden in the county were in this house, up stairs ; and, on one occasion, the crowd was so great 
as to strain the beams, and fracture the walls, causing great confusion and alarm to the court 
and bar. 

Chambersburg remained but a small village until after the erection of Franklin into a separate 
county in 1784, since which period it has progressively improved. 

Col. Chambers had appropriated to the use of the public for a burial-ground a romantic cedar 
grove on the banks of the creek. This spot still retains some of the beauties of nature and rural 
scenery. This, with some additional grounds, he conveyed by deed of gift to P. Varen and others, 
as trustees, on the 1st January, 1768, "in trust for the Presbyterian congregation of the Falling 
Spring, now professing and adhering to, and that shall hereafter adhere to and profess, the West- 
minster profession of faith, and the mode of church government therein contained, and to and 
for the use of a meeting-house or Presbyterian church, session house, school-house, burying-place, 
grave-yard, and such religious purposes." Of this congregation he was an efficient, active, and 
attentive member. He also continued a member of the board of trustees until 1787, when, on 
account of his advanced age and infirmities, he asked leave to resign. 

The first settlers who were possessed of farms, were mostly emigrants from the north of Ire- 
land, and members of the Presbyterian church. It would seem that the Falling Spring congre- 
gation was more numerous in 1786 than in 1832, though at the latter period the population of 
Chambersburg was tenfold that of 1786. After the revolutionary war and peace, a German 
population supplanted the first settlers, and possessed themselves of most of their choice planta- 
tions by purchase, and the families and descendants of these settlers moved west of the mountains. 
At the commencement of the revolutionary war, in 1775, Col. Chambers was so infirm and 
advanced in years, being then about 70 years of age, as to be incapable of the fatigues and expo- 
sure of a campaign so distant as the heights of Boston. The patriotic spirit shone forth in his 
family. His eldest son James raised a company of infantry from the neighborhood, which he 
commanded as captain, and in 1775 marched, accompanied by his younger brothers William and 
Benjamin as cadets, to join the American army, then encamped on the high ground of Boston, 
where the royal army was besieged : (William was about 22 years old and Benjamin 20.) His 
three sons remained in the army during that campaign ; James having been advanced to the 
rank of colonel, and William and Benjamin to that of captain. They were also with the army 
during the arduous and trying campaigns of '76-'77 in the Jerseys, as well as at the battles ot 
Brandywine and Germantown, in 1778. On account of the infirmity of their father, and the 
embarrassed situation of his property and pecuniary affairs, which had been deprived of the ne- 
cessary attentions of the young men, the younger brothers, William and Benjamin, returned home, 



FRANKLIN COUNTY. 



353 



and attended to the fann and mills. They occasionally, however, assisted in the pursuit of In- 
dians who had dared at times to make incursions upon the settlements about Bedford and Hun- 
tin jr don. 

James remained in the army until the close of the revolutionary war, and afterwards was 
appointed a general of the militia, a brigade of whom, including a number of volunteers, he com- 
manded in the army to suppress the Western or Whiskey insurrection in Pennsylvania in 1794. 

Shortly after the peace of 178.3, William, Benjumin, and George, erected a furnace in the Path 
valley, culled Mt. Pleasant, the oldest furnace in tlie county. None of them had any experience 
in the business, but by industry, perseverance, and judgment, they were successful, and estab- 
lished in the woods an extensive manufactory of iron, which was not only profitable to themselves, 
but highly advantageous to a considerable extent of country. 

Col. Benjamin Chambers, the father of the settlement, died 17th Feb., 1788, aged 80 veara 
and upwards — Jane, his wife, died 13th Jan., 1795, aged 70 — Capt. Benjamin Chambers died in 
Dec. 1813. 

Col. James Chambers erected a forge where Loudon now is, shortly after the revolution, and 
with his son Benjamin and son-in-law A. Dunlap, Esq., erected a furnace about a mile from 
Loudon. 

Li 1760 Col. Benjamin Chambers lived in a small log-house near the mill-race, at the west end 
of the garden of George Chambers, near the alley and race. 

From old Henry Snider, aged 75, in July, 1834, Mr. Chambers learned that his father, Peter 
Snider, came to the county before 17G0 — That he was born where he now lives in 1759. 

A man by the name of Somerfield kept the first store on the northwest corner of Front and 
Queen streets. Patrick Campbell bought him out, and succeeded him in the store where the 
brick house of G. Grenawalt is now used for a corner store. 

The first tavern was kept by Robert Jack, in the little log-house which stood where the Cham- 
bersburg bank now is. 

On the northern border of the town, in a spacious and verdant yard, 
shaded by the tall trees of the ancient forest, stands the Presbyterian 
church alluded to by Mr. Chambers. Adjoining- the church-yard, in the 
rear, is the wild and picturesque spot where repose the ashes of the early 
pioneers. With a taste as rare as it is laudable, the trustees of the 
church have never permitted the original cedars and other ancient forest 
trees to be cut down, and the whol^e cemetery is shaded and overgrown 
with shrubbery in all the luxuriance and wildness of primitive nature. 
The annexed view shows the small enclosure containing the monuments 




Cemetery at Chamhershurg. 

of the Chambers family : several other monuments are seen around it ; 
and the rear of the church in the background. 

45 



354 FRANKLIN COUNTY. 

The first Presbyterian church in 1767 was built of logs, — previous to that, it is said, the con- 
gregation worshipped in Col. Chambers' saw-mill, which was open at the sides, and permitted 
the preacher thus to address those without as well as within. 

In 1803, the old log-church gave place to the present structure of stone. Rev. James Lang 
was the first pastor. He continued until 1792, when the Rev. Mr. Spear succeeded him, but 
remained only a few years. The Rev. David Denny took the charge in 1800 or 1801, and held 
it until 1840, when, on account of age and infirmities, he was permitted to retire. He is still 
Hving in 1842. In 1842, Rev. Mr. M'Kinley was installed as pastor. The church was incor. 
porated in 1785. 

The first corporators named in the act of incorporation of the congregation of Falling Spring 
Presbyterian church, were Patrick Vance, Esq., Benjamin Chambers, sen., Matthew Wilson, Esq., 
Josiah Crawford, John Boggs, Esq., Edward Crawford, jun., Rev. James Lang, James Moore, 
and their successors. 

There is a very ancient churcli, the first in the county, at Rocky Spring, 4 miles north of 
Chambersburg. The Rev. Mr. Craighead was the first pastor. 

Patriotism was a predominant trait among the early Presbyterians of 
Conococheague, as well as of the whole Kittatinny valley. They were 
conspicuous among the provincial troops in the old French war ; and 
throughout all the Indian wars they sustained nearly the whole burden 
of defending the frontier. When a new purchase was made, (sometimes 
before,) they were the first to make an opening in the wilderness beyond 
the mountains ; and when the alarm of the American revolution echoed 
along the rocky walls of the Blue mountain, it awakened a congenial 
thrill in the blood of that race which years before, in Ireland and Scot- 
land, had resisted the arbitrary power of England. There is, in the 
records of the old Presbyterian church at this place, a notice of a series 
of charges presented to the session against a certain member of the 
church as the grounds of an exercise of discipline ; and one of the speci- 
fications is, that " he is strongly suspected of not being sincere in his profes- 
sions of attachment to the cause of the j-evolution." 

Mercersburg is situated in the S. W. part of the county, on a branch 
of W. Conococheague cr., 15 miles from Chambersburg. The town is 
placed on elevated ground, in the midst of a fertile and picturesque coun- 
try. The Waynesburg and McConnellsburg turnpike passes through the 
town. The place contains Presbyterian, Lutheran and German Re- 
formed, Seceders, and Methodist churches, and a college and tfieological 
seminary. It was incorporated as a borough in February, 1831. Popu- 
lation in 1840, 1,143. 

James Black first built a mill at Mercersburg about the year 1729 or 
'30. Wm. Smith bought him out, and Wm. Smith's son laid out the 
town, about the year 1786. Col. James Smith, long a captive among the 
Indians, was of that family, and an uncle to Hon. Judge Robert Smith, 
now living. (See Bedford co.) The place was named in honor of Gen. 
Mercer, of the revolutionary army, who had shown great kindness to the 
proprietor or to his father, while the army was encamped near New 
Brunswick, in New Jersey. Gov. William Finley, who filled the execu- 
tive chair of Pennsylvania in 1817, was born at Mercersburg, near the 
west end of the town, about the year 1770. He is still living in Phila- 
delphia. 

Mercersburg, in early days, was an important point for trade with Indians and settlers on the 
western frontier. It was no uncommon event to see there 30 or 100 pack-horses in a row, taking 
on their loads of salt, iron, and other commodities for the Monongahela country. About three 
miles northwest of Mercersburg there is a wild gorge in the Cove mountain, and within the gorge 
an ancient road leads up through a narrow, secluded cove or glen, encircled on every side by high 
and rugged mountains. Here, at the foot of a toilsome ascent in the rjJad, which the old traders 



FRANKLIN COUNTY. 355 

designated as " the stony batter," are now a decayed orchard and the ruins of two l(»g-cabins. 
Some fifty years since, a Scotch trader dwelt in one of these cabins, and had a store in the other, 
where he drove a small but profitable traffic with the Indians and frpntier-men who came down 
the mountain-pass, exchanging with them powder, firearms, salt, sugar, iron, blankets, and 
cloths, for their " old Monongahela," and the furs and skins of the trappers and Indians. The 
Scotchman had a son born here, and Jamie was cradled amid these wild scenes of nature and 
the rude din of frontier life. The father, thriving in trade, moved into Merccrsburg after a few 
years, assumed a higher rank in business, and was able to send his son James to Dickinson Col- 
leo-c, where he graduated in 1809. Passing over the intermediate scenes of his life, we find him 
in 184.3 one of the most accomplished, eloquent, and distinguished members in the Senate of the 
United States, and not without some pretensions to a seat in the presidential chair. 

The Presbyterian church at this place is one of the most ancient 
plants in the vineyard. Rev. Dr. King, who was a pastor of the 
church, has left among the archives a little book containing the 
names of all the heads of families, with their children, residing within 
the bounds of his congregation. This list is headed in the quaint Latin 
of the clergy of that day : Catalogus Familiarum, Nontinum que Persona- 
rum cuiq i FamilicB pertinentium, in qua que Congregationis Divisione. 
The names are almost universally Scotch — Campbells, Wilsons, McLel- 
lands, McDowells, Barr, Findlay, Welsh, Smith, &c. The following his- 
torical sketch of the early history of the church is from a manuscript 
drawn up by the present pastor, and is inserted in the church records. 

This part of the country began to be settled about the year 1736. The land being taken from 
the proprietaries by those only who designed to settle on it, the settlement soon became numer- 
ous. About the year 1738 they formed themselves into a congregation, and enjoyed supplies of 
preaching from that time. About the year 1740 the congregation divided. The occasion of this 
at first was a difference of opinion about what was called a revival of religion at that time ; 
however, it was what their situation required, the congregation being before the division much 
too extensive to allow frequent meetings at one place. Having divided, they accommodated 
themselves with different churches ; yet often considered themselves so united as that one com- 
missioner frequently represented both congregations in presbytery. The " upper congregation" 
called the Rev. John Steel, previously of West Nottingham congregation. He was installed in 
1734, holding also the charge of " East Conococheague." 

In. the next year the settlement was greatly disturbed by the irruption of Indians, in conse- 
quence of Braddock's defeat. This continued for two years, until the settlement was for a time 
entirely broken up, and Mr. Steel accepted an invitation to the church at Carlisle. After the 
people returned to their desolated habitations, they adopted their old form of a congregation, and 
engaged supplies from the presbytery of Donegal for several years, being in the years 1762 and 
1763 again disturbed and greatly harassed by the Indian war. They after this made some 
attempts to obtain a settled ministry, but were unsuccessful till the year 1768, when they called 
Mr. John King, then a candidate under the care of the presbytery of Philadelphia. Mr. King 
v/as installed August 30, 1769, and continued to discharge the pastoral duties for more than forty 
years. He died in 1813, about two years after retiring from his ministry, having been so afflicted 
with rheumatism that, while he continued his ministrations, for several years he was obliged to sit 
in the pulpit during service. 

Dr. King was a man of good natural parts, which he lost no opportunity to ciiltivate. During 
the intervals of his pastoral avocations he continued to increase his stores both of theological and 
miscellaneous knowledge. He Was proficient in the Latin, Greek, Hebrew, and French lan- 
guages, and had attentively studied tlic several branches of natural science. In 1792 he was 
honored with the degree of D. D. from Dickinson college. As a pastor, he was sound in doctrine, 
kind, sociable, cheerful, ^nd instructive, and steady in attention to his duties. " He left behind 
him a character without a blot." He was the author of a doctrinal catechism, especially calcu- 
lated to fortify the young against the spirit of skepticism and infidelity which threatened at that 
time the morals of youth — of some pieces in the Assembly's INIagazine, on the subject of a man's 
marrying his former wife's sister — and of a dissertation on the prophecies referring to the present 
times, &c. There were about 130 families in the settlement at the commencement of his min- 
istry. 

In 1812, Mr. David Elliott, (now D. D.,) of Perry county, Pa., was called to the charge of the 
congregation, in which he continued about seventeen years, when he removed to Washington, 
Pa., and subsequently became Professor of Theology in the Western Theological Seminary in 
Allegheny City. In 1831, Mr. Thomas Creigh, of "Cariisle, was mstalled, and still (in 1842) 
continues in charge of the congregation. " In February, 1832, the church experienced a 



FRANKLIN COUNTY. 

gracious visitation, commencinfj in great power during a protracted meeting, and about 110 were 
in that year added to the cliurch." 

The session was composed of tlie following members in 1767 : — Wm. Maxwell, Wm. Smith, 
John M'Dowell, Wm. M'Dowell, John \V(lsli, Alexander White, John M'Lelland, Jonathan 
Smith, Wm. Campbell, Robert Flcmhicr, Samuel Tenipluton — names, probably, of some of the 
more respectable and worthy families in the neighborhood in that day. 



Marshall College, Mercershurg. 

Annexed is a view of Marshall College. The president's house is seen 
on the right, that of one of the professors on the left. The main building 
is properly intended for the u.se of the Theological Seminary, but is used 
in common with the collegiate department until the new college build- 
ings are erected in another part of the town. Rev. John W. Nevin, D. D., 
is President, and Professor of Intellectual and Moral Philosophy. 

This institution was founded, under a charter from the Icgi.slature of Pennsylvania, in the year 
1835. It sprang originally out of the high-school attached to the Theological Seminary of the 
German Reformed Synod, which was removed the year before from the borough of York to the 
village of Mercershurg. It stands, of course, in intimate connection with this seminary still. 
The primary object of the two institutions may be regarded as one and the same. The church 
needs ministers, and she is concerned to have them properly educated for their high and respon- 
sible work. It is her zeal for this interest which has given birth to Marshall College. Harvard 
University, Yale College, and Nassau Hall, owe their origin mainly to a similar zeal on the part 
of the religious denominations by which they were founded. 

It is designed to promote the interest of education generally within the bounds of the German 
Church. At the same time its privileges are not restricted in any way to these limits. Though 
founded by the Reformed Church, and looking to it mainly of course for patronage and supjiort, 
its constitution is altogether catholic and free. The church, as such, exercises no ecclesiastical 
supervision over it, more than the Presbyterian Church does over Nassau Hrtll. 'ilic college, 
under this view, is a general interest created by the liberal zeal of the German {{iK.imod 
Church, for the advantage of the community at large, so far as a disposition may be felt to em- 
brace its offered benefits. 

It would be hard to find a location more favorable altogether to health. As it respects sce- 
nery, it may be described as more than beautiful ; it is absolutely splendid. At the distance of 
from two to five miles, the mountains are thrown around it in a sort of half-circle, gracefully 
irregular and imposingly picturesque, forming a vast amphitheatre, from whose towering sides, 
in every direction. Nature looks forth, through sunshine or storm, in her most magnificent ap- 
parel. Strangers of taste are generally much taken with the situation. 

Marshall. College embraces in its organization a Professor of Intellectual and Moral Philosophy 
and of the Evidences of Christianity : a Professor of Ancient Languages and Belles-Lettres ; a 
Professor of the Natural Sciences ; two assistant Tutors ; and a Rector or Principal intrusted 
with the care of the preparatory department. 

A particular interest is felt in the cultivation of the German language. Instruction is given in 



FRANKLIN COUNTY 357 

German regularly, to all who can be persuaded to make it an object of study. Mr. Bernstein 
(instructor at present in German and Hebrew) is a native of Germany. A society is established 
also amonjr the students themselves, expressly for the cultivation of the German \an^u;i^e. 

There are two rival literary societies established amonjj the students, bearing the names 
Gmthean and Diasrnothian, which by appropriate exercises endeavor to advance their own im- 
provement. Each has established already a handsome library, which is increasing from year to 
year. These libraries contain altofjether, at this time, about 2,800 volumes. In addition to the 
use of their own libraries, the students have access also to the library of the Theological Semi- 
nary, which comprises, in addition to many valuable works in theolog-y, a large amount of mis- 
cellaneous literature. It contains about 6,000 volunies. A general library has begun to be 
formed also for the college itself. This is intended to be almost exclusively scientific. 

There is a law department connected with the collej^e, at the head of 
which is the Hon. Alexander Thompson, lately presiding judge of the 
district. In 1843, the number of resident graduates was 11 ; law students, 
4; under-graduates, 74; preparatory department, 7.5; total, 1G5. In 
.January, 184.3, at a special meeting of the Synod of the General Reformed 
Church, called with particular reference to the vacancy in the German 
professorship of the Theological Seminary, created by the death of the 
late Dr. Ranch, it was determined to invite, by a special mission, the 
Rev. F. W. Krummacher, D. D., of Elberfield, the distinguished author 
of Elijah the Tishbite, &c-, to fill the place of Dr. Rauch, and at the same 
time have a connection with Marshall College. It was stated, in the 
course of the discussions, that informal encouragement had been given 
that this distinguished divine would accept such a call. 

Greencastle is a flourishing borough, situated on the railroad to Ha- 
gerstown, 10 miles south of Chambersburg, in the midst of a fertile and 
highly cultivated country. It contains a Methodist, Lutheran, German 
Reformed, Presbyterian, and Moravian churches. Population in 1840, 
931. The place has been improved by the railroad. The town was laid 
out in 1784, and first settled by the Irwins, McLanahans, Watrous, and 
others. 

Waynesburg is a large borough 15 miles southwest of Chambersburg, 
in the midst of a rich limestone region. A turnpike runs from this place 
through Mercersburg to McConnellstown. Population in 1840, 799. 
Churches, Presbjlerian, Lutheran, and German Reformed. 

There are also the towns of Louden, Campbellstown, and St. Thomas, 
w^hich have sprung up within a few years past on the western turnpike. 
Louden was formerly the site of one of the line of frontier forts during 
the old French war. 

Fannetsburg is a small village in the secluded but fertile Path valley. 
Strasburg is at the foot of the Blue mountain, on the sources of the Con- 
odoguinet ; and Greenvillage is on the Chambersburg and Carlisle turn- 
pike. 

Snowhii.l. on Antietam cr., near the South mountain, is now, since the 
decline of Ephrata, (in Lancaster co.,) the principal settlement of the 
Dunkers, or Seventh-day Baptists. They keep up the institution as origin- 
ally established at Ephrata, and the set! lement is said to be in a flour- 
ishing condition. Dr. Fahnestock, in his history of Ephrata, says — 

They [the Dunkers] have nearly a thousand pieces of music — a piece being composed for every 
hymn. This music is lost entirely, now, at Ephrata ; (not the music books, but the style of 
singing ;) they never attempt it any more. It is, however, still preserved and finely executed, 
though in a faint degree, at Snowhill. Their singing — which is weak in comparison with the old 
Ephrata choir, and may be likened to the performance of an overture by a musical box with 
its execution by a full orchestra in the opera house — is so peculiar and affecting, that when 



358 GREENE COUNTY. 

once heard it can never be forgotten. I heard it once at Ephrata, in my very young days, when 
several of the old choir were still living, and the Antietam choir had met with them. And some 
years since I sojourned in the neighborhood of Snowhill during the summer season, where I had 
a fine opportunity of hearing it frequently and judging of its excellence. On each returning Fri- 
day evening, the commencement of the Sabbath, I regularly mounted my horse and rode to that 
place — a distance of three miles — and lingered about the grove in front of the building during the 
evening exercises, charmed to enchantment. It was in my gay days, when the fashion and am- 
bition of the world possessed my whole breast ; but there was such a sublimity and devotion in 
their music, that I repaired with the greatest punctuality to this place, to drink in those melliflu- 
ous tones which transported my spirit, for the time, to regions of unalloyed bliss — tones which I 
never before nor since heard on earth, though I have frequented the English, the French, and the 
Italian opera : that is music for the ear ; the music of Beissel is music for the soul — music that 
affords more than natural gratification. It was always a delightful hour to me — enhanced by the 
situation of the cloister, which is in a lonely vale just beyond the South mountain. During the 
week I longed for the return of that evening, and on the succeeding morning was again irresisti- 
bly led to take the same ride, (if I did not let it be known in the evening that I was on the 
ground — for whenever it was discovered, I was invited and kept the night in the cloister,) to at- 
tend morning service — at which time I always entered the room, as there was then preaching. 
But as often as I entered, I became ashamed of myself ; for scarcely had these strains of celes- 
tial melody touched my ear, than I was bathed in tears : unable to suppress them, they continued 
to cover my face during the service ; nor, in spite of my mortification, could I keep away. They 
were not tears of penitence, (for my heart was not subdued to the Lord,) but tears of ecstatic 
rapture, giving a foretaste of the joys of heaven. 



GREENE COUNTY. 

Greene county, originally a part of Washington, was organized by the 
act of 9th Feb. 1796. It occupies the extreme Southwestern corner of the 
state. Length 32 m., breadth 19 ; area, 597 sq. miles. Population in 
1800, 8,605 ; in 1810, 12,544 ; in 1820, 15,554 ; in 1830, 18,028 ; in 1840, 
19,147. 

The surface of the co. is generally hilly ; the westefn part, where the 
streams rise, perhaps too much so for an agricultural country : there are, 
however, along the streams some delightful valleys, abounding in luxuri- 
ant vegetation, and covered, in their primitive state, with a dense growth 
of timber. The rolling character of the surface, and the nature of the 
soil, are better adapted for grazing than for grain. Many of the cattle 
raised in Indiana, Kentucky, and Ohio, are grazed here before being driv- 
en to the eastern markets. 

The farmers have turned their attention to the raising of sheep, which, 
until within a year or two past, proved a profitable stock, and will proba- 
bly always pay as well in this region, or better, than any other depart- 
ment of farming. The co. is well watered by six principal creeks — 
Dunkard, Big Whitely, Little Whitely, Muddy, and Ten Mile creeks- 
all of which empty into the Monongahela, which washes the eastern 
boundary of the co. Wheeling creek empties into the Ohio at Wheeling. 
These streams, in the course of time, have worn very deep channels in 
the country, and have imparted to it its rough and rolling aspect ; yet, if 
they have thus in some measure marred the beauty of the land, they 
have amply compensated for the inconvenience by the inexhaustible min- 
eral supplies which are laid open in the sides of the hills thus abraded. 
The great Pittsburg coal seam, from 6 to 8 feet thick, and probably the 
purest and most important seam of coal in the west, is exposed at many 



GREENE COUNTY. 359 

localities throughout the co. Above the coal, and separated from it by a 
heavy bed of sandstone and shale, reposes the most extensive and valua- 
ble deposit of lime in the western counties, consisting of beds from 7 to 
20 feet in thickness. It is of incalculable value to the agriculture of the 
southwestern counties ; but it is to be regretted that the importance of 
lime, as a fertilizer, has been hitherto so much overlooked. Another 
seam of coal, about six feet thick, is exposed in the bed of South Ten 
Mile cr., two miles east of Waynesburg, and is met with at various other 
points of the county. A forge and furnace were formerly in operation 
near the mouth of Ten Mile cr., — and a large woollen factory, during the 
late war, in Clarksville, — but were suflered to decline. 

That extensive district now composing Greene, Washington, and Fay- 
ette counties, and a part of Somerset, was originally supposed to be in- 
cluded within the boundaries of Virginia, and was first settled, or rather 
first visited, by adventurers from that state and Maryland. As early as 
1754, David Tygart had settled in the valley which still bears his name 
in Northwestern Virginia. Several other families and individuals came 
into the region in the course of five or six years afterwards. These early 
adventurers were men of iron nerves and stout hearts — a compound of 
the hunter, the warrior, and the husbandman ; they came prepared to 
endure all the hardships of life in the wilderness ; to encounter its risks, 
and defend their precarious homes against the wily natives of the forest. 
For some 10 or 15 years the possession of the country was hotly contested, 
and alternately held and abandoned by the English on the one hand, and the 
French and Indians on the other. Families were frequently murdered, 
cabins burnt, and the settlement thus for a time broken up. Stockade 
forts were resorted to by the inhabitants for the protection of their fami- 
lies in time of invasion. One of these, called Jarret's fort, was situated 
on Whitely creek, about seven miles west of Greensburg. Settlements 
were made at a very early date by the Rev. John Corbly and his family, 
and others, on Muddy creek. The following narrative was given by him 
in a letter to Rev. V^m. Rogers of Philadelphia, in the year 1785 : 

On the second Sabbath in May, in the year 1782, being my appointment at one of my meeting- 
houses, about a mile from my dwelling-house, I set out with my dear wife and five children for 
public worship. Not suspecting any danger, I walked behind 200 yards, with my Bible in my 
hand, meditating ; as I was thus employed, all on a sudden, I was greatly alarmed with the 
frightful shrieks of my dear family before me. I Immediately ran, with all the speed I could, 
vainly hunting a club as I ran, till I got withm 40 yards of them ; my poor wife seeing 
me, cried to me to make my escape ; an Indian ran up to shoot me ; I then fled, and by so doing 
outran him. My wife had a sucking child in her arms ; this little infant they killed and scalped. 
They then struck my wife several times, but not getting her down, the Indian who aimed to shoot 
me, ran to her, shot her through the body, and scalped her ; my little boy, an only son, about six 
years old, they sunk the hatchet into his brain, and thus dispatched him. A daughter, besides 
the infant, they also killed and scalped. My eldest daughter, who is yet alive, was hid in a tree, 
about 20 yards from the place where the rest were killed, and saw the whole proceedings. She, 
seeing the Indians all go off, as she thought, got up, and deliberately crept out from the hollow 
trunk ; but one of them espying her, ran hastily up, knocked her down, and scalped her ; also 
her only surviving sister, one on whose head Ihey did not leave more than an inch round, either 
of flesh or skin, besides taking a piece of her skull. She, and the before-mentioned one, are still 
miraculously preserved, though, as you must think, I have had, and still have, a great deal of 
trouble and expense with them, besides anxiety about them, insomuch that I am, as to worldly 
circumstances, almost ruined. I am yet in hopes of seeing them cured ; they still, blessed be 
God, retain their senses, notwithstanding the painful operations they have already and must yet 
pass through. 

Muddy creek, Wasliington county, July 8, 1785. 

In several interesting numbers published in the National Intelligencer 



360 GREENE COUNTY. 

two or three years since under the signature of " A Traveller," is the fol- 
lowing paragraph relating to Greene county : 

The warrior, with his g^un, hatchet, and knife, prepared aUke to slay the deer and bear for food, 
and also to defend himself against and destroy his savage enemy, was not the only kind of man 
who sought these wilds. A very interesting and tragic instance was given of the contrary by 
the three brothers Eckurlys. These men, Dunkards by profession, left the eastern and cultivated 
parts of Pennsylvania, and plunged into the depths of the western wilderness. Their first per- 
manent camp was on a creek flowing into the Monongahcla river, in the southwestern part of 
Pennsylvania, to which stream they gave the name of Dunkard creek, which it still bears. These 
men of peace employed themselves in exploring the country in every direction, in which one vast, 
silent, and uncultivated waste spread around them. From Dunkard's creek these men removed 
to Dunkard's bottom, on Cheat river, which they made their permanent residence, and, with a 
savage war raging at no considerable distance, they spent some years mimolested ; indeed, it is 
probable, unseen. 

In order to obtain some supplies of salt, ammunition, and clothing. Dr. Thomas Eckarly re- 
crossed the mountains with some peltry. On his return from Winchester to rejoin his brothers, 
he stopped on the soutli branch of the Potomac, at Fort Pleasant, and roused the curiosity of 
the inhabitants by relating his adventures, removals, and present residence. His avowed pacific 
principles, as pacific religious principles have everywhere else done, exposed him to suspicion, 
and he was detained as a confederate of the Indians, and as a spy come to examine the frontier 
and its defences. In vain did Dr. Eckarly assert his innocence of any connection with the In- 
dians, and that, on the contrary, neither he nor his brothers had even seen an Indian since their 
residence west of the mountains. He could not obtain his liberty until, by his own suggestion, 
he was escorted by a guard of armed men, who were to reconduct him a prisoner to Fort Pleas- 
ant, in case of any confirmation of the charges against him. 

These arbitrary proceedings, though in themselves very unjust, it is probable, saved the life of 
Dr. Eckarly, and his innocence was made manifest in a most shocking manner. Approaching 
the cabin where he had left and anxiously hoped to find his brothers, himself and liis guard 
were presented with a heap of ashes. In the yard lay the mangled and putrid remains of the 
two brothers, and, as if to add to the horrors of the scene, beside the corpses lay the hoops on 
which their scalps had been dried. Dr. Eckarly and the now sympathizing men buried the re- 
mains, and not a prisoner, but a forlorn and desolate man, he returned to the South Branch. 
This was amongst the opening scenes of that lengthened tragedy which was acted through up- 
wards of thirty years. 

The following also occurred within or near Greene county, then West- 
moreland : 

Madam ; — I have written to Mr. , of your city, an account of an affair between a white 

man and two Indians. I am now about to give you a relation in which you will see how a per- 
son of your sex acquitted herself in defence of her own life and that of her husband and chil- 
dren. 

The lady who is the subject of this story, is named Experience Bozarth. She lives on a creek 
called Dunkard creek, in the southwest corner of this county. About the middle of March last, 
two or three families, who were afraid to stay at home, gathered to her house and there stayed — 
looking on themselves to be safer than when all scattered about at their own houses. 

On a certain day, some of the children thus collected came running in from play, in great 
haste, saying, there were ugly red-men. One of the men in the house stepped to the door, 
where he received a ball in the side of his breast, vi'hich caused him to fall back into the house. 
The Indian was immediately in over him, and engaged with another man who was in the house. 
The man tossed the Indian on a bed, and called for a knife to kill him. (Observe, these were all 
the men that were in the house.) Now Mrs. Bozarth appears the only help, who not finding a 
knife at hand, took up an axe that lay by, and with one blow cut out the brains of the Indian. 
At that instant, (for all was instantaneous,) a second Indian entered the door, and shot the man 
dead, who was engaged with the Indian on the bed. Mrs. Bozarth turned to this second Indian, 
and with her axe gave him several large cuts, some of which let his entrails appear. He bawled 
out, murder, murder. On this, sundry other Indians, (who had hitherto been fully employed, 
killing some children out of doors,) came rushing to his relief ; the head of one of these Mrs. 
Bozarth clave in two with her axe, as he stuck it in at the door, which laid him flat upon the 
ground. Another snatched hold of the wounded, bellowing fellow, and pulled him out of doors ; 
and Mrs. Bozarth, with the assistance of the man who was first shot in the door, and by this time 
a little recovered, shut the door after them, and fastened it, where they kept garrison for several 
days, the dead white man and dead Indian both in the house with them, and the Indians about 
the house besieging them. At length they were relieved by a party sent for that purpose. This 
whole afl'air, to shutting the door, was not, perhaps, more than three minutes in acting. 

Westmoreland, April 26, 1779. 



GREENE COUNTY. 



361 



The more permanent and peaceful settlement of the county was not 
made until after the peace of 1783. Greensburg, the oldest village in 
the county, must have been laid out about this time, or not long previ- 
ously. 

Waynesburg, the county seat, was laid out when the county was estab- 
lished in 1790, and was incorporated as a borough in 1810. The land 
was purchased from Thomas Slater, and the lots were sold in conformity 
M'ith the law, for account of the county. Nathaniel Jennings had 
built a mill in the vicinity some time before the site was selected for the 
county seat. Thomas Kent, David and Israel White, John and Thomas 
Smith, Mr. Hooker, Mr. Adams, and others, were among the early resi- 
dents here. The borough is situated in a delightful valley near the left 
bank of Ten jVIile creek, about twelve miles from its mouth, and within 
one mile of the centre of the county. It enjoys the advantages, in addi- 
tion to that of the public business, of pure air, good water, a fertile soil, 
timber, stone, and bituminous coal in abundance. The scenery around 
the town is delightful. The Catholics, Cumberland Presbyterians, and 
two denominations of Methodists, have each a church, and the Baptists 
are about buildins:. 




Central part of Waynesburg. 

In the annexed view the courthouse and public offices are seen on the 
left. The private dwellings, of which there are about 80, are many of 
them of brick or sandstone. No stage-coach runs from the town in any 
direction. Large droves of cattle pass through towards the eastern 
markets, the clay roads along this route acting more kindly upon their 
feet than the stony surface of the national road. The academy of the 
county is at Carmichaelstown, or New Lisbon, a village of some impor- 
tance on Muddy creek, about four miles from its mouth. 

Greensburg, on the Monongahela, was formerly a place of considerable 
trade — a depot for produce sent down the river in arks and steamboats ; 
but larger towns on the national road and on the Ohio have changed the 
current of trade. Directly opposite Greensburg is New Geneva, the 

46 



362 HUNTINGDON COUNTY. 

former residence of Mr. Gallatin, and the site of his extensive glass- 
works. 

Newtown, Mapletown, Clarksville, Jefferson, Mount Morris, Morris- 
viLLE, and Clinton, are small villages, adapted to the business of the ag- 
ricultural communities amid M^hich they are respectively situated. 



HUNTINGDON COUNTY. 

Huntingdon county, originally a part of Bedford, was established by 
the act of 20th Sept. 1787. Its limits were curtailed in 1804 by the sep- 
aration of a part of Cambria co. Length 38 m., breadth 31 ; area 1,185 
sq. m. Population in 1790, 7,568; in 1800, 13,008; in 1810, 14,778; in 
1820, 20,142 ; in 1830, 27,145 ; in 1840, 35,484. 

The county lies entirely within the great central mountainous district, 
and its surface is consequently rugged. In passing through the county 
from the southeast to the northwest, there occur successively the Tusca- 
rora, Shade, Black-log, Jack's, Sideling-hill, Terrace, Allegripus, Tussey's, 
Lock, Brush, Bald Eagle, and the great Allegheny mountains ; with some 
ridges of minor importance. The Broad-top mountain is an isolated ele- 
vation on the southwest boundary, containing a small and singular bitu- 
minous coal basin, the seams of which are from one to four feet in thick- 
ness. 

Between these mountains are a corresponding number of valleys, of 
every variety as regards their shape, and adaptation for agricultural and 
mineral purposes. Some are broad, containing undulating lands highly 
enriched with limestone ; others are coves, of a canoe shape, enclosed be- 
tween two spurs of a mountain ; others so narrow as scarcely to allow 
their waters comfortable room to pass. The Raystown branch, which 
passes through one of these, writhes and wriggles itself about as if vexed 
w^ith the restraint. The Juniata passes through the centre, and receives 
all the minor streams of the county. The Little Juniata, the Frankstovvn 
branch, the Raystown branch, and Aughwick cr., are the principal tribu- 
taries. 

The county is perhaps not surpassed by any in the state, in the richness 
and variety of its mineral deposits, and the steadiness and extent of its 
water-power ; it is inferior to but few in the fertility of its valleys, and 
its convenient situation for obtaining fuel of all varieties, for manufac- 
turing purposes. Bituminous coal can be obtained, by railroad and canal, 
from the Allegheny mountain : lead-ore is found in Sinking valley, and 
about the close of the revolutionary war one of the mines was worked 
to some extent. The predominating ore, however, is iron, of which vast 
deposits are found in almost every section of the county. The manufac- 
turing of iron constitutes one of the principal branches of business, as 
may be seen by the following list of iron- works, extracted from Harris's 
Pittsburg Directory for 1837: — 

On the Little Juniata — Elizabeth furnace and Mary Ann forge, owned by Edward Bell ; Antis 
forge, by Graham & M'Camant; Cold-spring forge, by John Crotzer; forge by A. R. Crane, (not 



HUNTINGDON COUNTY. 363 

finished in 1837 ;) Union furnace, owned by Michael Wallace, occupied by Dorsey, Green & Co. ; 
and Barre's forge, owned by Dorsey, Green & Co. ; Tyrone forges, (two,) by William Lyon &. 
Co. ; Juniata forge, by G. &- J. H. Shoenberger. On the Frankstoicn Branch — Allegheny fur- 
nace, by E. Baker & Co. ; Etna furnace and forge, by H. S. Spang ; rolling-mill and forge, by 
G. Hatfield & Co., (not completed in 1837 ;) furnace by H. S. Spang, (not completed in 1837 ;) 
Cove forge, by Royer «fe Schmucker. On the Raystown Branch — Frankstown furnace, by Daniel 
Hileman ; Clinton forge, by Wm. Hopkins & Beightcl. On Stone Creek — Greenwood furnace, 
owned by Rawle & Hall ; forge owned by W. &. A. Couch, leased to Rawle & Hall. On Spruce 
Creek — Elizabeth forge, by G. &, J. H. Shoenberger; Pennsylvania furnace and three Coleraine 
forges, by Shorb, Stewart &- Co. ; Elizabeth forge, by R. Moore ; Franklin forge, by C. Wigton ; 
Millington forge, by Wm. Hopkins ; Stockdale forge, by John S. Isett. On Shade Creek — Rock- 
hill furnace, by J. M. Bell ; Winchester furnace, owned by T. T. Cromwell, occupied by J. M. 
Allen. On Aiighioick Creek — Chester furnace and Aughwick, erected in 1837. On Warrior''s 
Mark Run — Huntingdon furnace, by G. & J. H. Shoenberger. On Little Bald Eagle Creek — 
Bald Eagle furnace, by Wm. Lyon & Co. On Big Trough Creek — Mary Ann furnace and 
forge, owned by John Savage, conducted by John Thompson. On Piney Creek — Springfield fur- 
nace and Franklin forge, by Samuel Royer & Co. On Clover Creek — Rebecca furnace, owned 
by Dr. Peter Shoenberger. In all, 16 furnaces, 24 forges, 1 rolling-mill; making 13,750 tons 
of pig-metal, and 9,309 tons of blooms. 

The Juniata division of the Pennsylvania canal passes through the 
county, a distance of about 60 miles, terminating at Hollidaysburg, 
where the Portage railroad over the Allegheny mountain commences. 
The construction of this public work, completed about the year 1834, has 
changed the whole course of business in the county. Arks and keel-boats, 
and river-pilots have found their occupation gone. Towns, that once con- 
trolled a large share of the business of the count}^ have lost that business, 
which has been diffused among small rival places along the line of pub- 
lic works ; and small villages have grown into large bustling towns by 
the impetus of internal improvements. 

The principal turnpike in the county is that along the Juniata to Holli- 
daysburg, and thence over the mountain to Ebensburg and Pittsburg. 
Other frequented thoroughfares pass into Bedford, Centre, and Mifflin 
counties. 

Several curious caves have been discovered in the limestone valleys ; 
and there are several mineral springs, which are efficacious in certain 
diseases. 

The earliest attempt at a settlement by the whites, within the present 
limits of Huntingdon, (if indeed it be not in Bedford co. — see p. 117,) 
was probably about the year 1749, on Aughwick cr., in the extreme 
southern corner of the county. The adventurous pioneers of Cumberland 
CO., disregarding the limits of purchases from the Indians, had penetrated 
to a number of places on the waters of the Juniata, beyond the Kittatin- 
ny mountain. But, by order of the provincial government, and in conse- 
quence of complaints from the Indians, Richard Peters and others, in May, 
1750, routed these intruders, and burnt their cabins. The report states 
that " at Aughwick they burnt the cabin of one Carlton, and another un- 
finished one, and three were burnt in the Big cove." Hence the name 
of Burnt Cabins, still given to that place. 

Between the date of that event and 1756, a place called Aughwick is 
frequently mentioned in the old provincial records ; but whether a settle- 
ment of whites or Indians it does not distinctly appear. It was probably 
the same place where Fort Shirley was subsequently built, in Jan. 1756 — 
one of the line of frontier posts. After the defeat of Gen. Braddock, in 
the summer of 1755, scalping parties of Indians roamed throughout the 
whole frontier, cutting oft' all the defenceless settlements. The following 



364 HUNTINGDON COUNTY. 

extracts, from Sargeant's Abstracts of the Provincial Records', relate to 
this region : — 

1755. From Aughwick, Oct. 9. That 14 days before, 160 were about leaving the Ohio 
to attack the frontiers. That the Indians meant to draw off all the Indians from out of Penn- 
sylvania and from the Susquehanna, before they attacked the province. 

1755. Nov. 2. Accounts from C. Weiser and others, that the people at Aughwick and Juni- 
ata were all cut off. 

March 4. Conference with a number of Indians, one of whom had returned from his visit, in 
Dec. last, to the Indians on the Susquehanna, and the Six Nations ; and those who lived at 
Aughioick before BraddorWs defeat, and since at Harrises. 

1756. Aug. 2. Mr. Morris informed the governor and council, that he had concerted an ex- 
pedition against Kittanning, to be conducted by Col. John Armstrong, who was to have under' 
his command the companies under Capt. Hamilton, Capt. Mercer, Capt. Ward, and Capt. Pot- 
ter ; and to engage what volunteers he could besides : that the affair was to be kept as secret as 
possible, and the officers and men ordered to march to Fort Shirley, and from thence to set out 
for the expedition. And he had given Col. Armstrong particular instructions, which were en- 
tered in the orderly book ; and in consequence of his orders, and agreeable to the plan concerted. 
Col. Armstrong had made the necessary preparations, and has wrote to him a letter from Fort 
Shirley, stating that he was on the point of setting out. Letter from Col. Armstrong, containing 
an account of the capture of Fort Granville by the French and Indians, and the garrison taken 
prisoners. That they designed very soon to attack Fort Shirley, with 400 men. " Capt. Jacobs 
said he could take any fort that would catch fire, and would make peace with the English when' 
they had learned him to make gunpowder." 

Col. Armstrong marched from Fort Shirley on the 29th. Aug. At the 
Beaver-dams, near the old Indian village of Frankstown, which appears 
to have been then in existence, he came up with his advanced party. 
(See Armstrong co.) 

1756. Oct. 18. The governor related that he found the frontiers in a deplorable condition ; 
Fort Granville being burnt bj' the enemy. Fort Shirley evacuated by his order, and the country 
people dispirited, and running into little forts for present security. An order was given to have 
them immediately examined, that such as were well planned and tenable might be continued, and 
the rest demolished. 

The frontiers remained in an unsafe state until after the treaty at Fort 
Stanwix in 1768, when the country beyond the Kittatinny mountain, as 
far as the West Branch of the Susquehanna, was purchased by the pro- 
prietary government. At that time this region was generally known as 
" the new purchase." The land-office Avas opened in the following year, 
and many of the Scotch Irish settlers from the Conococheague, Carlisle, 
and Paxton settlements, came to seek their fortunes in the lovely valleys' 
of the Juniata. Of the adventures, however, of those early pioneers, 
previous to the revolutionary war, scarcely any records have been pre- 
served, except here and there a memorandum in the voluminous docu- 
ments of the land-office, or the reports of land titles tried in the courts. 
The Indians committed constant depredations upon the settlements near 
the Allegheny mountain during the whole of the revolutionary war. 
The following extracts from an article published in the Columbian Maga- 
zine in 1788, may serve to convey an idea of the state of a part of the 
county at that time. 

Bald Eagle valley, (on the frontiers of Bedford county, state of Pennsylvania,) or, as it is 
commonly called. Sinking Spring valley, is situated about 200 miles from Philadelphia. It is 
boimded on the east by a chain of high, rugged mountains, called the Canoe ridge, and on the 
west by another called the Bald Eagle, or Warrior mountains, and forms a fine, pleasant vale of 
limestone bottom, extending about five mi-les jn the widest part. This valley contained, in the 
year 1779, about sixty or seventy families, living in log-houses, who formed, within a space of 
seven or eight years, several valuable plantations ; some of which are extremely agreeable on ac- 
count of their situation, but possess, notwithstanding, very few inducements to an inhabitant of 



HUNTINGDON COUNTY, 365 

the more settled parts to sojourn long amonfj them, on account of the proximity of the Indians, 
So little provision is made, indeed, ag^ainst the attacks of hostile tribes, that instead of forming' 
societies, whereby defence might easily be obtained, the settlers dwell, in general, remote from 
one another — few plantations being within less than two or three miles distance of its nearest 
neighbor — so that when any disagreement takes place, the greater number are left exposed to the 
cuf my before it is practicable to spread the alarm of their approach. 

This place, during the contest with Great Britain, was made remarkable on account of the nu- 
merous lead mines said to be there ; and as the want of that article daily increased, and suppliea 
grew more and more uncertain, it was deemed of so much moment as to induce a company, un- 
der the promises of the state, to settle in the valley, with a view to establish a regular set of 
works. In pursuance of this scheme, a large fort of logs was erected, and some miners em- 
ployed, by wliom regular trials were made of such places as were thought the most promising, 
and a considerable quantity of ore was produced, from Which lead enough was made to give a 
competent idea of the real value of the mines in general. On account, however, of the danger 
of remaining in this situation while an Indian war continued — added to the consideration that 
the miners were all old-countrymen, utterly unused to this mode of life — reasons were suggested 
for quitting the service, and the whole undertaking fell to the ground. 

The lead ore, from samples repeatedly produced, was of many kinds — some in broad shining 
flakes, and others of the steely texture. Several regular shafts were sunk to a considerable depth, 
— one of which was in the hill upon which the fort was erected, and from which many large 
masses of ore were procured, but because it did not form a regular vein, this was discontinued, 
and another opened about one mile from the fort, nearer to Frankstown. Here the miners con- 
tinued, until they finally relinquished the business. When they first began, they foimd in the 
upper surface, or vegetable earth, several hundred weight of cubic lead ore, clean and immixed 
with any substance whatever, which continued as a clue, leading them down through the differ- 
ent strata of earth, marl, &c., until they came to the rock, which is here in general of limestone. 
The shaft first opened, was carried down about twenty feet — from which a level was driven, 
about twenty or thirty yards in length, towards the Bald Eagle mountains ; but as strong signs 
of ore were observed behind the first shaft, it gave occasion to sink another, which fully an- 
swered every expectation ; and when they had arrived to the depth of the first level, they began 
to drive it into the first shaft, intending, as soon as they had formed that opening and cleared it 
of ore, to begin a shaft lower down, — the vein of ore showing itself strongly upon the bottom of 
the old level. This intention, however, was likewise deserted. Another place was begun on the 
road towards Huntingdon, about one hundred yards from the fort, upon the top of a small hill. 
The people of the valley had made the first attempt, but the excessive hardness of the stone 
obliged them to give over their undertaking. Upon clearing away the first rubbish, the vein was 
discovered overlaid with mundic of the grayish steel-grained kind ; and this work was continued, 
with much success, to the depth of 12 feet, until the fall of a heavy rain filled the springs so as 
to prevent all further discovery. A level was intended to be driven from the lowest part of the 
hill (having signs of ore) up to the shaft, but was, as the rest, given over for want of assistance. 

Among other curiosities of this place, that called the Arch spring may be particularized, as it 
runs close upon the road from the town to the fort. It is a deep hollow, formed in the limestone 
rock, about .30 feet in width, with a rude arch of stone hanging over it, forming a passage for the 
water, which it throws out with some degree of violence, and in such plenty as to form a fine 
stream, which at length buries itself again in the bowels of the earth. Some of these pits are near 
three hundred feet deep ; the water at the bottom seems in rapid motion, and is apparently of a 
color as deep as ink, though, in truth, it is as pure as the finest springs can produce. Many of 
these pits are placed along the course of this subterraneous river, which soon after takes an op- 
portunity of an opening to a descent, and keeps along the surface among rocky hills for a few 
rods, then enters the mouth of a large cave, whose exterior aperture was sufficient to admit a 
shallop with her sails full spread. In the inside, it keeps from eighteen to twenty feet wide. 
The roof declines as you advance, and a ledge of loose rugged rocks keeps in tolerable order upon 
one side, affording means to scramble along. In the midst of this cave is much timber, bodies 
of trees, branches, &c., and are to be seen lodged quite up to the roof of this passage, which af- 
fords a proof of tlie water being swelled up ts the very top during the time of freshets, &c. : its 
mode of escape being, perhaps, inadequate to the prodigious quantities which must sometimes fall 
froia the mountains into tliis channel, swelling it up to the very surface, as several places over 
the side seemed to evince the escape of water at times into the lower country. This opening in 
the hill countinues about four hundred yards, when the cave widens, after you have got round a 
sudden turn, which prevents its being discovered until you are within it, to a spacious room, at 
the bottom of which is a vortex, the water that falls into it whirling round with amazing force. 
Sticks, or even pieces of timber, are immediately absorbed and carried out of sight — the water 
boiling up with excessive violence, which soon subsides until the experiment is renewed. 

On the opposite side of the valley, a few hundred yards from the fort, and about half a quarter 
of a mile from the mountain, is a remarkable bog, composed of a black rooty mud, without any 
intermixture of stone whatever, although surrounded by amazing quantities. This place is about 



366 HUNTINGDON COUNTY. 

twenty-five or thirty yards over, and below its margin are large beds of iron ore, of a honeycomb 
texture. The solid parts of it, where fresh broken, are of a fine glossy brown, and contain much 
iron — as was experienced in the lead furnace, where they used the ore by way of an addition or 
flux, when it produced so much as to oblige them to pull down the front wall of the furnace to 
remove the iron out of the earth. It was so malleable as to bear the hammer. Early in spring, 
the spot upon which the bog stands is readily found ; for it produces a most luxuriant plenty of 
a long sedge grass of a beautiful color, and a considerable time before the effects of spring are 
visible in any other part of the valley. This seldom fails to attract the notice of the poor cattle, 
which are sure, however, to pay dear for tiieir attempt to obtain a mouthful of its produce, as in 
less than an hour it totally gallows and covers them. Five cows were, at one time, nearly con- 
veyed out of sight — of which three were totally dead, the other two hardly recoverable. 

Upon the road towards the town, and nine miles from the fort, there is a narrow pass through 
another chain, (Tussey's mountain,) which, for about a mile in length, is so confined that it does 
not admit any carriage whatever, and even a horseman finds it advisable to dismount, rather 
than to trust his safety entirely upon the dexterity of his horse in conveying him over these rude 
masses of rocks and stones. This pass, on account of a stream running through it, is called 
Water-street. The break in the mountain, on each side, is almost perpendicular, and seems 
loosely piled up with huge pieces, threatening destruction to the passenger below. A few miles 
from the town there is a set of sandy hills, high masses of which are in places left bare, and from 
the lowness of their nature, and the washing of the storms, have assumed different forms, some 
of which the country people have likened to pulpits, bowls, teapots, &:.c. In general, it is known 
by the name of the Pulpit rocks. A person visiting these parts, must cross the Juniata three or 
four times from Standing Stone, or Huntingdon, to the fort, from which it is computed to be about 
21 or 22 miles distance. 

The above article was republished in Hazard's Register in 1831, and 
drew from R. B. McCabe, Esq., of Indiana county, the following interest- 
ing reminiscences, dated June 5, 1832. 

About the year 1800, perhaps in Nov. 1799, my family moved into this valley, and settled 
about six miles below the fort called the Lead-mine fort, near the foot of the Bald Bagle mountain, 
or ridge, as it is now called. I continued to reside either in the valley or the neighborhood — sel- 
dom further off than Huntingdon, until 1820, with the exception of one or two excursions, the 
longest, short of six months. I was a lover of nature from my boyhood ; and in no part of our 
happy state did she more freely exhibit her beauteous freshness than in Sinking valley, for it is 
by that name that the region described by B. is now known. It constituted Tyrone township in 
Huntingdon co. for many years. I believe it was divided into two election districts in the session 
of 1819-20. The census for Tyrone township for 1830,* I have not seen, but it will compare to 
advantage with the " sixty or seventy families living in log-houses," which B. gives as the popu- 
lation in 1779. In 1820, the following manufactories were in operation in this valley, viz. : one 
forge, four fires and two hammers ; four grist-mills ; five saw-mills ; a furnace had been carried 
on for some time, but operations were suspended in 1817 or '18. 

Across the river was a rolling and slitting mill, paper-mill, oil-mill, and three nailing machines 
— water power. A very extensive flouring-mill, a large stone barn, stone dwelling-house, and nu- 
merous out-houses, have been built of beautiful blue limestone, near where the Arch spring " throws 
out" its water, " with some degree of violence," on a rich and well-cultivated farm. The lead 
mines have been long since abandoned. The upper lead mine, as it is called, on the lands now 
belonging to a German family of the name of Crissman, exhibits but the traces of former exca- 
vation, and trifling indications of ore. The lower one, about a mile in direct distance from the 
Little Juniata, was worked within my remembrance, imder the superintendence of a Mr. Sinclair, 
a Scotch miner from the neighborhood of Carron Iron-works, in the land of cakes. The mine 
then was owned by two gentlemen, named Musser and Wells. The former, I think, lived and 
died in Lancaster co. Mr. Wells was probably a Philadelphian. Three shafts were sunk to a 
great depth on the side of a limestone hill. A drift was worked into the bowels of the hill, pos- 
sibly a hundred yards, six feet high, and about the same width. This was expensive. No fur- 
nace or other device for melting the ore was ever erected at this mine. Considerable quantities 

of the mineral still lie about the pit's mouth. The late Mr. H , of Montgomery co., who 

had read much and practised some in mining, (so far as to sink some thousand dollars,) visited 
this mine in 1821, in company with another gentleman and myself, and expressed an opinion that 
the indications were favorable for a good vein of the mineral. But the vast mines of lead in the 
west, such as Mine a Burton, and the Galena, where the manufacture of lead can be so much 
more cheaply carried on, must forever prevent a resumption of the business in Sinking valley, 
unless, indeed, some disinterested patriot shall procure the adoption of a tariff of protection fur 
the lead manufacturer of the happy valley. 

* In 1840, 1,226. 



HUNTINGDON COUNTY. 367 

B. speaks in his third paragraph of " the people of the valley" having made the first at- 
tempt" at opening the earth on a small hill on the road to Huntingdon, &-c. I am informed by 
ancient letters, that the " people" were looking for " silver." 

A remarkable, irregular trench, the vestiges of which can yet be seen, with occasional inter- 
ruptions, runs from tlie upper lead mines to the neighborhood of the lower ; it is at least six miles 
in length. It was found there by the earliest emigrants, and thirty years ago, stout trees grew on 
the banks of earth thrown out in excavating it. It was there, it is said, and ancient in its appear- 
ance, when Roberdeau erected or commanded the fort at the upper lead mines. Conjecture has 
attributed it to the French, whose exploring parties searched extensively for minerals in Ligonier 
valley, while that nation held Fort Duquesne. So great a labor, it was supposed, would only 
luive been commenced in search of " a precious metal," and could only have been encouraged to 
jHTseverance by success. Not Black Beard's guarded hoards have been more sedulously sought 
after on the seaboard, than have those unknown and uncomeatible ores supposed to he buried 
somewhere, either in Sinking valley, or on the bank of the Little Juniata, the eastern boundary of 
that valley. 

The delusion passed off in proportion as the early settlers and their progeny died away, or re- 
moved to the " Great West." But it was current in my young days. Now, however. Sinking 
valley is not torn with the pick, the crowbar, and shovel, as formerly, but subjected to the fertil- 
izing influences of tlie plough, the hoe, and tlie harrow. The change of implements has been 
every way beneficial ; it is the richest body of land — shows the best agriculture — and contains 
the best and wealthiest farmers in Huntingdon county. 

Mr. McCabe, in the spring of 1812, being then clerk at Messrs. Dorsey 
& Evans' Union Furnace, which had been erected two years previously, 
was enabled, by means of B.'s communication, to discover the deposit of 
bog ore in the swamp alluded to by B., and the ore from it was long used 
at the furnace. He says no valuable body of copper ore or of copperas had 
been found there. Concerning " the silver hunting business," to which he 
has alluded above, he relates the following : 

The tract of land on which the Arch spring sometimes, when very high, debouches into the 
Little Juniata, was purchased by Messrs. Dorsey and Evans, from a Mr. J. I., who now owns the 
Arch spring itself, and the farm on which it arises. While the furnace and works appurtenant 
were in progress of erection, Mr. I. called one day at our boarding-house, an old log-building in 
which he had himself resided on his first settling on that tract of land. The day was wet, and 
much desultory conversation passed. Among otiier things, some one inquired why he had dug a 
7nt7/-race which was spoken of, in a place where, to a very superficial judgment, a good site 
could not be had, and neglected an excellent one a very few perches lower down the river, 
both quite near the house. I do not pretend to give the words of his answer, but in the substance 
I am not mistaken. 

" About years ago, (I forget how many,) a man came here," said Mr. I., " from one of 

the cities, who said he had received a letter from Amsterdam, setting forth, that many yeari 
before, two men in descending the Little Juniata in a bark canoe, in which they had a quantity of 
silver bullion, met with an accident by wliich their canoe was broken. Being fatigued and una- 
ble to carry their burden on foot through a wilderness, they buried it near the mouth of a run, to 
the description of which this place answers well. ' With your permission,' said the stranger, 
' but not else, I will make some examination.' To this," said Mr. I., " I at once agreed. He 
then went on to tell me," continued Mr. I., " that on the south side of the run, such a distance 
from its mouth, was a spring ; on the east side of the spring grew a white-oak tree, within a yard 
or two of the spring. He had found all these marks combined at my spring, and now wanted 
permission from me to cut into that tree on the side next the spring. If he was right in his con- 
jecture as to the place and tree, a whetstone and an iron wedge would be found in the tree ; so 
many feet in a southeast direction from its root, the bullion lay buried. There was no scar on 
the bark by which you might suspect that ever an axe had marked it. I told him to cut in and 
try it. He did so, and to my utter astonishment, a few cliips being taken out, an axe mark was 
seen, and, as I am a living man, the whetstone was there. The iron wedge was not found ; but 
some years after one was found by accident in splitting a tree for rails about a mile lower down 
the river, almost in the heart of the tree. 

" The stranger dug first in the proposed direction, and then in every other ; he was not suc- 
cessful, and at length went away. Because I soon after began this unfinished mill-race, people 
in the neighborhood have always suspected that I found the silver ; but," said Mr. I., pleasantly, 
" I wish I had." He was right, it was early and generally believed that he had found it, and 
that belief was encouraged by the statements of a laboring man, who worked in the mill-race all 
day, and heard I. at work there all hours in the night. The laborer added, that one night unu 
8ual movements in the lower story, such as whispering between Mr. I. and his wife, and the at 



368 HUNTINGDON COUNTY. 

tempt to remove the puncheons of the floor, led him to believe the treasure was found, for soon 
after the mill-race was abandoned. 

Mr. I. is a wealthy man. He was poor when he lived first in the log-cabin by the mouth of 
Arch Spring run. 

I remember having seen one of the miners who had been employed at the upper lead mines. 
He was a Highlander, and when animated by a " highland gill," could box, dance, or sing in 
Gaelic, without a competitor. He said, that an Englishman named Gibbon, was very fortunate 
in refining the ore, and extracting silver. He further stated, that he saw a mass of silver which 
Gibbon had procured about the size of a tin bucket. Honest John McL. was a man of integri- 
ty, and I have no doubt that he meant to speak the truth. He did not say the tin bucket, of 
which he made a standard, was of any particular size. 

The following facts are stated in a paper published a few years since : 

Huntingdon furnace was built in 1795 or '96. It has belonged, until lately, to Judge Glonin- 
ger of Lebanon, Geo. Anshutz of Huntingdon, Peter Shoenberger, now of Allegheny co., and 
Martin Dubbs of Philadelphia. The company originally commenced with about 15 acres of 
land, one horse, and a pair of oxen, at v/hat is termed the " old seat," about a mile above the 
present furnace. The location was unfortunate, and a second furnace was erected. The busi. 
ness was chiefly attended to by Mr. Anshutz, and was conducted with the care, economy, and 
skill for which the Germans are so celebrated. Out of the proceeds and profits of this furnace 
grew the Tyrone Iron-works, consisting of the lower and upper forges, rolling-mill, slitting-mill, 
nail-factories, saw and grist mill, with large bodies of farm and wood land. These Tyrone works 
produced the Bald Eagle furnace ; and a forge was built on Spruce creek. In 1819 the lands of 
the Huntingdon Furnace Company extended about 16 miles in length, and exceeded 40,000 
acres. 

The iron business thus early introduced has ever been a favorite object 
of attention and investment with the citizens of Huntingdon co. The 
census for 1840 gives for this county, 20 furnaces, making 13,850 tons; 
27 bloomeries, forges, and rolling mills, producing 14,093 tons. The num- 
ber of men employed in the iron manufacture, including those in mining 
operations, was 1,357. Capital invested, 8780,000. There are also in 
the county, 6 fulling-mills, 9 woollen manufactories, 34 tanneries, 15 dis- 
tilleries, 4 printing offices, 4 flouring-mills, 65 grist-mills, and 182 saw- 
mills. 

The Juniata iron is famous for its toughness and other excellent quali- 
ties, throughout the whole country. The iron business continued to pros- 
per until the severe pecuniary crisis of 1840-42, during w^hich many 
works vi^ere compelled to suspend ; others adopted the system of orders, 
— that is, checks given to their workmen upon their own stores for goods 
in payment of wages ; and when that system began to be odious, it is 
said some establishments returned to an ancient practice of paying their 
hands in long dollars, a new .species of metallic currency, being neither 
more nor less than the bars and pigs of iron which themselves had made. 
With these the workman realized his money or his necessaries of life, 
wherever he could pass his long dollars. 

Huntingdon, the seat of justice, is situated on the left bank of the Ju- 
niata, just above the mouth of Standing Stone creek. The town is built 
upon an elevated bank sloping gently up from the river, and behind the 
town rising into a hill, upon which, in a beautiful shaded cemetery, rest 
the ashes of the dead. A traveller says, " the approach to the town is 
peculiarly beautiful. At about half a mile distance, the road, cut through 
a valuable quarry of solid rock, acquires an elevation of some 20 or 30 
feet above the canal. On rounding the hill, the aqueduct across the 
mouth of Stone creek — the town beyond, with its spires, gardens, and ad- 
jacent cultivated fields — the canal, river, and surrounding hills, burst at 
once on the vision. The ' graveyard hill,' within the limits of the bor- 



HUNTINGDON COUNTY. 



369 



ough, covered with half-grown forest-trees, is an admired and much fre 
quented spot by the living." 





Huntingdon, from the Hill below the Town, 

The annexed view was taken from near the point in the road alluded 
to above. 

Huntingdon has long been noted for the wealth, intelligence, hospitali- 
ty, and sociability of its citizens. It is not, however, a very beautiful 
town. The streets were originally made too narrow ; and too great a 
proportion of the houses are of wood ; though in this particular an im- 
provement is visible within the last few years. 

The place to a stranger has an ancient and quiet air. It contains an 
elegant and spacious courthouse, recently erected, a large stone jail, 
Presbyterian, Episcopal, Methodist, Seceder, Catholic, and African Meth- 
odist churches, an academy, three printing offices, &c. Population in 
1840, 1,145. A substantial bridge across the Juniata conducts to Smith- 
field, a small village opposite Huntingdon. 

Huntingdon for many years commanded the trade of the whole county ; 
the progress of public improvement has extended equal facilities to other 
portions, and of course deprived it of many of its former sources of traffic. It 
is the natural depot and outlet of the surplus products of Woodcock and 
Stone valleys. The former, though rather hilly, has a rich limestone soil, 
well cultivated by German farmers. In Stone valley are situated the 
" Warm Springs," a place of considerable resort. The water is light on 
the stomach, diuretic, and is said to contain magnesia. 

The following memoranda relating to the early history of this place, 
were learned from some of the older inhabitants : 

The town of Huntingdon was laid out a short time previous to the revohitionary war by Rev. Dr. 
Wm. Smith, Provost of the University of Pennsylvania. The doctor had been over to England 
soliciting funds in aid of the University. The Countess of Huntingdon* had been a munificent 

* Selina, Countess of Huntingdon, second daughter of Washington Earl Ferrers, was born 
1707, and married Lord Huntingdon. From habits of gayety and scenes of dissipation, she be- 
came, all at once, after a serious illness, grave, reserved, and melancholy. Her thoughts were 
wholly absorbed by religion, and she employed her ample resources in disseminating her princi- 
ples through the instrumentality of Whitefield, Romaine, and other eloquent Methodists. Not 

47 



370 HUNTINGDON COUNTY. 

donor : and in her return for her liberality he perpetuated her memory by giving her name to this 
town. The county in 1787 took the same name. Previous to that time the place had been no- 
ted as the site of an ancient Indian village called Standing Stone. A tall slim pillar of stone — 
four inches thick by eight inches wide — had been erected here by the resident tribe many years 
since — perhaps as a sort of " Ebeiiezer." It then stood at tlie lower end of the town, near the 
river bank. 

The tribe regarded this stone with superstitious veneration, and a tradition is said to have 
existed among them, that if the stone should be taken away, the tribe would be dispersed ; but 
that so long as it should stand they would prosper. A hostile tribe once came up from the Tus- 
carora valley, and carried it off during the absence of tlie warriors ; but the latter fell upon 
them, recovered the stone, and replaced it. It is said that Dr. Barton, of Philadelphia, learned, in 
some of his researches, that Oneida meant Standing Stone; and that nation, while living in 
New York, is said to have had a tradition that their ancestors came originally from the south. 
It is generally understood about Huntingdon that the original stone had been destroyed or taken 
away by the Indians, but that the whites erected a similar one, a part of which remains. It is 
certain tliat the whites removed it from its original position into the centre of the town. When 
Mr. McMm-tric came here in 1776-'77, it was about eight feet high, and had on it the names of 
John Lukens, the siu-veyor-general, with the date of 1768; Charles Lukens his assistant; and 
Thomas Smith, brother of the founder of the town, and afterwards judge of the supreme court. 
It stood thus for many years, until some fool, in a drunken frolic, demolished it. A part of it is 
now built into the wall of Dr. Henderson's house, and a part is in his office. It is evidently a 
stone from the bed of the creek, bearing marks of being worn by water. 

The venerable Mr. McMurtrie, still living in the place, was one of the earliest settlers. He 
was a young man in Philadelphia at the time of the declaration of independence ; and his father, 
a prudent old Scotchman, immediately after that event, started his son into the interior, ostensi- 
bly to look after his wild lands ; but probably with a view to remove him from any temptation to 
join the rebel army. 

When Mr. McMurtrie came to this place in 1776 or '77, there were only five or six houses 
here, one of which was the tavern kept by Ludwig Sills. On his way up, he had stopped at the 
sohtary tavern of old Mr. Buchanan, were Lewistown now is, and at another cabin at Waynes- 
burg. The first settlers at Huntingdon, were his father-in-law, Benjajnin Elliott, Abraham 
Haynes, Frank Cluggage, Mr. Ashbough, and Mr. Sills. The early settlers here were chiefly 
from Maryland, probably from the Potomac valley, near the mouth of Conococheague. People 
from tfie same quarter settled Wells' valley.fOne of the Bradys, the imcle or father of the 
famous Capt. Samuel Brady, had previously resided across the river, at or near tlie mouth of 
Crooked creek ; but he removed to the West branch of Susquehanna before the year 1776.) For 
some years after the year 1776, hostile Indians annoyed, and frequently murdered the unprotected 
settlers. There was a fort built during the revolution just at the lower end of the main street. 
The town was once alarmed at the appearance of lurking Indians on the neighboring hills ; and 
within a day or two afterwards the unfortunate scout, from the Bedford garrison, was murdered 
near where Hollidaysburg now stands. 

HoLLiDAYSBURG is Situated at the west end of the county, about 23 miles 
west of Huntingdon, and near the eastern base of the Allegheny moun- 
tain. It stands partly on a plain, and partly on a hill of moderate eleva- 
tion, commanding a delightful view of the surrounding mountain scenery. 
It is located on the great northern turnpike leading from Harrisburg to 
Pittsburg, at the junction of the Juniata division of the Pennsylvania 
canal and the Portage railroad. To this junction, and the consequent 
change of the mode of transportation, it owes much of its prosperity. It 
is of recent growth : a few years ago it was an obscure village, contain- 
ing in 1830 but 72 inhabitants; but when the canal and railroad were 
completed in 1834, it increased in population, business, and wealth, and 
has steadily improved in its appearance. Now^ the two boroughs Holli- 
daysburg and Gaysport, separated only by a small branch of the Juniata, 
have the appearance of one town, and are said to contain, together with 
the environs, upwards of 3,000 inhabitants. Hollidaysburg borough 

only lier house in Park-street was thrown open for the frequent assembling of these pious reform- 
ers, but chapels were built in various parts of the kingdom, and a college erected in Wales for 
the education of young persons intended for the ministry. After many acts of extensive charity, 
she died in 1791. 



HUNTINGDON COUNTY. 



371 



alone contained 1,806 by the census of 1840. It is the centre of a fruitful 
country, now rapidly opening to cultivation, and teeming with abundant 
resources both mineral and vegetable. It is in the midst of an abundant 
iron region ; and bituminous coal, obtained on the summit of the Alle- 
gheny, descends by its own gravity to the town. 

There are at this place Presbyterian, Methodist, Lutheran, Baptist, 
Catholic, and African churches ; six public schools, one classical school. 
A missionary of the Seamen's Friend Society labors among the boatmen 
along the canal. There are also several foundries and machine shops, a 
large steam flour-mill, a screw dock, and marine railway ; ten or eleven 
forv\'arding hoases, with immense warehouses ; and several spacious 
hotels. A large basin, formed by the waters of Beaver-dam creek, ac- 
commodates the boats of the canal. 

The annexed view shows in the foreground the canal packet-boat trans- 
ferring its passengers to the cars ; beyond is the central part of the bo- 




Hollidayshurg. 

rough : on the right are some of the warehouses and shops connected 
with the landing-place. The distance from Hollidaysburg to Johnstown, 
by the railroad, is 39 69-100 miles ; to the summit 7 or 8 ; and by the ca- 
nal to Huntingdon 38 2-3 ; to Harrisburg 143 miles. 

Under the head of Cambria co. a more detailed account is given of 
the Portage railroad, together with a narrative of the passage of the first 
boat over the mountains, in Oct. 1834. 

The following particulars, relating to the early adventures of the pio- 
neers of this region, were derived from a respectable citizen of Hollidays- 
burg : — 

Amonfj the first settlers of this section were Daniel and William Moore, two brothers, from 
Cumberland co., and Adam IloUiday, from the Conococheagjue settlement, in Franklin co., whose 
name has been perjjetuated by tho town. His farm was situated just southwest of the railroad 
bridge, near the town. 

They came here about the commencement of tlie revolutionary war, and endured to the fullest 
extent the privations and suffcrinfrs incident to a wilderness still inhabited or haunted by the red 
men. Stockade forts were built to protect the inhabitants in case of invasion. Mr. HoUiday, 
however, on one occasion had not availed himself of the fort, and was engaged in the labors of 
the field, when the savages appeared suddenly. The family took lo flight ; Sir. H. jumping on a 



g7SJ HUNTINGDON COUNTY. 

horse with his two younjOf children, Jolin and James. His elder son, Fat, and daughfer JnneC 
■Were killed while runninjr from the enemy. " Run, Janet, run !" aaid the old man. The crue! 
savage repeated his words in derision, as he sunk the deadly tomahawk into her brain. 

There was another fort in Sinking valley, at the lead-mine ; and William Moore, finding it 
necessary to go there for ammunition, started very early one morning, with a boy by the name 
of M'Cartney. As he was passing a log by the side of the road, with some brush behind it, a 
shot from an Indian in ambush caused him to jump several feet into the air ; and he started off 
into the bushes, in a direction opposite to that which he should naturafly have taken — his brain 
being undoubtedly bewildered by the shot. The boy and the Indian at once jumped behind trees ; 
but the latter peeping out from his tree, which was not large, the boy availed himself of the chance 
to put a bullet into his buttock, which was exposed at the other side. The Indian ran, and 
dropped his belt and knife ; and the road was found strewed with bunches of bloody leaves, with" 
■which he had attempted to stanch the wound. But the man himself was not found, though 
bones were afterwards found, supposed to be his. 

The boy returned and reported the occurrence, when Mr. Daniel Moore assembled a band of 
men to seek his brother, and if possible to drive off the savage. Tlie poor man was found at 
Brush cr., nearly upright, leaning against a pile of driftwood. 

The depredations and mm'ders of the Indians became so frequent, that the few and scattered cole- 
nists were compelled to abandon the settlements, and retire below Jack's mountain, to Ferguson's 
valley, near Lewistown, where they remained five or six years ; and then returned again to their 
desolated homes, and settled in Scott's valley. More joined them after the war, and among others 
Messrs. John Blair and John Blair, Jr., who gave name to Blair's gap, where the old Frankstown 
road used to cross the Allegheny mountain, and which is now surmounted by the proud monu- 
ment of the enterprise of Pennsylvania — the Portage railroad. Mr. John Blair, Jr., was a most 
useful and intelligent citizen, and earned and deserved the character of the Aristidcs of the 
county. A Mr. Henry also came about the same time. 

The first village here consisted only of half a dozen or a dozen houses, on the high ground 
along the Frankstown road. Old Frank was the Indian chief of this region, and had a town 
about two miles below Hollidaysburg, called Frankstown, or Frank's Oldtown. It was on the 
flat, on tlie right bank of the Juniata, at the mouth of Oldtown run, near where the mill now is. 
From (his place, in later days, the Frankstown road led over Blair's gap to the Conemaugh coun- 
try, by which tl>e commodities of the east and west were transported on pack-horses. What a 
contrast presents itself now, at this same summit, between the locomotive and the old pack-horse ! 

Burgeon's gap was about four miles north of Blair's, and through it, or rather through the 
Kittanning gap near it, led the old war-path through the north end of Cambria co. to Kittanning. 
It was out ujwn this path that a band of tories, from the eastern parts of Huntingdon and Mifflin 
COS., went to escort the British and Indians from Kittanning, to cut off the defenceless settle- 
ments of the frontier. They met the fate that traitors always deserve. On arriving near Kittan- 
ning, they sent forward messengers to announce their approach and their errand ; but as they had 
been for some time on short allowance, the whole body, on seeing the fort, were so elated at the 
prospect of better supplies, that they simultaneously rushed forward, and overtook their own mes- 
sengers. The garrison, seeing the rapid approach of such an anned force, took them for ene- 
mies, and welcomed them with a warm discharge of bullets, which killed many of their number. 
The rest fled, in tlie utmost consternation, on the route by which they bad gone out. Their pro- 
risions had been exhausted on the way out, and the poor fugitives were compelled to recross the 
mountains, in a most famished condition. Two of them contrived to crawl over the mountain, 
and arrived at an old deserted cabin, in Tuckahoe valley, where the inhabitants had happened to 
leave a small portion of corn-meal and hog"s fat. Forgetting every thing but their hunger, they 
carelessly stood their rifles against the house outside, and fell tooth and nail upon the meal, seated 
upon the hearth inside, where they had kindled a fire to cook it. Samuel ]\Ioore and a comrade 
happened to be out hunting, when they approached the cabin, and espied the rifles leaning against 
the house. Moore crept very cautiously up, secured the rifles, and then opening the door with his 
rifle in his hand, called on the poor starved tories to surrender ; which of course they did. They 
were conducted into the fort at Hollidaysburg. Wliile going from the cabin to the fort, the tories 
could scarcely walk without being supported. One of them was disposed to be a little obstinate 
and impudent withal, when Moore's comrade, an immensely stout man, seized him, tied a 
rope round his neck, and throwing one end of the rope over the lintel of the fort-gate, swung up- 
on it, and run the poor fellow into the air. Moore, however, being of a cooler as well as more 
merciful disposition, did not approve of this summary justice, and ran immediately and cut the 
rope, in time to save the fellow's life. 

Near Hollidaysburg, about 2 1-2 miles below, on the canal, is Franks- 
town, now comparatively a small place, but formerly an important point 
on the road over the mountain. It is an incorporated borough, containing 
357 inhabitants. There is a furnace near this place. 



HUNTINGDON COUNTY. 373 

Two miles west from Hollidaysburg, on the northern turn} ike, is 
h flourishing village Avhich has recently grown up around a very exten- 
sive iron-works. 

Nevvry is another small village, 4 miles southwest from Hollidaysburg. 

An attempt was made in the legislature of 1843 to establish a new 
county, to be called Blair, out of parts of Huntingdon and Bedford cos. ; 
but it failed to pass. The details of the bill are not known to the com- 
piler, but it is presumed Hollidaysburg was to be the county seat. 

Williamsburg is a flourishing borough, 14 miles below Hollidaysburg, 
on the canal, and 10 miles, by road, west of Huntingdon. A copious 
spring which issues from a limestone rock behind the town, is sufficient 
to drive a flour-mill, woollen factory, and saw-mill. The town contains 
Presbyterian, Methodist, Baptist, Lutheran, and German Reformed 
churches. Two miles above is a forge ; and a little above that is Canoe 
furnace. Population in 1840, 637. The town was laid out in 1794, by 
Jacob Ake, a German, who owned the land. He leased the lots on ground 
rent ; a circumstance which has since created some unpleasant feelings 
between the citizens and the proprietor. Favored with a fine water- 
power from the spring, and enjoying the trade of the large and fertile 
valley of Morrison's cove, the place continued for some years to flourish ; 
but the completion of the canal has not tended to increase the prosperity 
of the place, though it has greatly benefited the farming interest in the 
vicinity. Among the first settlers near the town, were Judge Stuart and 
•' Esq." Phillips. One mile above this place, on the left bank of the 
Juniata, is a remarkable perpendicular ledge of rock, thin, sharp, and 
broken into fantastic forms, jutting out some eight or ten feet from the 
more friable rocks of the hill to which it is attached. It has much the 
appearance of the flying buttresses and turrets of a Gothic church. 

Alexandria is a handsome borough, on the left bank of the Juniata, 7 
miles above Huntingdon, near the mouth of Little Juniata. It contains a 
Presbyterian and a Methodist church. Population in 1840, 574. East 
of Alexandria, three miles, is the small borough of Petersburg^ also on the 
Juniata, at the mouth of Shover's creek. It contains 196 inhabitants. 
Two miles above Alexandria is Water-street, so called from the circum- 
stance of the road in early days passing through a gap in the mountain 
literally in a stream of water. The iron-works in this region are valuable. 

Birmingham is a thriving borough, 15 miles N. W. of Huntingdon, on 
the Little Juniata, near the old lead mine, and in the midst of the iron- 
works of Sinking valley. In 1824 it contained but nine houses. It now 
contains enough to accommodate 235 inhabitants. It was incorporated 
in 1828. . 

Shirleysburg is in the Aughwick valley, near the creek, 16 miles S. of 
Huntingdon, containing 247 inhabitants. Some reminiscences of Fort 
Shirley will be found above in the history of the county. In Aughwick 
valley, four miles S. of Shirleysburg, stood Bedford Furnace, the first one 
erected in western Pennsylvania. It has long since fallen to ruins. The 
estate, formerly Ridgley and Cromwell's, has changed owners, and a 
town has been laid out at the site of the old furnace, called Orhisonia, 
from the name of the present proprietor, William Orbison, Esq., of Hun- 
tingdon. Two furnaces and a forge have been built ; and the inexhausti- 



874 INDIANA COUNTY. 

ble mines of valuable ore, and steady water-power, promise to make it a 
growing place. 

There are several other small villages in this county. McConnellsburg, 
about five miles S. W. of Huntingdon, in Woodcock valley ; Ennisville, 
at the upper end of Stone valley ; and a number of little hamlets con- 
nected with the principal iron-works. The annexed extracts are from 
Philadelphia papers. 

On Saturday, 30th May, 1840, within two miles of Shirleysburg, Huntingdon county, Penn-- 
Bylvania, a series of murders were committed, which, for atrocity, haVe scarcely a parallel on re- 
cord. No less than six human beings were hurried from time to eternity, by the hand of a cold' 
blooded murderer, viz. : a Mrs. Brown, and her five children, from the age of 21 to 10 years 
The old lady was found with her throat cut — the son aged 21, and the daughter about 16, with 
rifle balls through their bodies — the three younger ones, with their brains knocked out with stones, 
in a field hard by the dwelling-house — supposed to have fled on witnessing the butchery of their 
mother, &-c. Mr. Brown was from home, and on his return, a short time after his family were 
murdered, was fired at twice from the barn, the last ball taking effect, ranging along the lower 
jaw and passing through the ear. He was stunned, but did not fall. At the moment of receiv- 
ing the second fire, he saw a man jump from tlie barn loft, and make for the woods. This man 
he believed to be his own son-in-law, by name, Canaughy. On this suspicion, or rather strong 
belief, Canaughy was arrested, and the testimony taken before the examining and committing 
magistrate, went to fix guilt strongly upon him. It appears Brown, the father-in-law, owns a 
farm worth three or four thousand dollars. Canaughy, the morning of the murders, started with 
his wife for the residence of his mother, some miles distant in the mountains. He had contrived, 
however, before starting, to procure the return to their father's residence of the son and daughter, 
who were absent aiding a neighbor, not far distant, in his field labors, by coining a plausible 
story, so that his motive for the deed might be made fully and efTectually available. Had he 
succeeded in destroying the father-in-law, his (Canaughy's) wife, the only survivor, v/ould have 
inherited the estate. This was, undoubtedly, the moving cause to the hellish deed. In addition, 
it was in evidence, he had borrowed his father-in-law's two rifles, and they were found in the 
barn from whence the murderer fled. Canaughy was arrested, in bed, at his mother's residence 
the same night. He denies, — but there is little doubt erf his guilt. The community, in the 
neighborhood of this horrible transaction, is greatly excited. 



Robert Canaughy suffered the awful penalty of the law at Huntingdon, on the 6th Nov., 1840. 
He was executed in the jail-yard, a few minutes before 3 o'clock, P. M. 

The closing circumstances of his guilty and miserable career were peculiar : down to the hour 
of his execution, nay to the very moment the drop fell, he stubbornly persisted in asserting his 
innocence. Ail hope of his making any acknowledgments was entirely removed by his dogged 
conduct. He was taken upon the scaffold — every thing adjusted — Ihe moment arrived, the drop 
fell, and not a word confessed. But the rope broke, and instead of hanging, very much to his 
astonishment, we suppose, he found himself upon the ground, under the gallows ! He thought 
he was " clear," but the illusion was present with him but a moment. He Was immediately 
taken up on the gallows again ; every thing made ready ; the drop about to fall, when he begged 
for " time to talk a little," and proceeded " to make a full and detailed confession of his crimes 
to the clergyman present, Mr. Brown and Mr. Peebles, who reduced it to writing in his own 
words, as he made it," and who will cause it to be published for the benefit of his wife and chiU 
dren. His confession, it is said, casts yet deeper and darker shades of cruelty over the bloody 
afiair. 

He had scarcely concluded his confession, when the last minute that the execution could bo 
delayed arrived and he was again swung off", and paid his life a forfeiture for his crime ! — Sentinel, 



INDIANA COUNTY. 

Indiana county was separated from Westmoreland and Allegheny by 
the act of 12th March, 1803. Length 33 ms., breadth 23; area 770 sq. 
miles. Population in 1810, 6,214; in 1820, 8,882; in 1830, 14,252; in 



INDIANA COUNTY. 375 

1840, 20,782. This county is situated on the north side of the Conemaugh 
river, in the second tier of counties west of the Allegheny mountain. Its 
surface is undulating, like that of most of the western counties, formed 
as it is by the abrading action of water upon what was originally a vast 
and uniform inclined plane. Laurel hill touches the southeastern corner 
of the CO. Chestnut ridge passes north and south through it ; becoming 
much depressed, and almost losing its identity as a distinct ridge to the 
north of Two Lick cr. The region of these mountains is more rough and 
precipitous than the other portions of the co. The Conemaugh river 
forms the southern boundary, assuming the name of the Kiskiminetas, at 
the confluence of the Loyalhanna, just before leaving the co. Black Lick 
cr., with its branches. Yellow cr. and Two Lick cr., tributaries to the 
Conemaugh, water the southern end of the co. ; the northern is watered 
by Crooked cr.. Plum cr., and two branches of Mahoning cr., tributaries 
to the Allegheny. 

" The lowest known summit in Pennsylvania between the waters of 
the Atlantic and of the Gulf of Mexico, lies in the northeastern part of 
Indiana county, at the head of Cushing creek, one of the head springs of 
the West Branch, and divides that stream from Two Lick, a branch of the 
Conemaugh. This dividing ground is probably (speaking from recollec- 
tion without the opportunity of referring to documents) about 500 feet 
lower than the Allegheny mountain at its most depressed point. To this 
summit and to another between Sinnemahoning and Clarion river, the 
hopes of those who expected a complete navigable communication through 
the state, were principally directed." 

The western division of the main line of the Pennsylvania canal passes 
along the Conemaugh, frequently opening into a series of slackwater 
pools in the river : nine miles below Blairsville it passes through a tunnel 
over 1,000 feet long, and emerges upon a magnificent stone aqueduct 
across the Conemaugh. 

To the traveller passing up the canal, the view of the aqueduct, and 
the western entrance of the tunnel, with the river and the rugged moun- 
tains above it, is exceedingly picturesque. Previous to the construction 
of the canals, the Conemaugh was a rough impetuous stream, of danger- 
ous navigation. 

The hills through which the Conemaugh winds its way are filled 
with mines of coal, iron, and salt. The manufacture of the latter article 
has been for some years one of the leading branches of industry in the 
southern end of the co. In the interior, agriculture is the leading busi- 
ness, and on the forks of the Mahoning the lumber trade is vigorously 
prosecuted. The following is from a traveller's letter, published in Haz- 
ard's Register for 1831 : — 

The existence of salt water in this section was indicated by the oozing of water, slightly brack- 
ish, through the fissures of the rock. These places are called licks, from the fact of deer and 
other animals resorting to them, to drink the water and lick the mud or rocks, though the salt is 
scarcely perceptible to the human taste. Hence, " watching a lick" is a phrase often heard 
among sportsmen in that part of the country ; and it is common to see a kind of scaffold or nest 
among the branches of a neighboring tree, in which the gunner awaits the approach of the xm- 
suspecting animal to its favorite lick. Many deer are killed in this manner-. 

About the year 1813, when salt, in consequence of the war, was extravagantly high, an enter- 
prising gentleman (Mr. William Johnston, deceased several j^ears since) determined to perforate 
the rock, and ascertain whether there was not some valuable fountain from wlience all these 
oozings issued. He conomenced operations on the bank of the Conemaugh, near the mouth of 



376 INDIANA COUNTY. 

the Loyalhanna, and persevered until he had reached the depth of 450 feet, through various strata 
of hard rock, when he struck an abundant fountain, strongly impregnated with salt. He imme- 
diately proceeded to tubing the perforation to excJude the fresh water, erecting furnaces, pans, 
and other fixtures, and was soon in the full tide of successful experiment, making about thirty 
bushels per day, all of which was eagerly purchased at a high price. 

Mr. Johnston's success induced many others to embark in the business, most of whom were 
successful. Very soon the hitherto silent and solitary banks of this river were all bustle, life, and 
enterprise. Well after well was sunk ; competition ran high, and brought the price of the arti- 
cle lower and lower, until it was reduced to one dollar per barrel. This was too low. Some 
establishments were abandoned, others were carried on amidst every difficulty. However, a 
reaction, which was naturally to be expected, at last took place ; the price was fixed at two dol- 
lars per barrel, which afforded a fair profit. The business regained its former spirit, and the 
quantity manufactured rapidly increased, and is still increasing. 

The wells or perforations are from 300 to 600 feet in depth, and about two and a half or three 
inches in diameter. They are made with a common stone chisel attached to poles. The opera- 
tion is generally performed by hand, by striking the chisel forcibly upon the bottom. It is a 
tedious, laborious, and expensive operation, often requiring the labor of two men for more than a 
year. When water of the required strength and in sufficient quantity is obtained, the well is 
tubed to exclude the fresh water, and a pump inserted, which formerly was worked by horse- 
power, but now more commonly by a small steam-engine. The water is first boiled in large 
square sheet-iron pans, until it attains a strength but little short of crystallization ; from these 
pans it is transferred to large cisterns, in wliich the sediment is deposited ; thence, purified, it ia 
put into large kettles placed in the rear of the pans, in which it soon becomes crystallized without 
any further attention. I have often watclied tlie curious and beautiful process of crystallization. 
Spear after spear, of the most delicate structure and fantastic shape, will dart into existence as 
if by magic ; the process becomes more and more rapid every moment ; presently it looks con- 
fused and muddy, then, almost before he is aware, the spectator finds his eyes fixed upon a kettle 
of salt. 

Sufficient water is drawn from one well to supply from three to five pans, making from fifteen 
to twenty barrels of salt daily. About thirty gallons are usually evaporated to every bushel. 
Coal is exclusively used as the fuel, nature liaving provided it in exnaustless abundance, and as 
convenient to the works as could be desired. At many of them it is thrown from the mouth of 
the pit into schutes, through which it descends by its own gravity to the side of the furnaces. 

Copperas is manufactured to some extent in Mercer county. On Blacklick creek, in Indiana 
county, a few miles from Blairsville, there is evidence of an abundant source of this article, 
though there is no regular manufactory of it. 

The most authentic history of the early settlement of Indiana county is 
the following sketch by R. B. McCabe, Esq., originally published \vith 
the signature of Mohulbuckteetam, in the Blairsville Record, in 1833: — 

The first attempt at making a settlement in the limits of Indiana county, is believed to have 
been made in the year 1769, in the forks of Conemaugh and Blacklick. The country had been 
explored in 1766-7, and the explorers were particularly pleased with the spot on which the town 
of Indiana now stands. It was clear of timber or brush, and clothed in high grass — a sort of 
prairie. So was what is now called the marsh, near the town on the Blairsville road, though at 
this time a nearly impervious thicket. When settlers had commenced improvements within a 
few miles of the town, they cut the grass off the prairie for the support of their cattle in winter. 
In making their hay they were greatly annoyed by rattlesnakes. Persons are yet living in the 
neighborhood, who have seen this natural meadow with the hay cut and stacked upon it. 

About the year 1771 or 177"2, Fergus Moorhcad and James Kelly commenced improvements 
near where the town of Indiana stands. Kelly's cabin stood within the limits that now enclose 
his son Meek Kelly's orchard. The country around might well be termed a howling wilderness, 
for it was full of wolves. 

So soon as the cabins were finished, each of these adventurers betook himself at night to his 
castle. One morning Mr. Moorhcad paid a visit to his neighbor Kelly, and was surprised to find 
near his cabin traces of blood and tufts of human hair. Kelly was not to be found. Moorhead, 
believing him to have been killed by the wolves, was cautiously looking about for his remains, 
when he discovered him sitting by a spring, washing the blood from his hair. 

He had lain down in his cabin at night and fallen asleep ; a wolf reached through a crack be- 
tween the logs, and seized him by the head. This was repeated twice or thrice before he was 
sufficiently awakened to shift his position. The smallness of the crack and the size of his head 
prevented the wolf from grasping it so far as to have a secure hold, and that saved his life. Some 
time after this the two adventurers returned to Franklin county (then Cumberland) for their fam- 
ilies. On their return, they were joined by others. Joseph M'Cartney settled near them at an 
early period. 



INDIANA COUNTY. 377 

The privations of such a situation can, in some degree, be measured by the difficulty of obtain- 
ing bread-stufi's, and other necessaries of life, of which the following is an example : — Moses 
Chambers was another early settler. Having served several years on board a British man-of-war, 
he was qualified for a life of danger and hardship. Moses continued to work on his improvement 
till he was told one morning that the last johnnycake was at the fire ! What was to be done ? 
There was no possibility of a supply short of Conococheague. He caught his horse and made 
ready. He broke the johnnycake in two pieces, and giving one half to his wife, the partner of his 
perils and fortunes, he put up the other half in the lappet of his coat with thorns, and turned his 
iiorse's head to the east. There were no inns on the road in those days, nor a habitation west of 
the mountains, save, perhaps, a hut or two at Fort Ligonier. The Kittanning path was used to 
Ligonier, and from thence the road made by Gen. Forbes' army. Where good pasture could be 
had for his horse, Moses tarried and baited. To him day was as night, and night as the day. 
He slept only while his horse was feeding ; nor did he give rest to his body nor ease to his mind, 
until he returned with his sack stored with corn. 

How forcibly would the affecting story of the patriarch Jacob apply itself to the condition of 
families tlius circumstanced ! " Jacob said to his sons, Why do ye look one upon another ? — and 
he said. Behold, I have heard that there is corn in Egypt ; get you down thither, and buy for us 
from thence, that we may live and not die." 

Moses Chambers was not the only one who had to encounter the fatigue and trouble of pro- 
curing supplies from Franklin county — all had to do so. Such was the condition of this country, 
and such the prospects of settlers after the peace of 1763. 

A scarcity of provisions was one of the constant dangers of the first settlers, and, to make their 
case worse, there were no mills, even after they began to raise grain. The first year some Indian 
corn was planted. It grew, and in the form of " roasting ears" was gladly gathered for food. I 
can see, " in my mind's eye," the hardy dame, with her homemade apron of " lye color and 
white" pinned round her waist, stepping cautiously between the rows of corn, selecting the 
finest, tiiat is to say the best, ears for dinner, ay, and for breakfast and supper too. 

When the grains got hard, it made good hommony. Reader, didst ever eat hommony ? If 
thou hast not, one of the good things of this world hath escaped thy notice entirely 1 

About the year 1773, William Bracken built a mill near where William Clark, Esq., lately 
resided on Blacklick, which was a great convenience to the settlers. They marked out a path, 
(they had never heard of railroad.s, canals, or even turnpikes,) by which they travelled to Bracken's 
mill. I see (me of them before me ; his bridle, or rather the bridle of his horse, is of hickory bark, 
and he rides on a pack-saddle ! 

About the year 1774, Samuel Moorhead commenced building a mill on Stony Run, where An- 
drew Dixon's sawmill now stands ; but before it was completed, the settlers were driven off by 
the Indians. They fled to what was then called the Sewickly Settlement. This was called 
Dunmore's war ; by some of the old settlers it was called the civil war, but I don't know why. 
They lost their cattle and their crops. However, they returned in the fall to their improvements, 
and Moorhead completed his mill. 

The Indians were living on the Allegheny river at this time. They had a town called Hick- 
orytown, another called Mahoning, also Punxatawne}', (or Gnat or Mosquitoe-town.) At their 
leisure — and they contrived to have a good deal — they stole the white men's horses, and showed 
symptoms of no doubtful character as to their feelings towards their new neighbors. 

By tills time the disputes between tlie colonies and the motiier country blazed out into war. 
The war, the most important in its effects that faithful history has ever recorded, reached even 
the hardy settlers of Indiana. 

About 1775 or 6, a regiment or battalion of soldiers was sent to Kittanning to build a fort for 
the protection of the frontiers. This drove the Indians into open hostility. 

Little is known or recorded concerning the adventures of the settlers 
during the war of the revolution, and the subsequent campaigns of Harmar, 
St. Clair, and Wayne. It is probable their residence here was precarious 
and unsettled. Every settler was a soldier, and preferred indeed occa- 
sionally the use of the rifle to that of the axe or the plough. John Thompson 
was one of the very few who remained here. He had erected a block- 
house six miles N. E. of Indiana borough, where he resided throughout all 
the troubles of the frontier. 

After Wayne's treaty in 1795, the settlers again returned to their 
homes, and resumed the occupations of peace. When old Mr. McLehoe 
came to the county, about the year 1800, Greensburg, in Westmoreland, 
was the nearest trading town. At Saltzburg and at Johnstown there 
were only a few cabins. The county was settled principally by Irish and 

4S 



378 



INDIANA COUNTY. 



German emigrants, and is now possessed by their descendants, a majority 
of whom are from the former source. That the inhabitants are rehgiously 
and morally disposed, may be inferred fi'om the fact, that in 1830 there 
was a church in the county for every G50 souls. 

Indiana, the county seat, was laid out in 1805, upon a tract of 250 acres 
granted for that purpose by George Clymer. It is a pleasant, neatly built 
town, containing the usual county buildings, an academy. Presbyterian, 
Methodist, Lutheran or " Zion," and Seceder churches, and about 80 or 
100 dwellings. The public buildings, and many of the stores and dwell 




Central part of Indiana. 

ings, are of brick or stone. The turnpike from Kittanning to Ebensburg 
passes through the town. Population in 1840, 674, The place has been 
much improved within the last few years. It is said there are some 
traces of an ancient aboriginal fortification about three miles S. W. of the 
town. 

Blairsville is situated on the right bank of the Conemaugh, immedi- 
ately below the mouth of Blacklick cr., and on the northern turnpike, 40 
miles from Pittsburg, and 14 from the county seat. It was laid out about 
the year 1819, and was named in honor of John Blair, Esq., of Blair's gap, 
then president of the Hollidaysburg and Pittsburg Turnpike Company. The 
town site originally belonged to Mr. Campbell. The construction of the 
turnpike fostered the growth of the town, and a large hotel was erected 
to accommodate the travel. In 1821 the noble bridge was thrown across 
the river by the turnpike co. It is of one span, 295 feet between the 
abutments, and is built on the Wernwag plan, similar to the one which 
was burnt down at Fairmount a few years since. In March, 1825, the 
town was incorporated as a borough ; and in 1827 the population was 
ascertained to be 500. From this period to ] 884 were the palmy days of 
Blairsville. In 1828 the western division of the canal was completed to 
this place, and the eastern was advancing step by step towards the 
mountains ; the intermediate sections of canal and the railroad over the 
mountains were in progress, but still unfinished. The carrying trade, 
therefore, and the increasing travel, were obliged to resort to the turn 



INDIANA COUNTV. 



379 



pike. This gave great importance to Blairsville as a depot, and the place 
was full of bustle and prosperity. Immense hotels and warehouses were 
erected, four or five churches were built within three years, property in- 
creased in vakie, and the hotels were swarming with speculators, engi- 
neers, contractors, and forwarding agents. In 1834, the communication 




Blairsville. 

was opened over the mountains, the use of the turnpike was to a great 
extent abandoned, and the merchants and inn-keepers of Blairsville were 
compelled to sit and see the trade and travel " pass by on the other side." 
A reaction and depression of course ensued to some extent, but the enter- 
prising citizens were only driven to the natural resources of the country 
as a basis of trade. A very considerable quantity of agricultural products 
are sold here, the surrounding country being very productive. Quite a 
number of houses are largely engaged in the pork business. The town 
is improving with a gradual and healthy growth. Population in 1840, 
990. The citizens of this place are said to be, without disparagement to 
other towns, remarkably intelligent and hospitable. There are now five 
churches in the place — Presbyterian, Episcopal, Lutheran, Methodist, and 
Catholic. A daily line of stages passes through on the turnpike. 

Saltzburg is a small village on the Conemaugh river and canal, in the 
S. W. corner of the co., 10 miles from Blairsville, and 17 from the county 
seat. It derives its name from the many salt u^orks in the vicinity. It 
contains some 30 or 40 dwellings, stores, taverns, and a Presbyterian 
church. Population in 1840, 335. The settlements around this place 
were among the earliest in the county. (See preceding extract relating 
to the salt manufacture.) 

Armagh is a small village 13 miles east of Blairsville, on the turnpike 
to Ebensburg, near the western base of Laurel hill. Its location is ele- 
vated and healthy. There is a Presbyterian church in the village, and 
Methodist, Baptist, and Seceder churches in the vicinity. The hotels, of 
which there are two, are excellent. 

Armagh is quite an old village, originally settled by Irish, who gave it 
its Irish name. It is two miles from this place to the canal landing, at a 
small hamlet called Nineveh. 



380 JEFFERSON COUNTY^ 



JEFFERSON COUNTY. 

Jefferson county was taken from Lycoming by the act of 26th March 
1804, but was at first attached to Westmoreland for judicial purposes, 
and afterwards to Indiana co. The first commissioners were not appoint- 
ed until 1824. Length 46 miles, breadth 26 ; area 1,203 sq. miles. Pop- 
ulation in 1810, 161 ; in 1820, 561 ; in 1830, 2,025; in 1840, 7,253. 

There are no mountains in the county, but the surface is hilly, particu- 
larly near the large streams, which flow through deep and precipitous 
valleys. On the summits between the large rivers the land is more gent- 
ly undulating. The soil, on an average, is second-rate, with occasional 
bottoms of first-rate land along the streams. The rocks pertain to the series 
of coal measures lying on the outskirts of the Pittsburg coal basin. Coal 
is found among the hills near Brookville, and in other places. Iron ore 
is also found. The co. is still but partially improved. Several causes 
have operated to check its improvement as rapidly as its resources would 
justify. The lumber business having chiefly occupied the attention of 
the citizens, the more steady and sure business of farming has been neg- 
lected. The reaction in commercial affairs of 1840-42, promises to cor- 
rect this evil. 

Large bodies of land in the best locations are still held by rich propri- 
etors at a distance, who will neither improve their lands nor sell them at 
a fair price to those who will. This casts the burden of public expenses, 
and the labor of making roads, upon the few who have improved their 
lands. Wild land sells at from $1 to $3 per acre. 

For many years after its establishment this county was little better 
than a hunting-ground for whites and Indians. The first commissioners 
were not appointed until 1824. They were Andrew Barnett, John Lu- 
cas, and John W. Jenks — and first met at Port Barnett. In 1825 the only 
townships were Pine creek and Perry, The following sketch of the first 
white settlement within the county was principally derived from Andrew 
Barnett, jr., Esq. : 

Old Mr. Joseph Barnett was the patriarch of Jefferson co. He had done service on the West 
Branch under Gen. Potter during the revolution ; and also under the state against the Wyoming 
boys. After the war he settled in Lycoming co., at the mouth of Pine creek ; and very probably 
might have been one of the Fair-play boys ; at any rate, he lost his property by the operation of 
the common law, which superseded the jurisdiction o( fair play. Again, in 1797, he penetrated 
the wilderness of the Upper Susquehanna by the Chinklacamoose path, and passing the head 
lands between the Susquehanna and the Allegheny, arrived on the waters of Red-bank, then 
called Sandy Lick creek. He had purchased lands here of Timothy Pickering &, Co. Me first 
erected a saw-mill at Port Barnett, where Andrew Barnett, jr., now resides, at the mouth of Mill 
cr., about two miles east of Brookville. His companions on this expedition were his brother An- 
drew Barnett, and his brother-in-law, Samuel Scott. Nine Seneca Indians, of Cornplanter's 
tribe, assisted him to raise his mill. Leaving his brothers to look after the new structure, he re- 
turned to his family in Lycoming, intending to bring them out. But Scott soon followed him 
with the melancholy news of the death of his brother Andrew, who was buried by the friendly 
Indians and Scott in the flat opposite the present tavern. This news discouraged him for a 
while ; but in 1799 he removed his family out, accompanied again by Mr. Scott. They sawed 
lumber and rafted it down to Pittsburg, where it brought in those days ^25 per thousand. The 
usual adventures and privations of frontier life attended their residence. The nearest mill was 
on Black Lick creek, in Indiana co. Mr. Barnett knew nothing of the wilderness south of him, 
and was obliged to give an Indian ^4 to pilot him to Westmoreland. The nearest house on the 
path eastward was Paul Clover's, (grandfather of Gen. Clover,) 33 miles distant on the Susque- 



JEFFERSON COUNTY. 381 

hanna, -where Curwensville now stands ; westward, Fort Venango was distant 45 miles. These 
points were the only resting places for the travellers through that unbroken wilderness. 

The Senecas of Cornplanter's tribe were friendly and peaceable neighbors, and often extended 
their excursions into these waters, where they encamped two or three in a squad, and hunted 
deer and bears ; taking the hams and skins in the spring to Pittsburg. Their rafts were con- 
structed of dry poles, upon which they piled up their meat and skins in the form of a haystack, 
took them to Pittsburg, and exchanged them for trinkets, blankets, calicoes, weapons, &-c. They 
were always friendly, sober, and rather fond of making money. During the war of 1812 the 
settlers were apprehensive that an unfortunate turn of the war upon the lakes might bring an 
irruption of savages upon the frontier, through the Seneca nation. 

Old Capt. Hunt, a Muncy Indian, had his camp for some years on Red-bank, near where ia 
now the southwestern corner of BroOkville. He got his living by hunting, and enjoyed the re- 
sults in drinking whiskey, of which he was inordinately fond. One year he killed 78 bears — ■ 
they were plenty then — the skins might be worth about $3 each, nearly all of which he expend- 
ed for his favorite beverage. 

Samuel Scott resided here until 1810, when, having scraped together, by hunting and lumber- 
ing, about ^2,000, he went down to the Miami river and bought a section of fine land, which 
made hira rich. 

John, William, and Jacob Bassbinder, a family from New Jersey, came 
in and settled on Mill cr., three miles northeast of Barnett, about the year 
1802 or 1803. John Matson, sen., came in 1805 or 1806. Between the 
years 1830 and 1840, a number of German families came into the lower 
part of the county, and settled near Red Bank cr. 

The impulse given to the lumber-trade, by the speculations in the state 
of Maine, was not without its influence upon remote sections of the Union. 
The keen sagacity of the Yankees discovered that there were vast bodies 
of pine-lands lying around the sources of the Allegheny river, not appre- 
ciated at their full value by the few pioneers who lived among them. 
The Yankees had learned to estimate the value of pine-land by the tree 
and by the log : the Pennsylvanians still reckoned it by the acre. Some- 
where between 1830 and 1837, individuals and companies from New 
England and New York purchased considerable bodies of land on the 
head-waters of Red Bank and Clarion rivers, from the Holland Land Co., 
and other large landholders. They proceeded to erect saw-mills, and to 
drive the lumber-trade after the most approved method. The little leaven 
thus introduced caused quite a fermentation among the lumbermen and 
landholders of the county. More lands changed owners ; new water- 
privileges were improved ; capital was introduced from abroad ; and 
during the spring-floods every creek and river resounded w^ith the prepa- 
ration of rafts, and the lively .shouts of the lumbermen as they shot their 
rafts over the swift chutes of the mill-dams. The population of the 
county was trebled in ten years. 

Brookville, the county seat, is situated on the Waterford and Susque- 
hanna turnpike, 44 miles east of Franklin, and immediately at the head 
of Red Bank cr., which is here formed by the confluence of three branches. 
The town was laid out by the county commissioners in 1830: the lots 
were sold in June of that year, at from $30 to $300 per lot, and the erec- 
tion of houses commenced soon after. The place now contains about 50 
or 60 dwellings and stores, a large brick courthouse and public ofiices, 
and a Presbyterian church. The town is watered by hydrants, supplied 
by a copious spring in the hill on the north. The scenery around this 
town would be fine, were it not that all the hills, except on the north 
side, are still clothed by the original forest of pines, being held by distant 
proprietors, who neither sell nor improve. Population in 1840, 276. The 
great state road, called the Olean road, between Kittanning and Olean, 



adii 



JUNIATA COUNTY 



passes through the county, about seven miles west of Brookville. North 
of the turnpike, however, this road has been suifered to be closed by 
windfalls, and is not now Used. In the annexed view, taken at the west 
end of the village, part of the Presbyterian church is seen in the fore- 
ground on the left, and the courthouse in the distance. 




Western Entrance to Bi'ookville. 

A road leads from Brookville to Ridgeway, a settlement of New Eng- 
land and New York people, made some years since on the Little Mill cr. 
branch of Clarion river, in the northeastern corner of the county. It 
took its name from .lacob Ridgeway, of Philadelphia, who owned large 
tracts of land in this vicinity. 

PuNXATAWNY is a Small village with 15 or 20 dwellings, on a branch of 
Mahoning cr., about 18 miles southeast from Brookville. 

Brockway is a small settlement on Little Toby's cr., at the crossing of 
the road between Brookville and Ridgeway. 

SoMERViLLE, or Troy, is a small cluster of houses on the right bank of 
Red Bank, seven miles below Brookville. Not far from this place is a 
Seceders' church, one of the first built in the county. 



JUNIATA COUNTY. 

Juniata county was separated from Mifflin by the act of 2d March, 
1831. Average length about 40 m., breadth 9; area 360 sq. m. Popu- 
lation in 1840, 11,080, The county comprises that portion of Mifflin 
which lay S. E. of Black Log and Shade mountains, and has for its south- 
eastern boundary the lofty barrier of Tuscarora mountain, which takes 
the name of Turkey mountain east of the Juniata. These mountains 
enclose^ S. W. of the Juniata, the beautiful and fertile valley of Tusca- 
rora cr., composed of undulating hills of slate and limestone ; and on the 
N. E. of the Juniata smaller valleys of similar formation. Black Log val- 



JUNIATA COUNTY. 383 

ley, a long canoe-shaped trough, extends up into the western corner of the 
county. The principal strean'is are the .Tuniata river, and Tuscarora cr., 
Licking cr., Lost cr,, and Cocalamus cr., tributaries of the Juniata; and 
West Mahantango, which empties into the Susquehanna. 

The slate and limestone valleys are fertile ; the mountains are precipi- 
tous, broken, and generally sterile ; but their sides are covered with a 
thick forest. Iron-ore is found in the county, but the greater proportion 
of the iron manufactories of Mifflin were not within the present bounds 
of Juniata co. The principal branch of business is agriculture. The 
population is composed of the descendants of Germans and Irish, who 
were the early settlers. The Pennsylvania canal and the Huntingdon 
turnpike pass along the left bank of the Juniata. Near Tuscarora cr., 
some ten miles from Mifflin, there are said to be the remains of an ancient 
Indian fortification and mound. 

The first settlements in Tuscarora Valley were made by Scotch Irish, 
from the Cumberland Valley, about the year 1749. At that day the slate 
lands bordering the mountains, watered by clear and copious springs, 
were more esteemed than the limestone lands, where the waters sunk be- 
neath the surface, and expensive wells were consequently required. The 
adventurous pioneers, therefore, extended their researches over the moun- 
tains, and discovered the rich and well-watered valleys along the Juniata. 
In 18.33, at the circuit court sitting at Mifflin, an important lawsuit was 
tried, involving the title to a farm of 300 or 400 acres of the best land in 
Tuscarora Valley, about 6 miles from Mifflin. The farm was in contro- 
versy for about 50 years, before various courts at Carlisle and Lewis- 
town. It is known among lawyers as the Grey property case, reported 
in 10 Sergeant and Rawle, page 182. Many of the facts given in evi- 
dence are interesting as elucidating the history of the times ; and the 
whole case, with the amusing scenes that occurred at the trials, and the 
marked originality of many of the principal personages, would constitute 
an excellent theme for an historical novel. The following statement of 
the case is derived, partly, from a sketch by Samuel Creigh, Esq., pub- 
lished in Hazard's Register, and partly from verbal conversation with a 
number of the eminent counsel in the case. 

Robert Hag^, Samuel Bigham, /^or Bingham,) James Grey, and John Grey, were the four first 
settlers in Tuscarora valley, and the first white men who came across Tuscarora mountain, aVxiut 
the year 1749. They cleared some land, and built a fort, afterwards called Bigham's fort. 
Some time in 1756, John Grey and another person went to Carlisle with pack-horses, to purchase 
salt : as Grey was returning, on the declivity of the mountiiin, a bear crossed his path and fright- 
ened his horse, which threw him off. He was detained some hours by this accident ; and when 
he arrived at the fort, he found it had just been burned, and every person in it either killed or 
taken prisoner by the Indians. His wife, and only daughter, three years old, were gone, — also 
Innis's wife and children. A man by the name of George Woods (he was the father-in-law of Mr. 
Ross, who ran for governor, and afterwards lived in Bedford) was taken outside the fort, with a 
number of others. 

John Grey joined Col. Armstrong's expedition against Kittanning in the autumn of that same 
year, in hopes of hearing from his family. The hardships of the campaign prostrated liis health, 
and he returned to Bucks co., his original home, only to die. He left a will giving to his wife 
one half his farm and to his daughter the other half, if they returned from captivity. If his 
daughter did not return, or was not alive, he gave the other half to his sister, who had a claim 
against him of X'l3, which she was to release. 

In the mean time, George Woods, Mrs. Grey and her child, with the rthers, were taken across 
the mountains to Kittanning, then an Indian village, and afterwards delivered to the French 
commander of Fort Duquesne. Woods was noted for his gallantry, and during their captivity at 
Fort Duquesne he represented to Mrs. Grey how much better married than single [iersons fared 



384 JUNIATA COUNTY. 

among the Indians, and proposed a match. Mrs. Grey had no inclination for a partnership in 
misfortune, and peremptorily declined. Woods was given to an Indian by the name of Hutson ; 
and Mrs. Grey and her child were taken charge of by others, and carried into Canada. About 
a year after the burning of the fort, Mrs. Grey concealed herself among some deerskins in the 
wagon of a white trader, and was brought off, leaving her daughter still in captivity. She re- 
turned home, proved her husband's will, and took possession of her half the property. She after- 
wards married a Mr. Enoch Williams, by whom, however, she had no issue. Some seven years 
after her escape, in 1764, a treaty was made with the Indians, by the conditions of which a num- 
ber of captive children were surrendered, and brought to Philadelphia, to be recognised and 
claimed by their friends. Mrs. Grey attended, but no child appeared that she recognised as her 
dear little Jane. Still, there was one of about the same age whom no one claimed. Sonie one 
conversant with the conditions of John Grey's will, slyly whispered to her to claim this child for 
the purpose of holding the other half of the property. She did so, and brought up the child as 
her own — carefully retaining the secret, as well as a woman could. Time wore away, and the 
girl grew up, gross and ugly in her person, awkward in her manners, and, as events pri ved, 
loose in her morals. With" all these attainments, however, she contrived to captivate one Mr. 
Gillespie, who married her. A Scotch-Irish clergyman of the Seceder persuasion, by the name 
of McKee, became quite intimate with Gillespie, and either purchased the property in question 
from him, or had so far won his good graces, that he bequeathed it to him. The clergyman 
made over the property to one of his nephews, of the same name. The clergyman had also a 
brother, McKee, who, with his wife, was a resident of Tuscarora Valley. His wife, " old Mrs. 
McKee," was a prominent witness in the subsequent trials. After a lapse of years, the children 
of James Grey, heirs of John Grey's sister, got hold of some information leading them to doubt 
the identity of the returned captive ; and the lawsuits consequent upon such a state of things 
were speedily brought, about the year 1789. It would literally "puzzle a Philadelphia lawyer" 
to describe the multiform and complicated phases which the case assumed during a legal con- 
test of more than 50 years, and would besides throw no light upon the history of the valley. The 
Williamses, the Greys, the McKees, all claimed an interest by inheritance, — to say nothing of the 
Beales, the Norriscs, and others who had bought into the property, and several lawyers with large 
contingent fees. Many of the facts stated above were elicited during the examinations, although 
some of them were not admitted by the court as legal testimony. 

Mrs. Grey (or Mrs. Williams) said that when they were crossing Sideling hill she had exam- 
ined the child Jane, and found a mark on her by which she had been able to recognise her. Mr. 
Innis was one of the captives, and remained with the Indians until the treaty; and when 
one day he chided Mrs. WOliams for keeping a child not her own, she replied, " You know why 
I keep this girl." Mrs. Innis told her that her daughter was not returned, that this was a Ger- 
man girl, and could not talk English when she came to Montreal. Mrs. Innis herself had lost 
three children. One the Indians put under the ice because it was sick — the other two she got. 
One of these a gentleman of Philadelphia had, and refused to give it up, until Innis proved the 
child his by a private mark. Mrs. Williams said to one witness, " No, that is not my daughter, 
but George Woods knows where my daughter is, and has promised to get her." The real daugh- 
ter, however, never was recovered. 

Old Mrs. McKee, the principal Uving witness at a number of trials, and who spoke with a rich 
Irish brogue, on one occasion became quite garrulous, and entered largely into the history of the 
valley, to the great amusement of the court. Among other things, she described the spurious 
girl as " a big black ugly Dutch lump, and not to be compared to the beautiful Jenny Grey." 
Her historical developments so much interested one of the jury at Lewistown, an old settler 
himself, that he — forgetting the restraints of a juryman — sent for the old lady to come to his room 
at the hotel, and enter more at large into " the days of auld lang syne." The old man was a 
little deaf, and the old lady's loud voice could be heard throughout the house. One of the coun- 
sel, whose side of the case wore rather a discouraging aspect, overheard the old lady ; and the 
next morning exposed the poor juryman, amidst a roar of laughter from the court and the bar. 
The case of course had to be ordered for trial before another jury. The following is the deposi- 
tion of George Woods, written by him, or at his dictation, at Bedford, in 1789, but never sworn 
to. It was not without great resistance on the part of counsel, that the facts were introduced as 
testimony. The case was finally decided in 1833 or '34, against the identity of the adopted 
child, and the property vested accordingly. 

" Personally appeared, &-c., «&c., &c., George Woods, and saith, that about 12th or 13th of 
June, 1756, he was taken by the Indians in the settlement of the Tuscarora, in the county afore- 
said, [of Mifflin,] and that the wife of John Grey and his daughter Jane, and others, were taken at 
same time ; — that we were all carried to the Kittanning town on the Allegheny river, — and there 
divided among the Indians, — and some time in the month of July then next, the said Indians 
delivered me, together with Jane Grey, to a certain Indian named John Hutson ; which said In- 
dian took me and the said Jane Grey to Pittsburg, then in possession of the French ; and after 
some days the Indian Hutson delivered me to the French governor Mons. Duquesne ; from which 
tune I heard nothing of the said Jane Grey until the winter after Stump killed the Indians up , 



JUNIATA COUNTY. 385 

Susquehanna ; at which time I found out the said Indian called John Hutson, who informed 
me that little Janey Grey was then a fine big girl, and lived near Sir William Johnson's — which 
mforniation I gave to Hannah Grey, mother of the said Jane Grey. 

" At same time Hannah Grey showed me a girl she had taken out from the prisoners released 
by Col. Bouquet for her own child. 

" I then informed the said Hannah that the child she had taken was not her own child — said 
Hannah requested me not to mention that before the girl she had taken, for that, if she never got 
her own, she wished not to let the one she had know any thing of her not being her own child. 
Some time in the same year Col. George Croghan came to my house. I informed him the ac 
count I had got from John Hutson. He, Mr. Croghan, informed me that the Indian's informa- 
tion was true, and that he got the said Jane Grey from the .said Indian ; and had put her into a 
good family to be brougiit up ; — all which I informed the said Hannah, — and this-summer-was-a- 
three-years the said John Hutson, and his son, came to my house at Bedford and stayed some 
time. I inquired about little Janey, as he called the child he had got with me — he informed me 
little Janey was now a fine woman, had a fine house and fine children, and lived near Sir Will, 
iam Johnson's seat, to the northward. I am clear that the girl Mrs. Hannah Grey showed me 
she had taken for her child was not the daughter of John Grey — and further saith not." 

Dated June, 1789 — never sworn to — used in 1815, 1817 — Mifflin county. 

Besides the settlers mentioned in the report of the Grey case, others 
settled in the Tuscarora valley after quiet was restored to the frontier ; 
among them were Messrs. Grimes, Scott, Patterson, Casner, Wilson and 
Matthew Law, Ralph Sterret, and Robert Campbell. William Patterson 
settled at the mouth of Tuscarora valley, opposite Mexico, and owned a 
large tract of that fine land at the foot of the mountain, now occupied 
by the Strausses and Keplers. Patterson was a bold, energetic man. He 
built the first mill below Millerstown, afterwards swept away by a flood. 
The Indians always feared him. He erected a blockhouse, about the time 
of, or soon after, Braddock's war, (1755.) It is still standing, in the farm- 
yard of Mr. Strauss, performing the peaceful duty of a corn-crib. It is 
about 12 feet square, 8 logs high, and formerly had a slate roof to guard 
against fire. The chinks were stopped with stone, and the rifle-holes cut 
with a flare towards the inside and small outside, to admit of pointing a 
rifle in any direction. Before the blockhouse was built, an attempt was 
made to dig a cellar just opposite Mexico, a little above Mr. Strauss's ; 
but the Indians came down on the point of the little ridge overlooking 
the spot, and shot the workmen, who abandoned the site. The ruins re- 
main, and a large walnut-tree, nearly 20 inches in diameter, is growing 
out of them. There was a most sanguinary battle on the river bank, a 
little above Mr. Strauss's, between two tribes of Indians. It originated 
in a quarrel between the Indian children, about some grasshoppers, and 
w^as known as the grasshopper war. Greater nations have warred for 
objects equally important. Philip Strauss and Mr. Kepler, grandfathers 
of the present generation, settled here before the revolution. 

It is said that Hugh Hardy, a Scotch-Irishman, was settled up Licking 
or., at an early day. The whites had a fort near the mouth of Licking 
cr. valley, called Campbell's fort, which is now obliterated. It is related 
that, long after the settlement of the whites, the friendly Indians used to 
encamp on Licking cr., near where Mr. Peter Sheetz now resides, where 
they would sometimes amuse themselves by shooting at a mark ; and that 
when they had exhausted their bullets, they often went down somewhere 
near the mouth of Licking cr., and returned shortly after with plenty of 
lead, nearly pure ; which led the whites to suspect the existence of lead- 
mines in that region. An old Indian used occasionally to come down and 
talk about a silver-mine, in a ridge near Mifflin, on the opposite side of 
the river ; but as the whites never found it, and the Indian hacj his living 

49 



386 



JUNIATA COUNTY. 



free as long as he kept up their credulity, it is presumed the mine only 
produced silver for himself Most of these Indian stories about precious 
mines are "an auld wife's fable." The best mines yet opened in Juniata 
CO. are on those lands that yield 25 to 30 bushels of wheat to the acre. 
Mifflin, the county seat, occupies an elevated site on the left bank of 
the Juniata, commanding an extensive view of the neighboring moun- 
tains and valleys. Since the establishment of the county, the place has 
improved rapidly. The new county buildings are pleasantly located on 
rising ground, with a public square in front. The view annexed was 




Mifflin. 

taken from the opposite side of the river. A neat and substantial bridge 
is seen crossing the river. One of the churches is seen on the extreme 
left, near the canal. The courthouse is in the centre, and the other two 
churches on each side. The academy is also seen at the end of the street 
leading from the bridge. The churches are Presbyterian, Methodist, and 
Lutheran. The Pennsylvania canal passes along the river bank, and the 
Huntingdon turnpike passes through the town. A thriving trade is car- 
ried on here with the rich valleys adjacent. Mifflin was laid out about 
the year 1791, by John Harris. Among the first settlers here were John 
Watson, Samuel Bryson, (presiding judge,) Samuel and Alexander Jack- 
son, James Knox, James Ramsay. 

Thompsontown is a flourishing village nine miles below Mifflin, on the 
left bank of the Juniata. It contains about 50 or 60 dwellings. This 
place was laid out after Mifflin, probably about the year 1800. 

Mexico is a small village on the canal, four miles below Mifflin, con- 
taining some 40 or 50 dwellings. 

Perrysville is a smart little village of neat white houses, recently built 
on the right bank of the Juniata, at the mouth of Licking and Tuscarora 
creeks, two and a half miles below Mifflin. A splendid bridge here 
crosses the river. After passing the town, the river sweeps majestically 
round to the left, washing the base of the lofty ridge that diverts its course. 

Tammanytown, an older village, lies on the other side of Tuscarora cr., 
about a mile above. 



LANCASTER COUNTY. 387 

Waterford and Waterloo are small villages on Tuscarora cr., near 
the southwestern corner of the county. 

Calhoitnsville and Ridgeville are in the northeastern section of the 
county ; the latter is embosomed among the mountains, on West Mahan- 
tango cr. 



LANCASTER COUNTY. 

Lancaster county was separated from Chester by the act of 10th May, 
1729, being the first county established subsequent to the three original 
counties of Chester, Bucks, and Philadelphia. Its boundaries then com- 
prised " all the province lying to the northward of Octararo cr., and west- 
ward of a line of marked trees running from the north branch of the said 
Octararo cr. northeasterly to the river Schuylkill." It has been gradually 
reduced to its present limits by the establishment of York, Cumberland, 
Berks, Northumberland, Dauphin, and Lebanon. Length 33 m., breadth 
28; area 928 sq. m. Population in 1790,36,141; in 1800,43,043; in 
1810, 53,927; in 1820, 68,336; in 1830, 76,631 ; in 1840, 84,203. 

The general surface of the county is that of a gently undulating plain, 
interrupted by a few abrupt elevations. The South mountain, here 
known as the Conewago hills, forms the northern boundary ; to that suc- 
ceeds a broad belt of red-shale and sandstone. South of this, and occu- 
pying the central township, is a wide tract of the finest limestone lands 
in the state. A few high sandstone ridges, Chiques ridge, and the Welsh 
mountain, are protruded through the limestone. Another broken sand- 
stone range, composed of Mine ridge, Martick hills, and Turkey hill, 
crosses south of the limestone ; and the southern portion of the county is 
principally composed of primitive talc-slate, producing rather a sterile soil. 
On the Susquehanna river, near Peach-bottom ferry, slate is quarried on 
both sides of the river. The limestone of the "Great valley" of Chester 
CO. extends across the boundary into Sadsbury and Bart townships. 

There is perhaps no county in the state possessing such an amount and 
variety of the sources of natural wealth, and none where these resources 
have been more industriously developed. The; Susquehanna, naturally 
navigable, and improved on both sides by artificial canals, flows, for 40 
miles, along the S. W. boundary of the co. The Conestoga and Pequea 
creeks, with their numerous branches, drain the centre ; the other impor- 
tant streams are Conewango and Chiques creeks on the northwest, 
Conewingo and Octararo creeks on the south and southeast. These 
streams, with their public improvements, afford a vast amount of water- 
power. 

This CO. has long been proverbial for excellent turnpikes and substan- 
tial stone bridges. There are turnpikes from Lancaster to Philadelphia — 
(constructed as early as 1792-94, at an expense of $465,000) — to Harris- 
burg, to Columbia, to Morgantown, and one frorri Chester co. through 
Ephrata to Harrisburg, There are also many exdelleUt common roads, 
of which the Strasburg road is the most celebrated, having been formerly 
the great route of communication with the Susquehanna; The Columbia 



ggg LANCASTER COUNTY. 

railroad, belonging to the state, passes through Paradise, Lancaster, and 
Columbia, where it communicates with the main line of Pennsylvania 
canal, with the tide-water canal to Maryland, and with the railroad to 
York and Baltimore. Another railroad, owned by a company, runs from 
Lancaster to Harrisburg. The Conestoga navigation, a series of slack- 
water pools with dams and locks, extends 18 miles from Reigert's basin 
at Lancaster, to Safe Harbor on the Susquehanna. Iron ore is found in 
several localities ; and this co. has been long famous for its iron works, 
but many of them are now included within the limits of Lebanon co. 

Kurtz, it is supposed, establisiied the first iron Works in 1 736, within the present bounds of 
Lancaster co. The Grubbs were distinguished for their industry and enterprise ; they commenc- 
ed operations in 17:28. Henry VVilUam Stelgel niana<red EUzabeth Works for many years, when 
they were owned by Benezet &- Co. of Philadelphia. The Olds were also known as industrious, 
punctual, and prudent iron-masters ; but Robert Coleman, Esq., became the m#st successful pro- 
prietor ; to untiring industry and judicious mana<rement he united the utmost probity and regu- 
larity in his dealings, and to him this county is especially indebted for the celebrity it lias ac- 
quired from the number and magnitude of its iron works, and the excellence of its maruifacture. 

Henry William Steigel was the founder of Manheim ; he erected glass-works at a considerable 
expense ; but being of a speculative character, he became involved, and his works ]>assed inter 
other hands. A curious house erected by him is still to be seen near Sheaftcrstown, where it is 
pointed out to the notice of the passing stranger, as " Steigel's Folly." — Lancaster Miscellany. 

Copper ore, it is said, has also been found in Mine ridge, where there 
are the remains of an ancient shaft. These mines, it is supposed, were 
opened either by French adventurers or by persons from Maryland, about 
the time of Wm. Penn. Indications of gold were discovered in Chiques 
ridge, near Columbia, but further search ibr it has proved delusive ; read- 
ier modes of obtaining it have been long known among the German 
farmers. 

The census of 1840 enumerates for this co. — 11 furnaces, making 6,912 
tons of pig metal per year ; 14 forges, rolling-mills, &c., making 2,090 
tons ; men employed, 784 ; capital invested in iron works, $420,500 ; 12 
fulling-mills^ 10 woollen manufactories, 1 cotton manufactory, (near Lan- 
caster city,) 57 tanneries, 102 distilleries, 8 breweries, 9 printing offices, 
128 flouring-mills, 135 grist-mills, 106 saw-mills, and 2 oil-mills. 

The population of the co. is mainly of German descent ; the German 
language, until within a few years past, was more generally spoken than 
the English. Cxerman thrift and persevering industry are evident in the 
broad, well-cultivated farms, and substantial stone houses, and still more 
substantial and spacious stone barns, which meet the eye of the travel- 
ler in all parts of the co. 

Education, hitherto too much neglected, in consequence of the preva- 
lence of the Gernian language, is becoming an object of more attention ; 
the younger portion of the German community are ambitious to learn and 
converse in English, and to attend upon English preaching ; and the com- 
mon school law is growing in favor throughout the co- 
Lancaster CO. was first peopled by Indians — not aborigines, who had 
held the soil from time immemorial — but by remnants of southern tribes 
driven out by the encroachments of European colonists in Maryland, Vir- 
ginia, and the Carolinas, a few years before, and about the time that 
Pennsylvania was founded. 

At the opening of that century (1600 — 1700) the lower valley of the 
Susquehanna appears to have been a vast uninhabited highway, through 
which hordes of hostile savages were constantly roaming between the 



LANCASTER COUNTY. ggg 

northern and southern waters, and where they often met in bloody en- 
counters. The Six Nations were acknowledged as the sovereigns of the 
Susquehanna, and they regarded with jealousy, and permitted with re- 
luctance, the settlement of other tribes upon its margin. The Cayuga 
chief told the Moravians of Wyalusing, in 1765, " that the place they had 
chosen was not proper, all that country having been stained with blood ; 
therefore he would take them up and place them in a better situation 
near the upper end of Cayuga lake." This was nearly a century after 
the fugitive southern tribes had obtained permission to settle in the lower 
valley. Mr. Bancroft, in speaking of the Shawanees, says — '• It was 
about the year 1698* that three or four score of their families, with the 
consent of the government of Pennsylvania, removed from Carolina and 
planted themselves on the Susquehanna. Sad were the fruits of that 
hospitality. Others followed; and when, in 1732, the number of Indian 
fighting men in Pennsylvania was estimated to be 700, one half of them 
were Shawanee emigrants. So desolate was the wilderness, that a vag-^ 
abond tribe could wander undisturbed from Cumberland river to the Ala- 
bama, from the head-waters of the Santee to the Susquehanna." 

As these tribes came in one after another from the south, those previ- 
ously here introduced and recommended their new friends to the protec- 
tion of the provincial government and of the Six Nations. The Shawa" 
nees had a village called Pequea, or Pequehan, at the mouth of the creek 
of that name. Opessah was their chief. They were some years after- 
wards persuaded to remove to the lands on Conodoguinet, where a 
hunting-ground had been assigned them by the proprietary government. 
Ever restless and quarrelsome themselves, and encroached upon by the 
whites, they retired from one hunting ground to another, until they joined 
the French on the head waters of the Ohio, in 1755. 

The Conoys, or Ganawese, another southern tribe, came in about the 
year 1700, and dwelt at Dekanoagah, about the nlouth of Conoycr., near 
the site of Bainbridge. Their name is variously spelled in the early records 
— Canoise, Canaways, Ganawese, and Ganawense ; and James Logan, who 
visited them in 1705, says when they first came into the province they 
were called Piscataway Indians, and that they then came to Philadelphia 
(in 1701) in company with the Conestogas and Shawanees, " who engaged 
to our government for their peaceable deportment and behavior among 
us." 

The Nantikokes, from Maryland, appear to have tarried for a while as 
guests with the Ganawese, and then to have removed further up the Sus- 
quehanna — probably to what is now called Duncan's island — afterwards 
to the North branch of the Susquehanna, and eventually to the country 
of the Six Nations. (See Dauphin and Luzerne counties.) 

The Conestogas were a small tribe, or, as some think, an aggr^ation 
of the remnants of various tribes, consisting in all of some dozen or 
twenty families, who dwelt on the Conestoga flats east of Turkey hill, 
a few miles below Lancaster. Their true origin it is difficult to ascer- 

f Mr. Bancroft, in fixing the date in 1698, follows Logan's manuscripts, and the Philadelphia his- 
torians agree on that date. Mr. Conyngliam, who has investigated the manuscript records at 
Harrisburg, thinks the southern Indians came liere in 1678 — but we have no space for antiquarian 
controversy. See Mr. C.'s notes in Hazard's Register, vol. xv., pp. 81, 117, 138. Votes of As- 
nembly, vol. iv., p. 517, and the printed Colonial Records. v,^ 



390 LANCASTER COUNTY. 

tain, but it is very probable they were of the tribe called by the early 
Swedish settlers Minquaas, and that they had formerly lived in Mary- 
land. Gov. Keith, in 1722, says, "the Conestoga Indians were formerly 
a part of the Five Nations, called Mingoes, and speak the same language 
to this day : they actually pay tribute now to the Five Nations, and, either 
from natural affection or fear, are ever under their influence and power." 
They sent messengers with corn, venison, and skins, to welcome William 
Penn, and a treaty of amity was concluded between him and them, " to 
endure as long as the sun should shine or the waters run into the rivers." 
This chain of friendship was often brightened from time to time ; and 
when the whites began to settle around them, Penn assigned them a resi- 
dence within his jurisdiction, on the manor of Conestoga. Here they en- 
joyed many years of peaceful residence, in friendly intercourse with the 
people of Lancaster, until the sad catastrophe which exterminated the 
tribe. All these tribes — the Conestogas, Shawanees, Ganawese, and 
Nanticokes — paid an annual tribute to the Five Nations ; and the strings 
of wampum hung around their council fire told the number of years, and 
testified to their punctuality. 

The village of the Conestogas is noted in the early colonial history as 
the scene of many important councils between the proprietary governors 
and the Indians of the Susquehanna and the Six Nations. Wm. Penn is 
said to have visited them once. James Logan was here in 1705 ; Gov. 
Evans in 1707, with a retinue of officers ; Gov. Gookin in 1710 and '11 ; 
and Gov. Keith in 1721. The details of their councils may be seen in 
the printed colonial records. They were also often visited by preachers 
of various denominations, among whom was Thomas Chalkley in 1705, 
an eminent Quaker preacher. 

The proprietary government regarded with watchful jealousy the in- 
trusion of traders among these Indians, and forbade such trade except 
under special license. The French, even as early as 1707, had their wily 
emissaries among them under the guise of traders, or miners, or colo- 
nists, to seduce them from their allegiance to the English. Maryland, 
too, was pushing her pioneers over the boundary to forestall the claims of 
Wm. Penn by actual settlement. The following facts are culled from 
the colonial records, which on this subject are too voluminous and scat- 
tered to be copied entire. 

1701. " At a council held at Philad., 23d of 2d mo. 1701, present Wm. Penn, some members 
of council, and divers others, with the Susquehannagh ludians." The chiefs enumerated at the 
head of the treaty are " Connoodaghtoh, king of the Susquehannah Minquays or Conestogo In- 
dians, Wopaththa, (alias Opessah,) king of the Shawanese, Weewhinjough, chief of the Gsma- 
wese inhabiting at the head of Patowmeck ; also Ahoakassongh, brother to the emperor or king 
of the Onondagoes of the five nations, and Indian Harry for their interpreter, &c. &c." Aftei" 
a treaty and several speeches, sundry articles were solemnly agreed on. 

1705. James Logan, with several others, visited them to learn the news among them, and to 
give the Indians on the Susquehanna advice, and exchange presents. Logan " understood John 
Hans was building a log-house for trade amongst them, which made him uneasy, and desired to 
know if they encouraged it. They answered that they did not, and were desired not to suffer 
any Christian to settle amongst them without the governor's leave." Logan, " with the compa- 
ny, had made a journey among the Ganawese settled some miles above Conestogoe, at a place 
called Conejaghera, above the fort." 

1706. Andaggyjunguagh appeared at Philadelphia as chief of the Conestogoes in 1707. He 
is called Adjunkoe. 

1707. July 22. Gov. Evans laid before the council an account of his journey among the Sub-; 
quehanna Indians. He was accompanied by Col. John French, sheriff of New Castle co., Wm. 
Tonge, Mitchel Bizaiilon, Grey, and four servants. At Pequehan, they were received 



LANCASTER COUNTY. 39 1 

at Martines Charliercs's (an Indian trader) by the Indians, with a discharge of fire-arms. He 
speaks of " Dekanoajjah, upon the river Susquehannagh, about nine miles distant frtim Pequehan ;" 
also mentions an Indian village called Peixtan. At Dekanoagah, the governor was present at a 
meeting of Shawanois, Senequois, and Caiioise Indians, and the Nantikoke Indians from the 
seven following towns, viz : — Matcheattochousie, Matchcouchtin, Witichquaom, Natahquois, 
Teahquois, Byengeahtein, and Pohecommeati. An Indian presented a pipe to the governor 
and the company present. After satisfying himself that tiie Nantikokes were a peaceful, well- 
meaning people, he guarantied to them the protection of the government. At Pequehan, among 
the Shavvanees, Opcssah said, " It was tlie Nantikoke and Canoise Indians who sent for our father 
the governor, and not we ; therefore, we are very sorry they entertained him no better : but since 
they have not been so kind as they ought, we hope the governor will accept of our small present, 
for we are sensible the ways are bad, and that the bushes wear out your clotiies, for which reason 
we give these skins to make gloves, stockings, and breeches, in place of those wore out." Near 
Peixtan, with the aid of Martin Chartieres, as a sort of stool-pigeon, they caught one Nicole Go. 
din, a French trader among the Indians, put him on a horse, tied his legs under the horse's belly, 
and took him by way of Tulpehocken to Philadelphia, where he was imprisoned. 

" During our abode at Pequehan," says the account of Gov. Evans's journey in 1707, " several 
of the Shaoiiois Indians from ye southward came to settle here, and were admitted so to do by 
Opessah, with the governor's consent : at the same time an Indian, from a Shaonois town near 
Carolina, came in, and gave an account that four hundred and fifty of the flat-headed Indians 
had besieged them, and that in all probability the same was taken. Bezallion informed the gov- 
ernor that the Shaonois of Carolina (he was told) had killed several Christians ; whereupon, the 
government of that province raised the said flat-headed Indians, and joined some Christians to 
them, besieged and iiave taken, as it is thought, the said Shaonois town." 

1707. Feb. " Complaints to council that Michel, (a Swiss,) Peter Bezallon, James Le Tort, 
Martin Chartieres, the French glover of Philadelphia, Frank, a young man of Canada who was 
lately taken up here, and one from Virginia, who also spoke French, had seated themselves, and 
built houses upon the branches of the Potowmeck, within this government, and pretended they 
were in search of some mineral or ore," and had endeavored to induce the Conestogo Indians to 
assist them. Peter Bezallion had a license, and resided thirty-six miles up the river from Cones- 
togue. That would be near the mouth of Peixtan or Paxton cr. Among the traders residing at 
Conestogo, in Gov. Keith's time, were John and Edmund Cartlidge. John was a magistrate and 
interpreter, and the council of July, 1721, was held at his house. Mr. Watson speaks of an old 
deed from an Indian to Edmund Cartlidge of a tract of land in a bend of Conestoga cr., called 
Indian Point. Both these men were in prison and on trial at Philadelphia, in March, 1721, for 
liaving killed an Indian in an affray at Conestogo. The other traders seem to have been no more 
fortunate, for Peter Bezallion and James Le Tort were also in prison, in 1709, for sundry offences 
In 1718, on petition of several of the inhabitants of and near Conestogoe, a road was laid out 
from Conestogoe to Thomas Moore's and Brandywine. 

The following extract from the records chronicles the first arrival of the 
Tuscarora nation from the south, and is a quaint and graphic picture of 
Indian diplomacy. The Tuscaroras were soon after adopted by the Five 
Nations, and caused the change of their title to that of the Six Nation^. 
The disbursement account of the commissioners is added. It differs some- 
what in amount from those which our modern commissioners are in the 
habit of rendering to the bureau at Washington. 

The Govr. laid before the board the report of Coll. flTrench & Henry Worley, who went on a 
message to Conestogo, by his Order, wch. follows in these words : 
At Conestogo, June 8th, 1710. 

TRESENT. 

John French. Henry Worley. 

Iwaagenst Tcrrutawanaren, & Teonnottein, Chiefs of the Tuscaroroes, Civility, the Senequcs 
Kings, and four Chief more of yt nacon, wth Opcssah ye Shawanois King. 

The Indians were told that according to their request we were come from the Govr. and Govmt. 
to hear what proposals they had to make anent a peace, according to the purport of their Em- 
bassy from their own People. 

They signified to us by a Belt of Wampum, which was sent from their old Women, that those 
Implored their friendship of the Christians »Si Indians of this Govmt., that without danger or 
trouble they might fetch wood &, Water. 

The second Belt was sent from their Children born, &, those yet in the womb. Requesting that 
Room to sport & Play without danger of Slavery, might be allowed them. 

The third Belt was sent from their young men fitt to Hunt, that privilege to leave their Towns, 
&. seek provision for their aged, might bo granted to them without fear of Death or Slavery. 



392 



LANCASTER COUNTY. 



The fourth was sent from the men of age, Requesting that the Wood, by a happy peace, might 
be as safe for them as their forts. 

The fifth was sent from the whole nation, requesting peace, that thereby they might have Ijib- 
erty to visit their Neighbours. 

The sixth was sent from their Kings &, Chiefs, Desiring a lasting peace with the Christiana 
«fe Indians of this Govmt., that thereby they might be secured against those fearful apprehensions 
they have for these several years felt. 

The seventh was sent in order to intreat a Cessation from murdering and taking them, that by 
the allowance thereof, they may not be affraid of a mouse, or any other thing that Ruffles the 
Leaves. 

The Eight was sent to Declare, that as being hitherto Strangers to this Place, they now came 
as People blind, no path nor communicacon being betwixt us & them; but now they hope we 
will take them by the hand & lead them, & then they will lift up their heads in the woods with- 
out danger or fear. 

These Belts (they say) are only sent as an Introduction, & in order to break off hostilities till 
next Spring, for then their Kings will come and sue for the peace they so much Desire. 

We acquainted them that as most of this Continent were the subjects of the Crown of Great 
Brittain, tho' divided into several Govmts. ; So it is expected their Intentions are not only peace- 
able towards us, but also to all the subjects of the Crown ; & that if they intend to settle & live 
amiably here, they need not Doubt the protection of this Govmt. in such things as were honest 
and good, but that to Confirm the sincerity of their past Carriage towards the English, &. to raise 
in us a good opinion of them, it would be very necessary to procure a Certificate from the Govmt. 
they leave, to this, of their Good behaviour, &, then they might be assured of a favourable 
reception. 

The Seneques return their hearty thanks to the Govmt. for their Trouble in sending to them, 
And acquainted us that by advice of a Council amongst them it was Determined to send these 
Belts, brought by the Tuscaroroes, to the five nations. 

May it please your hour. 
Pursuant to your honrs. &, Council's Orders, we went to Conestogo, where the forewritten Con- 
tents were by the Chiefs of the Tuscaroroes to us Deliver'd ; the sincerity of their Intentions we 
Cannot anywise Doubt, since they are of the same race & Language with our Seneques, who 
have always proved trusty, & have also for these many years been neighbours to a Govmt. 
Jealous of Indians, And yet not Displeased with them ; wishing your hour, all happiness, we 
remain, Your honrs. Most humble and obliged servants, 

JOHN FFRENCH, 
HENRY WORLEY. 

Journey to Conestogo, Dr.— To Bread, 4s. 2d. ; To Meat, 12s. ; To Rum, £1 10s. ; To Sugar, 
15s. ; To two Men's hire for Baggage, £4 ; To John, £1 4s. ; Total, £8 5s. 2d. 

The upper parts of Germany, at the commencement of the last century, 
contained many Protestant communities, Moravians, Schwenckfelders, 
Mennonists, or German Baptists, Bunkers, or Seventh-day Baptists, and Lu- 
therans, who, after fleeing in vain from one principality to another to avoid 
persecution, at last, listening to Wm. Penn's offer of free toleration, found a 
permanent asylum in this new land. The news from the earlier immi- 
grants brought thousands more, and the latter, finding the townships im- 
mediately around Philadelphia taken up, sought the newer and cheaper 
lands in the interior. Some of the Mennonists arrived about the years 
1698 to 1711, but the greatest numbers in 1717, and settled chiefly in 
Lancaster co. There was a very early settlement of Mennonists at Pe- 
quea cr. The Dunkards came from Crey field and Witgenstein in the 
duchy of Cleve'fe in Prussia, chiefly in the years 1719 to '23, and settled 
at Oley, Conestoga, and Mill cr., and afterwards at Ephrata on the Coca- 
lico, about the year 1732. 

It is a singular fact, that when the Germans entered their land, and af- 
terwards applied for the privilege of naturalization, the proprietary or- 
dered that their German names be translated into English ; and thus 
many German families received English names, which they retain to this 
day. The Ziminerman family, for Instance, is now known by the narpe 
of CarpeMter. 



LANCASTER COUNTY. 393 

The Mennonists are a sect of German Baptists, who derived their name from Menno SLmonis, 
He was born in Friesland in 1505. In 1537, having been previously a Cathohc priest, he united 
with the Baptists. A few years previous to his union with them, this sect had been led away by 
their zeal into the most fanatical excesses at Mfinstcr. Menno collected the more sober minded 
into regular societies, who formed an independent church under the name of the Mennonites, or 
Mennonists. They professed to derive their creed directly from the Scriptures, and to follow, in 
their organization and social intercourse, the peculiarities of the primitive apostolic church. Men- 
no travelled through Germany and Holland, disseminating his doctrines and gathering many fol- 
lowers. 

Except in some peculiar notions concerning the incarnation of Christ — to which he was prob- 
ably led by the controversy concerning the bodily presence of Christ in the eucharist — and his 
exclusive adherence to adult baptism, his tenets are said to have agreed in general with those of 
the Calvinists. He died at Oldeslohe in Holstein, in 1561. Before his death his followers had 
divided themselves into two parties, differing in regard to the rigor of discipline. The more rigid, 
who called themselves the Pure, were in favor of excommunication for the least offence ; the 
moderate party, who bore various names, only excommunicated for long continuance in trans- 
gression. Other subdivisions occurred after his death, and it would require a dictionary by itself 
to trace the etymology of their names, and the peculiarities of their doctrines. These sects were 
only tolerated in Europe on the payment of exorbitant tribute, and still suffered many grievances 
and impositions. Wm.,Penn, both in person and in writing, first proclaimed to them that there 
was liberty of conscience in Pennsylvania. Some of them, about the year 1698, and others in 
1706 to 1711, partly for conscience' sake, and partly for their temporal interest, removed here. 
Finding their expectations fully answered in this plentiful country, they informed their friends in 
Germany, who came over in great numbers, and settled chiefly in Lancaster and the neighboring 
counties. In 1770 Morgan Edwards estimated that they had in Pennsylvania 42 churches, and 
numbered about 4,050 persons. They are remarkable for their sobriety, industry, economy, and 
good morals, and are very useful members of the community. They are opposed to infant bap- 
tism, holding only to the baptism of adults. Like the Quakers, they refuse to bear arms, to take 
oaths, and to go to law with one another. They also abstain from holding office, or taking any 
part in the civil administration of government ; being careful themselves to follow the precept, 
" to live peaceably with all men." They have both preachers and deacons. Their preachers are 
selected by lot ; no previous education for the office is required, nor is any compensation allowed. 
They originally discouraged and despised learning, believing in the inner light ; but they begin 
now to encourage the education of their youth. Disputes between members are adjusted by three 
arbiters, appointed by the prei^cher. 

Baptism among some of their sects is administered by pouring water upon the head of the in- 
dividual, who kneels during the performance. Prayer and the imposition of hands close the 
ceremony. One of the sects baptizes after this fashion : the person to be baptized is accompa- 
nied to a stream of water by a large number of people, with singing and instrumental music. 
The preacher, standing on the bank, pours water upon the person who is in the stream, baptizing 
him in the name of the Trinity. 

Some of the Mennonists contend that the body of Christ contained neither flesh nor blood, and 
therefore, at the sacrament of the Lord's supper, make use of water alone. The principal part 
of the Mennonists pursue the mode pointed out in Matthew xxvi. 18. A message is sent to a 
member to " make ready the passover." In the evening the congregation, assembled around a 
table spread with small loaves of bread and a pitcher of wine, after the usual form of consecra- 
tion, invocation, and distribution, partake of the elements while walking around the table, talking 
with each other sociably. " After having sung an hymn," they retire to their respective homes. 

The Aymish, or Ornish, are a sect of the Mennonists who profess to follow more rigidly the 
primitive customs of the apostolic church. They derive their name from Aymen, their founder, 
and were originally known as Aymenites. They wear long beards, and reject all superfluities 
both in dress, diet, and property. They have always been remarkable for industry, frugality, 
temperance, honesty, and simplicity. When they first came over and settled near Pequea creek, 
land was easily acquired, and It was in the power of each individual to be a large proprietor, but 
this neither agreed with their professions nor practice. 

In the year 1720, a thousand acres were offered to an influential member of the Aymish faith 
by the proprietary agent, but he refused the grant, saying, " It is beyond my desire, as also my 
ability to clear ; if clear, beyond my power to cultivate ; if cultivated, it would yield more than 
my family can consume ; and as the rules of our society forbid the disposal of the surplus, I can- 
not accept of your liberal offer ; but you may divide it among my married children, who at pres- 
ent reside with me." This individual is supposed to have been Kurtz. 

When they first came to the country they had neither churches nor burial-grounds. " A 
church," said they, " we do not require, for in the depth of the thicket, in the forest, on the water, 
in the field, and in the dwelling, God is always present." Many of their descendants, however, 
have deviated from the ancient practice, and have both cimrches and burial-grounds. 

The Presbyterians frorn the north of Ireland came in at about the same 

5Q 



394 LANCASTER COUNTY. 

time with the Germans, and occupied the townships of Donnegal and 
Paxton. Collisions afterwards occurring between them and the Germans 
concerning elections, bearing of arms, the treatment of Indians, &c., the 
proprietaries instructed their agents, in 1755, that the Germans should be 
encouraged, and in a manner directed to settle along the southera boun- 
dary of the province, in Lancaster and York counties, while the Irish 
were to be located nearer to the Kittatinny mountain, in the region now 
forming Dauphin and Cumberland counties. There was deeper policy in 
this than the mere separation of the two races. The Irish were a war- 
like people, and their services were needed in the defence of the frontier. 
The Welsh and English Quakers from the head waters of the Brandy- 
wine, and the Great valley of Chester co., gradually spread themselves 
over into Sadsbury township. Smith, the historian, who wrote before 
the revolution, says : 

In the year 1724, Samuel Miller and Andrew Moore made application on behalf of themselves 
and their friends, settled about Sadbury, for liberty to build a meeting-house, which being granted 
by the quarterly meeting, they built one in 1725, which goes by the name of Sadbury meeting. 
(SeeLeacock.) 

In the year 1732, Hattill Vernon, Wm. Evans, and several other Friends, being settled in and 
about Leacock in the county of Lancaster, made application to have a meeting settled among 
them ; which being laid belore the quarterly meeting of Chester, and approved of, it was settled 
accordingly, and is iiow known by the name of Leacock meeting, being joined to New Garden 
monthly meeting ; it continued to be a branch thereof till the year 1737, when they applied to have 
a monthly n>eeting among themselves, in conjunction with Sadbury Friends, which was granted, 
and the same is now known by the name of Sadbury monthly meeting. 

In the year 1749, by consent of Chester quarterly meeting, a meeting for worship was settled 
at Little Britain, in Lancaster county, and belongs to West Nottingham preparative, and East 
Nottingham n^onthly meeting. The said monthly meeting now consists of three preparative 
meetings, viz. : East Nottingham, West Nottingham, and Bush river, or Deer creek meeting, and 
of five particular meetings. Note. — The meeting that used to be called Bush river, is now called 
Deer creek altogether. The week-day meetings are held thus : at East Nottingham, Deer creek, 
and Little Britain, on the fifth day of every week ; at West Nottingham on fourth day ; at Bush 
river no week-day meeting, it being dropped for several years. 

Robert Barber, Samuel Blunston, and John Wright, three Quakers from 
Chester co., came out in the year 1728 to Columbia, where they had pur- 
chased large farms. The Lutherans came in at a later date, about the 
year 1740 to '48, and are first heard of about Lancaster. The Moravians 
began their establishment in Warwick township, about the year 1749. 
Many redemptioners (people who were sold into temporary service to 
pay for their passage across the ocean) found their way into this county, 
where, after working themselves free, they obtained small tracts of land 
on easy terms, and became eventually valuable citizens. 

Lancaster co., thus settled on the principle of free toleration, by men 
of widely different races and religions, has continued to prosper, until it 
has become the most populous and wealthy inland county in the state. 
The following notes are from Mr. Conyngham's collections : 

1730. Stephen Atkinson built a fulling-mill at a great expense. But the inhabitants on the 
upper part of the creek assembled and pulled down the dam on the Conestoga, as it prevented 
them from rafting, and getting their usual supply of fish. Mr. Atkinson altered his dam with a 
20 feet passage for boats and fish. 

1732. A violent contest for member of Assembly took place between Andrew Galbraith and 
John Wright. Mrs. Galbraith rode throughout the town at the head of a numerous band of 
horsemen, friends of her husband. In consequence of her activity, her husband was elected. 
John Wright contested the seat of Andrew Galbraith, on the ground that a number of tickets on 
which his name was written were rejected because the tickets contained but three names instead 
of four. But George Stuart dpng, John Wright was elected to supply his vacancy. 

J 734. Epit)Copal church built in Conestoga, 15 miles from Lancaster. 



LANCASTER COUNTY. 395 

1739. The Presbyterians, with their respective ministers, represented to the General Assem- 
bly that they had been educated according to the doctrine, worship, and government of the 
Church of Scotland ; that they are excluded from all offices, and from giving evidence in the 
courts of justice, by a ceremony, which in their opinion was contrary to the word of God, 
" kissing the book," and that a law may be passed authorizing them to take an oath without such 
form. A law was passed accordingly. 

1742. A number of Germans stated to the General Assembly as follows : "They had emi- 
grated from Europe by an invitation from the proprietaries ; they hud been brought up and were 
attached to the Omish doctrines, and were conscientiously scrupulous against taking oaths — they 
therefore cannot be naturalized agreeably to the existing law. A law was made in conformity to 
their request." 

17(J3. A large number of Scotch-Irish, in consequence of the limestone land being liable to 
frost, and heavily wooded, seated themselves along the northern line of the counties of Chester 
and Lancaster, well known at an early period by the name of the " Chestnut Glade." The 
Germans purchased their little improvements, and were not intimidated either by the difficulty of 
clearing, the want of water, or the liability to frost, which at this period was experienced every 
month in-the year. Several valuable mills were built; but although very necessary for the set- 
tlement, they became a subject of much irritation among the farmers on the waters of the Co- 
nestoga, as appears from a petition presented to the General Assembly, stating " that Michael 
Garber, Sebastian Graff, and Hans Christy, erected three large dams on Conestoga creek, to the 
great injury and detriment of the settlers on its banks." 

The subsequent history of the county will be continued in connection 
with its more important towns. 

Lancaster city, the seat of justice of the county, occupies an elevated 
site near the right bank of Conestoga creek, 62 miles west from Philadel- 
phia, 36 miles southeast from Harrisburg, and 1 1 miles east from the Sus- 
quehanna at Columbia. 

This place well deserves the title of a city : there is nothing rural in 
its aspect. The streets, laid off at right angles, are paved and lighted ; 
the houses, generally of brick, are compactly arranged, and those of mod- 
ern date are lofty and well built ; the courthouse, as in all the older pro- 
prietary towns, occupies the centre of a small square at the intersection 
of the two principal streets ; the place is supplied with water by an arti- 
ficial basin and " water- works ;" stores, taverns, and shops abound in 
every quarter ; railroad cars, stages, canal-boats, and wagons, are con- 
stantly arriving or departing ; and altogether there is that rattle and din 
that remind one of city life. The town has several peculiarities which 
had their origin in the fashions of the olden time. The names of the 
principal streets, King-street and Queen-street, Orange-street and Duke- 
street, and others, indicate the loyalty of the founders of the city. A 
great number of the old one-story brick houses, and frames filled in with 
brick, are still standing, with their wide roofs and dormar windows ; and 
although they may command the respect due to old age, they cannot be 
admired for their beauty. A stranger is particularly struck with numer- 
ous tavern-signs that greet him by dozens along the principal streets. 
They form a sort of out-door picture gallery, and some are no mean spe- 
cimens of art. Here may be seen half the kings of Europe — the king 
of Prussia, of Sweden, and the Prince of Orange ; and then there are 
the warriors — Washington, Lafayette, Jackson, Napoleon, Wm. Tell, and 
a whole army of others ; and of statesmen there are Jefferson, Franklin, 
and others ; and then comes the Red Lion of England, leading a long 
procession of lions, bears, stags, bulls, horses, eagles, swans, black, white, 
dun, and red — not to mention the inanimate emblems, the globe, the 
cross-keys, the plough, the wheat-sheaf, the compass and square, and the 
hickory-tree. These numerous inns, far too many for the present wants 



396 LANCASTER COUNTY. 

of the city, tell of bygone days, before the railroad and canals were con- 
structed, when the streets and yards were crowded every evening with 
long trains of " Conestoga wagons," passing over the turnpike,_ by which 
nearly all the interior of the state was supplied with merchandise. They 
tell, too, a sad tale of the ravages of that disease of good-fellowship 
which has blighted the prospects of many a worthy family of the city 
and county, and carried its promising sons to an early grave. It is to be 
hoped that the temperance reformation will soon exterminate the disease, 
and that the young men of the growing generation will be spared to 
honor and usefulness. i • -i 

Lancaster contains the usual courthouse, public offices, and jail, two 
Lutheran, German Reformed, Episcopalian, Catholic, United Brethren, 
Presbyterian, Methodist, Independent Methodist, Quaker, Swedenborgian, 
and African churches, an academy endowed by the state, a female seminary, 
a mechanics' library, containing 1,000 volumes, two iron foundries, manu- 
factories of rifles, axes, coaches, and cars. Topulation in 1800, 4,292 ; in 
1830. 7,704 ; in 1840, 8,417. Lancaster was incorporated as a borough on 
the 19th June, 1777, and as a city on the 20th March, 1818. In the ancient 
borough charter, provision was made for fairs to be held for two days 
together, in the months of June and October. There was also a clause 
imposing a fine upon persons refusing to accept of office when elected ! 
(See a similar clause at length in the charter of Bristol, p. 165.) The 
town was, from 1799 to 1812, the seat of government of the common- 
wealth. Franklin College was established here by the legislature in 
1787; it was well endowed, and spacious buildings were erected, but 
after a few years of sickly existence the institution expired. 

The following lively sketch of the appearance of Lancaster in olden 
time is extracted frotri a communication in the Lancaster Journal of 1838, 
purporting to be written by " a bachelor of eighty." 

When I was a boy, our good city of Lancaster was quite a difFerent affair from what it is at 
present, with its Conestoga navigation, its railway, and improvements of every kmd. At the 
formerly quiet corner of Nortli Queen and Chestnut streets, where lived a few old-fashioned Ger- 
man families, making fortunes by untiring industry and the most minute economy, there is now 
nothing but bustle and confusion, arrivals and departures of cars, stages, carriages, hacks, drays, 
and wheelbarrows, with hundreds of people, and thousands of tons of merchandise. In other 
respects that part of the city is not the same. New houses have started up in every du-ection, 
and old ones have been altered and dressed anew. Many of these bmldings are very handsome, 
and about all there is an air of what moderns call prosperity, which was formerly unknown. 
Among the improvements are the handsome buildings about Centre-square, in place of the one- 
story stone houses with which the corners were occupied. Then tlicre are the two banks and the 
places of worship, all of which are new, or materially improved, during my remembrance. Ihe 
most remarkable of the latter is the Episcopal church, which occupies the place of the venera- 
ble and time-worn edifice that I remember. If I recollect aright, it was built under the charter 
granted by George II. It had never been entirely finished, and I am informed that, so great was 
its age and infirmities, the congregation were obliged to have it taken down, to prevent its tum- 
bling about their ears. I shall never forget the last time I sat in it. Every thing about the 
antique and sacred structure made an impression on my mind not easily to be effaced ; even the 
old sexton, John Webster, a colored man, and his wife Dinah, who used to rustle past in her 
old-fashioned silks, with white sleeves, apron, and " kerchief." Another remarkable character 
was old Mr. McPall, with his glass-headed cane, bent figure, and hoary locks. This patriarch 
was never absent in time of worship from the broken pew in the corner, except when prevented 
by sickness from attending. u * "t 

While I am in Orange-street, I cannot help contrasting its present appearance with what il 
was in my boyhood. At that time it was little more than a wide lane, with half a dozen houses, 
nearly all of which are yet standing. The peaceable and retired-looking mansion, with the wiU 
low-trees in front, at present inhabited by the widow of .ludge Franklin, I remember as a com- 
mission store, where trade was carried 6n with a few Indians still in the neighborhood, and also 



LANCASTER COUNTY. 397 

with those from a greater distance, who exchanged their furs and peltries for beads, blankets, 
cutlery, and rum, as is still done in many parts of the western country. The house in which the 
North American Hotel is kept, was occupied by the land commissioners a few years later. 

I remember the forest-trees standing in East King-street, nearly as far down as Mr. McGoni- 
gle's tavern. What is now called Adams-street, then Adamstown, was the most thickly inhab- 
ited place about. It was a village unconnected with L#aiicaster. The old two-story brick house 
now owned by Mr. Donelly, was used as an hospital for the sick and wounded soldiers of the rev- 
olution, and numbers lie buried in the lot on which it stands. What is now the old storehouse, 
was then the new college, at which I was placed, by way of making me a " /rentleman." 

Annually in those days a fair was held on the first Thursday and Friday in June. You 
could hardly see the street for the tables and booths, covered with merchandise and trinkets of 
every kind. There were silks, laces, and jewellery, calicoes, gingerbread, and sweetmeats, such 
as the ladies love ; and that was the time they got plenty of them, too, for the young fellows used 
to hoard up their pocket-money for months together to spend at the fair; and no girl felt ashamed 
ta be treated to a fairing, even by a lad she had never seen before. This was the first step 
towards expressing admiration, and she who got the most fairings was considered as the belle. 
Then the comers of the streets were taken up with mountebanks, rope-dancers, and all the latest 
amusements. To see these, each young man took the girl that pleased him most ; or, if he had 
a capacious heart, he sometimes took half a dozen. 

Then there were the dances, the crowning pleasures of all. In every tavern there was to be 
heard the sound of the violin. * * * * Even the mode of dress has changed. In my young 

days the girls wore shortgowns and pe — , but I dare not pronounce the word in this refined 

age. One thing I know, the girls looked very neat and trim in their linsey-woolsey short-jacketa 
or gowns. 

At the establishment of the county, in 1729, a jail and temporary court- 
house were built at Postlewaite's, five miles from Lancaster ; but this site 
did not satisfy the settlers on the Susquehanna. Gov. Hamilton, accord- 
ingly, at the request of the proprietaries, laid out Lancaster, in 1730, at 
a place where George Gibson then kept a tavern, with the sign of the 
hickory-tree, on the public road, by the side of a fine spring. " A swamp 
lay in front of Gibson's, and another of some extent lay to the north." 
Near the spring there once stood a tall hickory-tree, which tradition says 
was the centre of a little hamlet of a tribe called the Hickory Indians. 
Another small tribe took its name from a poplar-tree standing near their 
village, which was on a flat by the side of the Conestoga, northeast of 
the residence of William Coleman, Esq. Roger Hunt, of Downingtown, 
was Hamilton's surveyor, and built the first house after the plot was made. 
The following paragraphs are culled from the collections of Mr. Conyng- 
ham : — 

The swamp north of Gibson's is supposed to have extended from the centre of the square 
bounded by Duke, Queen, Chestnut, and Orange streets, to the swamp along the run, now Water- 
street. Gibson's pasture, afterwards Sanderson's pasture, was leased at an early period by Mr. 
Hamilton to Adam Reigart, Esq. An old letter mentions " the log-cabin of the widow Buchanan." 
She was probably merely a tenant, as her name is not among the purchasers. 

Among the early deeds may be found the names of Jacob Funk, Frederick Stroble, John Pow- 
el, and George Gibson. Their deeds were dated in 1735, except Gibson's, which was dated in 
1740, and granted lot No. 221. Gibson's original tavern is said to have been situated where 
Slayniakcr's hotel now is, and the spring was nearly opposite. 

17.34. Scat of justice removed from Postlewaite's to Lancaster, and the first German Lutheran 
church and schoolliouse built. 

1745. The German pastor of the Lutheran church united a portion of his congregation with 
the Moravian. A great ferment was excited among the Lutherans : they told the governor they 
were compelled either to hear a doctrine which they did not approve, or resign their church. The 
governor told them he could not interfere, but that the law would protect them in their rights. 

1751. House of employment erected ; farm connected with it, and manufacturing implements. 
Lancaster became remarkable for the excellent stockings made in that establishment. 

1759. Barracks erected to contain 500 men, for the security of this part of the province, [and 
to accommodate Gen. Forbes's returning army.] Mr. Bausman, barrack-master. 

1760. Lancaster co. : 436,346 acres of land, 5,635 taxables — each taxed jCI 2s. Total tax, 
je6.178 10s. 



398 LANCASTER COUNTY. 

1763. House of correction erected. — 1765. Presbyterians put up a lai^e meetinghouse; 
building committee, William Montgomery, John Craig, James Davis. — 1769. The German Re- 
formed church completed ; the Episcopal church enlarged ; and several other religious denomina- 
tions — Friends, Roman Catholics, Baptists — mentioned as being in prosperous circumstances. 

Gov. Pownal visited Lancaster in 1754. In his journal he says, "Lancaster, a growing town 
and making money ; a manufactory here of saddles and pack-saddles. It is a stage town — 500 
houses, 20i)0 inhabitants." In the same book, (an ancient copy,) some one has written in man- 
uscript — " When Gov. Pownal visited Lancaster there was not one good house in the town ; the 
houses were chiefly of frame filled in with stone, of logs, and a few of stone. When Lancaster 
was laid out, it was the desire of the proprietor to raise an annual revenue from the lots ; no lots 
were therefore sold of any large amount, but settlers were encouraged to build and receive a lot, 
paying an annual sum as ground-rent. Hence the large number of persons in indigent circum- 
stances, who were induced to settle in Lancaster. The Lancaster town was therefore too large, 
at an early period, in proportion to the population of the surrounding country, and its inhabitants 
suffered much from a want of employment ; as from its local situation, remote from water, it was 
not, nor could it ever possibly become, a place of business. The proprietor was therefore wrong 
in forcing the building and settlement of Lancaster. The town outgrew its strength, and looks 
dull and gloomy in consequence." 

The ground-rents above mentioned have continued on many lots down 
to the present day. A few years since there was consideraible excitement 
on the subject among the citizens, and some attempts were made to get 
rid of the vexatious encumbrance. 

A treaty was held in 1744, at Lancaster, between the chiefs of the Six 
Nations and the governors of Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Maryland. The 
business related chiefly to the purchase of lands in the two latter prov- 
inces. From the minutes of this treaty, we learn that the Six Nations 
complained that "their cousins the Delawares, and their brethren the 
Shawanees," had been annoyed by the white settlers on Juniata, and re- 
quested their removal. They also acknowledged that the purchases made 
by the Marylanders of the Conestogas were just and valid ; but as they 
(the Six Nations) had conquered the Conestogas, they insisted that pur- 
chases should be made of them. They also said that " the Conoy (called 
in former treaties Ganaway) Indians" had informed them, that they had 
sent the governor of Pennsylvania a message, some time ago, complain- 
ing of ill usage by white people, and their determination to remove to 
Shamokin ; and requested some satisfaction for their land. 

Few subjects have caused more excitement in their day, in Pennsylva- 
nia, than the murder of the Conestoga Indians. The people of Philadel- 
phia were astounded with the news of this horrible massacre ; and, in 
the first moments of alarm, exaggerated narratives were published, em- 
bellished with the pictures of editorial fancy, and tinged with the secta- 
rian or political prejudices of the narrators. The affair was intimately 
connected with the political disputes at that time hotly carried on — be- 
tween the people of the interior counties and those on the Delaware, be- 
tween the proprietaries and the landholders, and between the Quakers 
and the men of the frontier — in regard to the policy to be pursued to- 
wards the Indians. The feeling that existed among the Scotch-Irish 
party in Lancaster may be estimated by reference to the documents on 
this subject inserted on pages 278, 279, 280. The following narrative of 
the massacre is compiled from the various conflicting accounts : 

On the night of the 14th Dec. 1763, a number of armed and mounted men from the townships 
of Donnegal and Paxton, most of them belonging to the company of frontier Rangers of those 
tovPTiships, concerted an attack on the Indians at Conestoga, for the purpose, as they alleged, of 
securing one or more hostile Indians, who were harbored there, and who were supposed to have 
recently murdered several families of the whites. The number of the Paxton men is variously 



LANCASTER COUNTY. 399 

estimated from twenty to upwards of fifty. Few of the Indians were at home — the men proba- 
bly being absent either in huntings or tradings their baskets and furs at Lancaster. In the dead 
of night the white men fell upon the village : some defence was doubtless attempted by the few 
male Indians present, (Dr. Franklin's narrative says there were only three men, two women, and 
a young boy,) but they were overpowered, and the whole, men, women, and children, fell victims 
to the rifle, the tomahawk, and the knife of the frontier-men. The dwellings were burnt to the 
ground. 

The citizens and magistrates of Lancaster, shocked at the horrible outrage, with commendable 
humanity gathered the scattered individuals of the tribe who remained into the stone work-house 
at Lancaster, where, under bolts and bars, and the strict supervision of the keeper, they could not 
doubt but the Indians would be safe until they could be conveyed to Philadelphia for more secure 
protection. 

But the Faxton men were satisfied with nothing short of the extermination of the tribe, al- 
leging, however, that one or two of the hostile Indians were still among the Indians protected 
by the civU authority at Lancaster. Concealing themselves at night near Lancaster, they waited 
until the next day, 27th Dec, when the whole community was engaged in the solemnities of the 
sanctuary ; then, riding suddenly into town at a gallop, the band seized upon the keeper of the 
workhouse and overpowered him, and rushing into the prison, the work of death was speedily ac- 
complished : the poor Indians, about fourteen in number, were left weltering in gore, while the 
Faxton men left the town in the same haste with wliich they had entered it. The alarm was raised 
through the town ; but, before the citizens could assemble, the murderers were beyond their reach. 
In consequence of this aifair, the Moravian Indians from Wyalusing and Nain, who had come to 
Fhiladelphia for protection, were removed to Province island near the city, and placed under the 
charge of the garrison. 

The Faxton men, elated by their recent success, assembled in greater numbers early in Janua- 
ry, and threatened to march to Philadelphia in a body, and destroy the Indians there. The peo- 
ple of the city were prodigiously alarmed, and several companies of foot, horse, and artillery 
were formed to repel the expected attack. The Faxton men, who had approached the Schuylkill 
on their march, finding such a force prepared to receive them, returned home. 

A proclamation was issued by the governor, expressing the strongest indignation at the outrage 
at Conestoga and Lancaster, and offering a reward for the arrest of the perpetrators ; but such 
was the state of public opinion in the interior counties that no one dared to bring the offenders to 
justice, although they mingled openly among their fellow-citizens. 

The press of the day teemed with pamphlets, letters, appeals, pasqui- 
nades, and caricatures, many of which are still preserved in the Philadel- 
phia Library. While some of these present calm and forcible arguments 
on their respective sides, others exhibit the most rancorous malignity, and 
others show that that age was not a whit behind our own in the scur- 
rility of its political writers. After the Indians were killed, all parties 
busied themselves, as usual in such cases, to ascertain who was to 
blame. The governor was blamed for not having removed the Indians 
long before to Philadelphia, as he had been repeatedly warned to do. 
The Quakers and Moravians were blamed for fostering murderous In- 
dians, and .sheltering them from merited vengeance. The magistrates of 
Lancaster were charged with remissness of duty, since they might have 
applied to Capt. Robinson, who was then sta-tioned at the barracks in 
Lancaster with his company, for a guard ; but the magistrates say they 
did apply to him, and he denied their request. The citizens of Lancas- 
ter, too, and the keeper of the workhouse, were charged with collusion 
and connivance with the Paxton men ; but they indignantly denied the 
charge. And the whole Presbyterian church, it was plainly insinuated, 
was, if not aiding and abetting in the massacre, ready, at all events, to 
shield the guilty from punishment, and extenuate the crime.* 

" The insurgents," says Mr. Gordon, " were not the ignorant and vulgar 
of the border counties — persons more likely to yield to their passions than 

* Those who would investigate these questions more fully, are referred to the various pamph- 
lets in the Fhiladelphia Library, and to the voluminous mass of documents recently republished 
in the Lancaster Intelligencer for 1843. 



400 LANCASTER COUNTY. 

to respect the laws of their country and of humanity. They were of 
such consideration, that whilst the public voice and the press execrated 
the cruelty and illegality of their conduct, they forbore to name the 
guilty individuals. Nor did the latter remain silent, and shrink from re- 
proach without an attempt at self-defence. They urged the repeated 
murders perpetrated by the Indians, and their convictions of the union of 
the neutral with the belligerent tribes." 

During the old French war, and that of the revolution, the Scotch-Irish 
of Lancaster county, and such of the Germans (the Lutherans chiefly) as 
were not conscientiously opposed to it, cheerfully took arms in defence of 
the frontier. At the time of Braddock's expedition, Dr. Franklin, by his 
tact and perseverance, raised a large force of horses and wagons among 
the farmers of the county. Those who scrupled themselves to fight, did 
not object to send a horse and wagon to carry provisions, and to relieve 
the wounded. At Lancaster, on the return of Gen. Forbes's army from 
Fort Pitt, a barrack was erected for the accommodation of his troops. 
This building is still standing, though recently somewhat altered in its 
appearance, in Middle-street, near Mr. Fries' tavern. It is generally 
known as the British prison, from the fact that during the revolution it 
was selected for the confinement of the British prisoners, who were 
brought here because the inhabitants were thought to be decidedly hos- 
tile to the English. The following narrative of an adventure which oc- 
curred at that time, is abridged from a communication in the New Eng- 
land Magazine for 1833. The writer obtained his facts from the former 
intendant of the prison. 

The prisoners were confined in barracks, enclosed with a stockads and vigilantly guarded ; 
but in spite of all precautions, they often disappeared in an unaccountable manner, and nothing 
was heard of them until they resumed their places in the British army. It was presumed that 
they were aided by American tories, but where suspicion should fall, no one could conjecture. 
Gen. Hazen had charge of the post. He devised a stratagem for detecting the culprits, and se- 
lected Capt. Lee, afterwards Maj. Lee, a distinguished partisan officer,* to carry out his plan. 
It was given out that Lee had left the post on furlough. He, however, having disguised himself 
as a British prisoner, was thrown into the prison with the others. So complete was the disguise, 
that even the intendant, familiar with him from long daily intercourse, did not penetrate it. Had 
his fellow -prisoners detected him, his history might have been embraced in the proverb, " Dead 
men tell no tales." 

For many days he remained in this situation, making no discoveries whatever. He thought 
he perceived at times signs of intelligence between the prisoners and an old woman who was al- 
lowed to bring fruit for sale within the enclosure. She was known to be deaf and half-witted, 
and was therefore no object of suspicion. It was known that her son had been disgraced and 
punished in the American army, but she had never betrayed any malice on that account, and no 
one dreamed that she could have the power to do injury if she possessed the will. Lee watched 
her closely, but saw nothing to confirm his suspicions. Her dwelling was about a mile distant, 
in a wild retreat, where she shared her miserable quarters with a dog and cat. 

One dark stormy night in autumn, Lee was lying awake at midnight. All at once the door 
was gently opened, and a figure moved silently into the room. It was too dark to observe its 
motions narrowly, but he could see that it stooped towards one of the sleepers, who immcT 
diately rose. Next it approached and touched him on the shoulder. Lee immediately started up. 
The figure then allowed a slight gleam from a dark lantern to pass over his face, and as it did so 
whispered, impatiently, " Not the man — but come !" It then occurred to Lee that it was the 
opportunity he desired. The unknown whispered to him to keep his place till another man was 
called ; but just at that moment something disturbed him, and making a signal to Lee to follow, 
he moved silently out of the room. They found the door of the house unbarred, and a small part 
of the fence removed, where they passed out without molestation. The sentry had retired to a 
shelter, where he tliought he could guard his post without suffering from the rain ; but Lee saw 
his conductors put themselves in preparation to silence him if he should happen to address them 

* See page 242. 



LANCASTER COUNTY. 401 

Just witlwHit the fence appeared a stooping figure, wrapped in a red cloak, and supporting itself 
with a large stick, which Lee at once perceived could be no other than the old fruit-woman. But 
the most profound silence was observed : a man came out from a thicket at a little distance and 
joined them, and the whole party moved onward by the guidance of the old woman. At first they 
frequently stopped to listen, but having heard the sentinel cry " All's well 1" they seemed reas- 
sured, and moved with more confidence than before. 

They soon came to her cottage. A table was spread with some coarse provisions upon it, and 
a large jug, which one of the soldiers was about to seize, when the man who conducted them 
withheld him. " No," said he, " we must first proceed to business." 

The conductor, a middle-aged, harsh-looking man, was here about to require all present, before 
he could conduct them farther, to swear upon the Scriptures not to make the least attempt at 
escape, and never to reveal the circumstances or agents in the proceeding, whatever might befall 
them. But before they had time to take the oath, their practised ears detected the sound of the 
alarm-gun ; and the conductor, directing the party to follow him in close order, immediately left 
the house, taking with him a dark lantern. Lee's reflections were not now the most agreeable. 
If he were to be compelled to accompany his party to the British lines in New York, he would 
be detected and hanged as a spy ; and he saw that the conductor had prepared arms for them, 
which they were to use in tiiking the life of any one who should attempt to escape. They went 
on with great despatch, but not without difficulty. Lee might now have deserted, in this hurry 
and alarm ; but he had made no discovery, and he could not bear to confess that he had not nerve 
enough to carry him through. They went on, and were concealed in a barn the whole of the next 
day. Provisions were brought, and low whistles and other signs showed that the owner of the 
barn was in collusion with his secret guests. The barn was attached to a small farm-house. 
Lee was so near the house that he could overhear the conversation which was carried on about 
the door. The morning rose clear, and it was evident from the inquiries of horsemen, who occa- 
sionally galloped up to the door, that the country was alarmed. The farmer gave short and surly 
replies, as if unwilling to be taken off" from his labor ; but the other inmates of the house were 
eager in their questions ; and from the answers Lee gathered that the means by which he and his 
companions had escaped were as mysterious as ever. The next night, when all was quiet, they 
resumed their march, and explained to Lee that, as he was not with them in their conspiracy, and 
was accidentally associated with them in their escape, they should take the precaution to keep 
him before them, just behind the guide. He submitted without opposition, though the arrange- 
ment considerably lessened his chances of escape. 

For several nights they went on in this manner, being delivered over to different persons from 
time to time ; and, as Lee could gather from their whispering conversations, they were regularly 
employed on occasions like the present, and well rewarded by the British for their services. 
Their employment was full of danger ; and though they seemed like desperate men, he could ob- 
serve that they never remitted their precautions. They were concealed days in barns, cellars, 
caves made for the purpose, and similar retreats ; and one day was passed in a tomb, the dimen- 
sions of which had been enlarged, and the inmates, if there had been any, banished to make 
room for the living. The burying-grounds were a favorite retreat, and on more occasions than 
one they were obliged to resort to superstitious alarms to remove intruders upon their path. 
Their success fully justified the experiment ; and unpleasantly situated as he was, in the prospect 
of soon being a ghost himself, he could not avoid laughing at the expedition with which old and 
young fled from the fancied apparitions. 

Though the distance to the Delaware was not great, they had now been 12 days on the road, 
and such was the vigilance and suspicion prevailing throughout the country, that they almost 
despaired of effecting their object. The conductor grew impatient, and Lee's companions, at 
least one of them, became ferocious. There was, as we have said, something unpleasant to him 
in the glances of this fellow towards him, which became more and more fierce as they went on ; 
but it did not appear whether it was owing to circumstances, or actual suspicion. It so happened 
that, on the twelfth night, Lee was placed in a barn, while the rest of the party sheltered them- 
selves in the cellar of a little stone church, where they could talk and act with more freedom ; 
both because the soUtude of the church was not often disturbed even on the Sabbath, and be- 
cause even the proprietors did not know that illegal hands had added a cellar to the conveniences 
of the building. 

Here they were smoking pipes with great diligence, and, at intervals not distant, applying a 
huge canteen to their mouths, from which they drank with upturned faces, expressive of solemn 
satisfaction. While they were thus engaged, the short soldier asked them, in a careless way, if 
they knew whom they had in their party. The others started, and took their pipes from their 
mouths to ask him what he meant. " I mean," said he, " that we are honored with the company 
of Capt. Lee, of the rebel army. The rascal once punished me, and I never mistook my man 
when I had a debt of that kind to pay. Now I shall have my revenge." 

The others expressed their disgust at his ferocity, saying that if, as he said, their com- 
panion was an American officer, all they had to do was to watch him closely. As he had come 
among thera uninvited, he must go with them to New York, and take the consequencea ; but 

51 



402 LANCASTER COUNTY. 

meantime it was their interest not to seem to suspect him, otherwise he might give an alarm— 
whereas it was evidently his intention to go with them till they were ready to embark for New 
York. The other person persisted in saying that he would have his revenge with his own hand, 
upon which the conductor, drawing a pistol, declared to him that if he saw the least attempt to 
injure Capt. Lee, or any conduct which would lead him to suspect that his disguise was discov- 
ered, he would that moment shoot him through the head. The soldier put his hand upon his 
knife, with an ominous scowl upon his conductor ; but he restrained himself. 

The next night they went on as usual, but the manner of their conductor showed that there 
was more danger than before ; in fact, he explained to the party that they were now not far from 
the Delaware, and hoped to reach it before midnight. They occasionally heard the report of a 
musket, which seemed to indicate that some movement was going on in the country. 

When they came to the bank there were no traces of a boat on the waters. Their conductor 
stood stUl for a moment in dismay ; but, recollecting himself, he said it was possible it might have 
been secured lower down the stream ; and forgetting every thing else, he directed the larger sol- 
dier to accompany him. Giving a pisto' to the other, he whispered, " If the rebel officer attempts 
to betray us, shoot him ; if not, you will not, for your own sake, make any noise to show where 
we are." In the same instant they departed, and Lee was left alone with the ruffian. 

He had before suspected that the fellow knew him, and now doubts were changed to certainty 
at once. Dark as it was, it seemed as if fire flashed from his eye, now he felt that revenge was 
within his power. Lee was as brave as any officer in the army ; but he was unarmed ; and 
though he was strong, his adversary was still more powerful. While he stood, uncertain what to 
do, the fellow seemed enjoying the prospect of revenge, as he looked on him with a steady eye. 
Though the officer stood to appearance unmoved, the sweat rolled in heavy drops from his brow. 
Lee soon took his resolution, and sprang upon his adversary with the intention of wresting the 
pistol from his hand ; but the other was upon his guard, and aimed with such precision that, had 
the pistol been charged with a bullet, that moment would have been his last. But it seemed that 
the conductor had trusted to the sight of liis weapons to render them unnecessary, and had there- 
fore only loaded them with powder. As it was, the shock threw Lee to the ground ; but fortu- 
nately, as the fellow dropped the pistol, it fell where Lee could reach it ; and as his adversary 
stooped, and was drawing his knife from his bosom, Lee was able to give him a stunning blow. 
He immediately threw himself upon the assassin, and a long and bloody struggle began. They 
were so nearly matched in strength and advantage, that neither dared unclench his hold for the 
sake of grasping the knife. The blood gushed from their mouths, and the combat would have 
probably ended in favor of the assassin — when steps and voices were heard advancing, and they 
found themselves in the hands of a party of countrymen, who were armed for the occasion, and 
were scouring the banks of the river. They were forcibly torn apart, but so exhausted and 
breathless that neither could make any explanation ; and they submitted quietly to their captors. 

The party of the armed countrymen, though they had succeeded in their attempt, and were 
sufficiently triumphant on the occasion, were sorely perplexed how to dispose of their pris- 
oners. After some discussion, one of them proposed to throw the decision upon the wisdom of 
the nearest magistrate. They accordingly proceeded with their prisoners to his mansion, about 
two miles distant, and called upon him to arise and attend to business. A window was hastily 
thrown up, and the justice put forth his night-capped head, and with more wrath than became 
his dignity, ordered them off; and in requital for their calling him out of bed in the cold, gener- 
ously wished them in the warmest place. However, resistance was vain : he was compelled to 
rise ; and as soon as the prisoners were brought before him, he ordered them to be taken in irons 
to the prison at Philadelphia. Lee improved the opportunity to take the old gentleman aside, 
and told hira who he was, and why he was thus disguised. The justice only interrupted him 
with the occasional inquiry, " Most done ?" When he had finished, the magistrate told him that 
his story was very well made, and told in a manner very creditable to his address ; and that he 
should give it all the weight it seemed to require. And Lee's remonstrances were unavailing. 

As soon as they were fairly lodged in the prison, Lee prevailed on the jailer to carry a note to 
Gen. Lincoln, informing him of his condition. The general received it as he was dressing in the 
morning, and immediately sent one of his aids to the jaU. That officer could not beheve his eyes 
that he saw Capt. Lee. His uniform, worn out when he assumed it, was now hanging in rags 
about him ; and he had not been shaved for a fortnight. He wished, very naturally, to improve 
his appearance before presenting himself before the secretary of war ; but the orders were peremp- 
tory to bring him as he was. The general loved a joke full well : his laughter was hardly ex- 
ceeded by the report of his own cannon ; and long and loud did he laugh that day. 

When Capt. Lee returned to Lancaster, he immediately attempted to retrace the ground ; and 
so accurate, under all the unfavorable circumstances, had been his investigation, that he brought 
to justice fifteen persons who had aided the escape of British prisoners. It is hardly necessary 
to say, to those who know the fate of revolutionary officers, that he received, for his hazardous 
and effectual service, no reward whatever. 

The internal improvements in and near Lancaster deserve a passing: 



LANCASTER COUNTY. 403 

notice The turnpike to Philadelphia, 62 miles long— at first pared with 
stone, and since McAdamized — was one of the earliest and most impor- 
tant enterprises in the state, and was the first road of the kind made in 
the United States. It was commenced in 1792, and finished in 1794, by 
a private company, at an expense of $465,000. 

One mile east of Lancaster is a splendid stone bridge over the Cones- 
toga creek. A tablet in the parapet wall gives its history as follows : — 

Erected by Abraham Witmer, 1799-1800. A law of an enlightened 
f^ommon wealth, passed April 4, 1798, Thomas Mifflin governor, sanctioned 
this monument of the public spirit of an individual." Mr. Witmer was 
remunerated by the tolls. Such a work, at that early day, was indeed 
an enterprise of which the state might have been proud — much more an 
individual. 

The Conestoga Navigation is a series of 9 locks and slackwater pools, 
18 miles in length, from Lancaster to Safe Harbor on the Susquehanna, 
at the mouth of the Conestoga. By means of the tide water canal to 
Port Deposit, a navigable communication is thus opened to Baltimore. 
This work was completed in 1829. It cost about $4000 per mile. A 
valuable water power is created at the locks. The Philadelphia and 
Columbia railroad was first opened through for travel to Columbia in 
Oct. 1834. There are some splendid bridges on this road, among the 
most important of which are those over the Conestoga and Little Cones- 
toga creeks. The former is 1400 feet long, resting on ten piers ; and the 
latter is 804 feet long. The road was at first located at about half a mile 
to the north of Lancaster ; but the route was changed^ at considerable 
expense, to accommodate the city. The Harrisburg and Lancaster rail- 
road, constructed by a company, was completed about the year 1838. 

In the cemetery of the Episcopal church in Lancaster, is a monument 
sacred to the memory of Gov. Thomas Mifflin, erected by order of the 
legislature. The remains of Thomas Wharton, the first president of the 
supreme executive council, also repose in Lancaster. 

Thomas Mifflin was a descendant of one of the early settlers of the province, and was bom at 
Philadelphia in 1744. He was educated for the mercantile profession, and after a tour in Europe 
was engaged in business with his brother. At the age of 28 he was elected to represent his na- 
tive city in the provincial assembly, and in July 1774 was one of the delegates to the first con- 
gress. When the news came of the battle of Lexington, he roused his fellow-citizens to action 
by his eloquence. " Let us not," said he, " be bold in declarations and afterwards cold in action. 
Let it not be said of Philadelphia that she passed noble resolutions, slept upon them, and after- 
wards neglected them." What he recommended he practised, and was soon in active service as a 
major at the siege of Boston, where he distinguished himself by his coolness and personal bra- 
very. On his return to Philadelphia, in 1776, he was charged with the arduous but unenviable 
duties of Quarter Master General, and soon after was appointed by congress a brigadier, at the 
age of 32. He enjoyed in a high degree the confidence of congress, and was often associated in 
secret councils with men of much riper years. When torpor and discouragement seemed to have 
seized upon the nation, late in 1776, he went through Pennsylvania in person, and by his persua- 
sive eloquence roused the people to a new effort. Regiments were raised on the spot, and the 
brilliant affair at Trenton was the result. Congress in February ensuing conferred upon him the 
rank of major-general. During the gloomy winter of 1777-78, when the army was encamped at 
Valley Forge, attempts were made to impute the sufferings of the army to various causes, and 
among others, Gen. Mifflin did not escape his share of public prejudice, particularly as he had 
been connected with the quartermaster's department. But congress, after the forms of an in- 
quiry, again renewed their confidence. In 1783 he was elected to congress from Pennsylvania, 
and had the honor to preside over that body. At the close of the term he retired to private life< 
where he could not remain long. He was speaker of the legislature in 1785, and in 1788 he was 
placed by popular suffrage in the seat which had been occupied by Franklin, and was afterwards 
president of the supreme executive council. Previous to this, he had been a member of the con* 



404 LANCASTER COUNTY- 

vention which framed the Constitution of the United States ; and in 1799 assisted, as president 
of the convention, in forming the new constitution of the state. He was the first governor under 
that constitution, continuing to hold the office nine years, by three successive elections. He 
rendered a ready and effibient support to the administration of Gen. Washington, and during the 
Whiskey Insurrection himself took command of the troops of Pennsylvania. His term of office 
as governor expired in Dec. 1799 ; but his fellow-citizens, unwilling to part with his services, had 
returned him to the legislature. He died during the session, at Lancaster, on the 21st Jan. 1800. 
In person Gov. Mifflin was remarkably handsome, though his stature did not exceed five feet 
eight. His frame was athletic, and capable of bearing much fatigue. His manner.? were cheer- 
ful and affiible ; his elocution open, fluent, and distinct. Graydon, who did not like him, saya 
that his manners were better adapted to attract popularity than to preserve it, and that he pos- 
sessed in an eminent degrfee the talent of haranguing a multitude. He adds that he was a man 
of " education, ready apprehension, and brilliancy, and possessed a fortitude equal to any de- 
mands that might be made on it." 

Many other eminent men have been either natives or residents of Lan- 
caster county and city. Edward Shippen possessed great influence with 
the proprietary government ; and was the intimate friend and confidential 
agent of Gov. James Hamilton, the proprietor of Lancaster. His eldest 
son, Edward Shippen, in 1763 was a member of the council, prothonotary 
of the supreme court, and judge of the admiralty. His son, Joseph Ship- 
pen, jr., was secretary to the governor and council. The distinguished 
Dr. Eberle, of Philadelphia, was born in Lancaster co. Hon. John C^ 
Calhoun cante ver^ near being born in Lancaster co., his parents, who 
were Scotch-Irish, living in Dromore township, having removed to South 
Carolina a short time before his birth. One of the old settlers used to in- 
sist that he was born here, but Mr. Calhoun himself denies it. Hon. James 
Buchanan, the distinguished senator of the United States, who was born 
in Franklin co., has long been a resident of Lancaster. 

Robert Fulton, the emineni inventor of steamboats, was born of respectable Irish parents, in 
the township of Little Britain, Lancaster co. His parents not long after removed to Lancaster 
borough, where he received a good English education. The house at which he went to school is 
now used as a saddler's shop, on the northeast corner of E. King st., and the centre square. A 
schoolmate of his, in 1780, says, " His mother was a widow, in straitened circumstances. 
I had a brother who was fond of painting. The revolutionary war made it difficult to obtain 
materials from abroad, and the arts were at a low ebb in the country. My brother consequently 
prepared and mixed colors for himself, which he usually displayed on mussel shells. His cast-off 
brushes and shells fell to my lot, some of which I occasionally carried to school. Fulton craved 
a part, and 1 divided my treasure. He soon from this beginning so shamed my performances by 
his superiority, that I voluntarily surrendered the entire heirship of all that came into my pos- 
session. Henceforth his book was neglected, and he was often severely chastised by the school- 
master for his inattention. His friends removed him to Philadelphia, where he was apprenticed 
to a silversmith ; but his mind was not in his trade, and in his eighteenth year he established 
himself as a painter in that city." 

On entering his twenty-second year, he went to England for the purpose of improving his know- 
ledge as an artist, and was received into the family of Benjamin West, with whom he spent sev- 
eral years, and cultivated a warm friendship. After leaving that family, he employed two years 
in Devonshire as a painter, and there became acquainted with the Duke of Bridgevvater and Lord 
Stanhope, the former famous for his canals, and the latter for his love of the mechanic arts. He 
soon turned his attention to mechanics, particularly to the improvement of inland navigation by 
canals, and the use of steam for the propelling of boats; and in 1794 obtained patents for a 
double inclined plane, to be used for transportation, and an instrument to be employed in exca- 
vating canals. He at this time professed himself a civil-engineer, and published a treatise on 
canal navigation. He soon after went to France, and obtained a patent from the government for 
the improvements he had invented. He spent the succeeding seven years in Paris, in the family 
of Mr. Joel Barlow, during which period he made himself acquainted with the French, Italian, 
and German languages, and soon acquired a knowledge of the high mathematics, physics, chem- 
istry, and perspective. He soon turned his attention to submarine navigation and explosion, and 
in 1801, under the patronage of the First Consul, constructed a plunging boat, and torpedoes, 
(differing materially from Bushnel's invention, with which he was acquainted,) with which he 
performed many experiments in the harbor of Brest, demonstrating the practicabihty of employ- 
ing subaquatic explosion and navigation for the destruction of vessels. These inventions attracted 



LANCASTER COUNTY- 405 

the attention of the British government, and overtures were made to him by the ministry which 
induced him to go to London, with the hope that they would avail themselves of his machines ; 
but a demonstration of their efficacy which he gave the ministry, by blowing up a vessel in their 
presence, led them to wish to suppress the invention rather than encourage it ; and accordingly 
they declined patronizing him. During this period he also made many efforts to discover a 
method of successfully using the steam-engine for the propelling of boats, and as early as 1793, 
made such experiments as inspired him with great confidence in its practicability. Robert R. 
Livingston, Esq., chancellor of the state of New York, and minister of the United States to the 
French court, on his arrival in France, induced him to renew his attention to this subject, and 
embarked with him in making experiments for the purpose of satisfying themselves of the possi- 
bility of employing steam in navigation. Mr. Fulton engaged with intense interest in the trial, 
and, in 1803, constructed a boat on the river Seine, at their joint expense, by which he fully 
evinced the practicability of propelling boats by that agent. He immediately resolved to enrich 
his country with this invaluable discovery ; and on returning to New York in 1806, commenced, 
in conjunction with Mr. Livingston, the construction of the first Fulton boat, which was launched 
in the spring of 1807, from the ship-yard of Charles Brown, New York, and completed in August. 
This boat, which was called the Clermont, (from the seat of the Livingston faiirily,) demonstrated 
on the first experiment, to a host of at first iricredulous but at length astonished spectators, the 
correctness of his expectations, and the value of his invention. Between this period and hia 
death he superintended the erection of fourteen other steam-vfessels, and made great improvements 
in their construction. 

" As I had occasion to pass daily to and from the building-yard," said Fulton, " while my boat 
was in progress, I have often loitered unknown near the idle grdilps of strangers gathering in 
little circles, and heard various inquiries as to the object of this new vehicle. The language was 
uniformly that of scorn, sneer, or ridicule. The loud laugh rose at my expense, the dry jest, the 
wise calculation of losses and expenditures ; the dull but endleiss repetition of the " Fulton folly." 
Never did a single encouraging remark, a bright hope, or a warm wish, cross my path. Silence 
itself was but politeness veiling its doubts or hiding its reproaches. At length the day arrived 
when the experiment Was to be got into operation. To me it was a most trying and interesting 
occasion. I invited many friends to go on board to witness the first successful trip. Many of 
them did me the favor to attend as a matter of personal respect ; but it was manifest they did it 
with reluctance, fearing to be partners of my mortification and not of my triumph. I was well 
aware that in my case there were many reasons to doubt of my own success. The machinery, 
(like Fitch's before him) was new and ill made ; and many parts of it were constructed by me- 
chanics unacquainted with such work, and unexpected difficulties might reasonably be presumed 
to present themselves from other causes. The moment arrived in which the word was to be given 
for the vessel to move. My friends were in groups on the deck. There was anxiety mixed with 
fear among them. They were silent, sad, and weary. I read in their looks nothing but disaster, 
and almost repented of my efforts. The signal was given, and the boat moved on a short distance 
and then stopped, and became immovable. To the silence of the preceding moment now suc- 
ceeded murmurs of discontent, and agitations, and whispers, and shrugs. I could hear distinctly 
repeated, ' / told you it was so ; it is a foolish scheme ; I wish we were well out of it.' I ele- 
vated myself upon a platform, and addressed the assembly. I stated that I knew not what was 
the matter ; but if they would be quiet, and indulge me for half an hour, I would either go on or 
abandon the voyage for that time. This short respite was conceded without objection. I went 
below and examined the machinery, and discovered that the cause was a slight maladjustment 
of some of the work. In a short period it was obviated. The boat was again put in motion. 
She continued to move on. All were Still iilcredulbus. None seemed willing to trust the evi- 
denee of their own senses. We left the fair city df New York; we passed through the romantic 
and ever-varying scenery of the Highlands ; we descried the clustering houses of Albany ; we 
reached its shores ; and then, even then, when all seemed achieved, I was the victim of disap- 
pointment. Imagination superseded the influence of fact. It was then doubted if it could be 
done again ; or if done, it was doubted if it could be made of any great value." 

Fulton obtained a patent for his inventions in navigation by steam in February, 1809, and an- 
other for some improvements, in 1811. In the latter year he was appointed, by the legislature of 
New York, one of the commissioners to explore a route for a canal from the great lakes to the 
Hudson, and engaged with zeal in the promotion of that great work. On the commencement of 
hostilities between the United States and Great Britain, in 1812, he renewed his attention to sub- 
marine warfare, and contrived a method of discharging guns under water, for which he obtained 
a patent. In 1814 he contrived an armed steam-ship for the defence of the harbor of New York, 
and also a submarine vessel, or plunging boat, of such dimensions as to carry 100 men, the plans 
of which being approved by government, he was authorized to construct them at the public ex- 
pense. But before completing either of those works, he died suddenly, February 24th, 1815. His 
person was tall, slender, and well formed, his manners graceful and dignified, and his disposition 
generous. His attainments and inventions bespeak the high superiority of his talents. He was 
an accomplished painter, was profoundly versed in mechanics, and possessed an invention of great 



406 



LANCASTER COUNTY. 



fertility, nnd which was always directed by an eminent share of good sense. His style as a 
writer was perspicuous and energetic. To him is to be ascribed the honor of inventing a method 
of successfully employing the steam-engine in navigation, an invention jultly considered one of 
the most important which has been made in modern ages, and by which he rendered himself both 
a perpetual and one of the greatest benefactors of mankind. He was not indeed the first who 
conceived it to be possible ; others had believed its practicability, and made many attempts to 
propel boats by steam ; but, having neither his genius, his knowledge, nor his perseverance, they 
were totally unsuccessful, 

Columbia, borough, is situated on the left bank of the Susquehanna, 28 
miles below Harrisburg, and 11 miles west of Lancaster. A part of the 
town occupies the slope of a hill, which rises gently from the river, and 
the business part of the town lies along the level bank of the river. The 
scenery from the hills in the vicinity is magnificent. The broad river, 
studded with numerous islands and rocks, crossed by a long and splendid 
bridge, and bounded on every side by lofty hills, presents one of the finest 
landscapes in Pennsylvania. 

The public buildings here are Catholic, Presbyterian, two Methodist 
and Baptist churches, a Quaker meeting-house, a town hall, a lyceum 
hall, and a bank. There are also several very extensive forwarding 
warehouses, boatyards, and machine-shops, connected with the public 
works. The junction here of the state railroad from Philadelphia with 
the main line of canal, with the railroad to York and the Tide-water 
canal to Maryland, renders Columbia a busy place. The main current 
of travellers which formerly passed through here has been diverted by 
the construction of the Harrisburg and Lancaster railroad ; but the emi- 
grant travel still goes by way of Columbia. The borough was incorpo- 
rated 25th February, 1814. Population in 1830,2,046; in 1840,2,719. 
The annexed view was taken from the toll-house, at the east end of the 




Street in Columbia. 

bridge. The York railroad is seen in the foreground, and the cars of the 
Columbia road in the centre. 

The bridge across the Susquehanna, constructed on the Burr plan, and 
resting on stone piers, is 5,690 feet, or more than a mile long. It cost 
$231,771, and was erected by a company in 1814, the state being a stock- 



LANCASTER COUNTY. 407 

holder to the amount of $90,000. The whole capital of the company was 
$419,400, of which a portion has been employed in banking. The struc- 
ture was greatly injured by the freshet of 1832, the ice having been piled 
even upon the roof of the bridge, and nearly one half the structure was 
swept away. It was repaired and again passable in 1834. 

The Columbia and Philadelphia railroad, 81 6-10 miles long, was com- 
menced in 1829. In April, 1834, a single track was completed through- 
out, and in October, 1834, both tracks were opened for public use. Major 
John Wilson had charge of the work until his death, in 1833, when he 
was succeeded by Edward F. Gay, Esq. The total cost, when it was 
opened for use in 1834, was $3,754,577 20; and afterwards additional 
work was done, and alterations made, increasing the cost to a total of 
$4,296,796 92. One of the alterations was to dispense with the inclined 
plane first constructed at Columbia, of 1,800 feet in length, and 90 feet in 
height. A more circuitous route for about six miles was completed in 
1839, with a grade of 35 feet per mile, by which Columbia is reached 
without a plane. A similar change is contemplated at Philadelphia, but 
has not yet been adopted. 

The following reminiscences are selected from an article in the Colum- 
bia Spy for 1832, derived from a respectable lady of the society of 
Friends. The article, and another of similar import, may be found more 
at length in the ninth volume of Hazard's Register : — 

About the year 1726 or 7, Robert Barber, of Chester, came to the eastern banks of the Sus- 
quehanna and took up 1,000 acres of land, bounded on the north-west by the Chicques hills, and 
to the southwest by what was afterwards called Patton's hill. About 500 acres of this land are 
embraced in what is now Columbia. At that time, the noble river, pursuing its undisturbed 
course in soUtude, or ruffled only by the light canoe of the Indian — the shore covered with lofty 
trees — must have presented a grand and imposing sight. The land was purchased of Jeremiah 
Langhorne, the agent of the proprietors. 

Alter the purchase, Mr. Barber returned to Chester, and in 1728, he, with Samuel Blunston 
and John Wright, together with their families, left their homes in that place, and came to settle 
on the land which had been taken up the year before. These persons were members of the soci- 
ety of Friends. This journey was thought a very great undertaking ; the country was iminhabited 
except by the Indians, who had their cabins in many places. 

Samuel Blunston was the most wealthy of the three ; he took 500 acres of the land next to the 
upper hills, and built where S. B. Heise now lives. The old house was pulled down some years 
since, to make room for the building which is now standing ; the brick part of the building was 
afterwards built by him. His wife was a widow of the name of Bilton ; her first husband kept a 
ferry over the Schuylkill. S. Blunston had no children ; his estate went to two nieces, and is 
now held by the Bithels, their descendants. 

John Wright took 250 acres of the land, and built his house where E. Wright and sisters now 
live ; the house has been much repaired and altered, but a part of it remains as originally con- 
structed. He came from Manchester, in England, among the early settlers of the province — was 
a preacher of the society of Friends, and for many years judge of the court. His speech to the 
grand jury may be seen in Frond's History of Pennsylvania. He kept a store in Chester. He 
had two sons and three daughters. John, the eldest, kept the ferry on the west side of the Sus- 
quehanna, and built the ferry-house there. Susanna, the eldest of the daughters, did not leave 
England till some time after her father. She was a person of great note in this place ; her edu- 
cation was superior to most of her day. She was consulted in all difficult matters — did all the 
writings necessary in the place — was charitable to the poor, and gave medicine gratis to all the 
neighborhood. She defended the cause of the Indians who were murdered by the Paxton Boys, 
and wrote in answer to a clergyman of Lancaster, who took the opposite side. Samuel Blunston 
left all his estate to her during her life, and at his death she and all the family removed to his 
house. She lived to a great age ; and died as she had lived, in the principles of Friends. Pa- 
tience, another daughter of John Wright, was married to Richard Lowden — the present John L. 
Wright is their descendant by his mother. Elizabeth, daughter of John Wright, married Samuel 
Taylor, who was the owner of a large tract of land near where Strasburg now stands ; he sold 
his property there, and once owned what is now called Wrightsville. The Wrights in this place 
at the present time arc the descendants of James Wright, the youngest son of Joho. 



408 LANCASTER COUNTY. 

Robert Barber kept the 250 acres next the lower hills ; he came from Yorkshire, in England. 
He had followed the sea for some years, and had been a prisoner in France. He married Han- 
nah Tidmarsh, in Chester or Philadelphia ; she also came from England. Her father came to 
America some time before the rest of the family, and was accidentally shot by an Indian before 
her arrival. R. Barber settled further from the river than the others. He built the brick house 
now occupied by J. Hinkle. He was sheriff of the county, and in consequence of the intention 
to^make this place the seat of justice, a prison was built near his house. It was a strong-looking 
lof building, and was pulled down not many years since. In this prison, James, afterwards Lord 
Altham, was confined, having run away from his master.* R. Barber had several children ; the 
eldest son, John, was killed by the Indians, near where Pittsburg now stands ; he had gone 
thither to trade in fur, or what was then called trapping. His other sons settled on the land, but 
it is now owned by the Stricklers, except about 60 acres, which was the share of the second son, 
Robert. He married Sarah, daughter of Samuel Taylor, and had ten children ; but at this time 
they are all gone, except one son and two daughters ; the daughters live on the place, in the house 
which their father built 67 years ago. The old house was a few steps below the present mansion. 
In those days pine boards were little used ; the joists, window and door frames were of oak. What 
little pine there is in the building was got out of logs picked up in the river, and sawed at a mill 
of Nathaniel Barber's, on what was called Barber's run, the same stream which Strickler's large 
mill is on. Samuel Barber, another brother, had a fulling-mill on this stream. 

The land back from the river was mostly settled by the Germans — the Forreys, Stricklers, 
Shirks, Garbers, &c. Their first purchases were from an old woman of the name of Mary 
Ditcher, who used to go through the country making what was then called improvements. 
These improvements consisted in piling a few sticks together, setting them on fire, and hanging 
a pot over ; this was considered a first right ; if they could then pay for the land, they had the 
privilege of keeping it. This Mary Ditcher appears to have been a singular person. She used to 
wander through the woods in a sheepskin dress, leading an old horse, her only property, with her 
knitting in her hand. The township in which Columbia is situated was called Hempfield, from 
the great quantities of hemp which were raised in it. Manor township, below this, was so called 
from the circumstance that the land in it was reserved for the proprietor. 

* He came to this country in 1728, when quite young, and served his time as James Annesley, 
with a farmer, on the Lancaster road. From some cause he ran away from his master : he was 
caught and confined in the prison in this place. He was considered a great singer, and the 
neighbors frequently visited the prison-house for the purpose of listening to him. The events of 
his life furnished the ground.work for Roderick Random, and the popular novel of Florence Mc- 
Cartey. The facts concerning this singular case are taken from the evidence given on the trial, 
and may be depended on as authentic. 

Arthur Annesley (Lord Altham) married Mary Sheffield, natural daughter of the Earl of Buck- 
ingham. By her, in the year 1715, he had a son, James, the subject of this memoir. In the 
next year the parents had some differences, which terminated in a separation. The father, con- 
trary to the wish of the mother, took exclusive possession of his son James, and manifested much 
fondness for him, until the year 1722, when he formed some intimacy with Miss Gregory; and 
about the same time his wife died. Miss G., expecting now to become his wife, exerted herself 
greatly to alienate his affections from his son, by insinuating that he was not his proper child. 
She succeeded to get him placed from home, at a school in Dublin. In November, 1727, Lord 
Altham died ; and his brother Richard, wishing to possess the estate and title, took measures to 
get rid of his nephew James, by having him enticed on board an American vessel, which sailed 
from Dublin in April, 1728. He was landed at Philadelphia, then in his thirteenth year, and sold 
as a redemptioner ! and actually served out 12 years in rough labor, until a seeming accident, in 
the year 1740, brought him to such acquaintance as led, in the next year, to his return home. 
The case was this : Two Irishmen, John and William Broders, travelling the Lancaster road, in 
the year 1740, stopped at the house near the 40 mile stone, where James was in service with an 
old German. These countrymen, entering into conversation, perceived they were severally from 
Dumaine, in the county of Wexford, and that James Annesley was the son of Arthur. The two 
Broders volunteered to go back to Ireland, and to testify to the discovery they had made, and 
actually kept their word at the trial which afterwards occurred. James subsequently stated his 
case to Robert Ellis, Esq., of Philadelphia, who, compassionating his case, procured a passage 
for him to Admiral Vernon, then in the West Indies, by whom he was afterwards landed in Eng- 
land. But shortly after his arrival at London, James imfortunately killed a man, for which he 
had to stand a trial ; and then Lord Altham, the unnatural uncle, exerted himself to have him 
convicted, but he was nevertheless acquitted as innocent. An action was brought against the 
uncle, and went to trial in November, 1743, and the verdict was given in favor of James, our 
redemptioner. The uncle appealed to the House of Lords ; and while the case was pending 
James died, leaving the uncle in quiet possession of his ill-gotten estate, showing, however, while 
he lived, which was not long, the spectacle of a finished villain, even in an Irish nobleraaii. 



LANCASTER COUNTY. 409 

Some Irish families, of the name of Patton, settled on lands adjoining the lower part of Colum- 
bia. They gave the name to the hill, and to the current below the mouth of the run, which ia 
well known by the name of Patton's current. Tradition says that there was a great slaughter 
of the Indians at that place in the early settlement of the country, by a party of whites, led on by 
a person of the name of Bell. Our informant remembers seeing many places there, said to be the 
graves of the Indians who were killed in the battle ; it was believed that a piece of cannon lay 
sunk in the current. To their last days, the Indians in this vicinity had a great dread of the 
name of Bell. 

Below this, the settlers were principally Germans ; the Stehmans, KaufTmans, Rupleys, 
Herrs, &.c., were among the first. The township above, called Donegal, was settled by the 
Irish — the Andersons, Cooks, Tatos, Kays, &,c. Anderson's ferry is well known where Ma- 
rietta now stands. 

Si?ty years ago, where the gravel appears in low water, opposite the Miss Barbers', there was 
an island with large trees. Large buttonwood and other trees grew at the water's edge ; many 
of them were torn away by the ice. The first shad caught here with a seine was somewhere 
between 1760 and 65, at the east end of the river, just below the old ferry course. 

The ferry across the Susquehanna at this place appears to have been early set up. At first it 
was necessarily very imperfect. Two large canoes lashed together were used to take over a 
wagon, which first had to be unloaded. In 1750, it rented for ^ClOO per annum, with the ground 
allotted to it. The ferry course was a little below the bridge. Sixty years ago the idea oif a 
bridge across the Susquehanna was laughed at. 

Where the row of houses now stands on Water-street, below the turnpike, was what was called 
the bank, where the young people used to congregate for play. On it was a thicket of bushes, 
wild plum and mulberry trees, grape-vines, strawberries, and wild flowers. The school-house 
was where E. Wright and sisters now live. 

The stone house now occupied by John L. Wright, was built some time between 1740 and 50 ; 
also the little stone mill on Shawnee run. They were built by James Wright, father of the pres- 
ent James and WiUiam Wright. There was flour made at this mill for the use of Braddock's 
army ; it was packed in small casks made for the purpose, and carried on pack-horses. It was 
taken to what was then called Raystown. There were a few small buildings scattered through 
the neighborhood, built mostly by persons who had served a time with the first settlers, as a com- 
pensation to them for paying their passage over to this country, they being themselves unable to 
pay. Many of them had come from Germany. One of the first of this kind of buildings now 
stands in the upper end of the town, and is occupied by Peter Mays. Adjoining this building, at 
the end towards the river, stood the first place for public worship in the town. It was a small 
squared log building ; the logs are now in an outbuilding of Wm. Wright. Robert Barber, now 
in his 82d year, remembers attending meeting there. Catharine Peyton and Mary Pearly, public 
Friends from Ireland, held meetings there ; they travelled the country on horseback. Before this 
building was erected, the meetings were held in private houses. At length, on account of the 
discipline not being properly attended to, it was altogether put down by the monthly meeting at 
Sadsbury. Some years since, however, they requested and obtained permission to hold meetings 
here again ; they then built the present brick meeting-house. 

About half a mile from Columbia, on the road leading to the Chicques, among the hills, was 
the place called Smoketown. Many now living may remember it. A little stream wound along 
among the hills ; three or four little cabins were built near together, and a few spots of level 
ground were sometimes cultivated by the inhabitants. It was the rendezvous for strolling beg- 
gars and such kind of people : many a midnight brawl has been witnessed here. All vestiges of 
this settlement are now gone, and the land belongs to the Hogendoblers. 

The first proprietors being all related or connected with each other, the greatest harmony and 
friendship existed between them. In those days tea was looked upon as too eflfeminate for men. 
There were no stores nearer than Lancaster, and luxuries which all partake of now, were little 
known then. There was great difficulty in getting shoes, especially for children. 

The defeat of Braddock's army, in 1755, produced great excitement here. All the females and 
children of the place, to the number of about 30, went to Philadelphia and spent the winter. 
They occupied the house on Chestnut-street, which stood on a part of the ground where the 
Arcade now is. The men who remained fortified the storehouse of J. L. Wright. 

Marietta is situated on the left bank of the Susquehanna, 3 miles 
above Columbia. It was incorporated as a borough in 1812, and the ad- 
joining villages of Waterford and New Haven were included in the bo- 
rough. It contains about 100 dwellings, a Presbyterian church, a Fe- 
male Seminary, and about 500 inhabitants. An act was passed for erect- 
ing a bridge here in 1814 ; but the rival project at Columbia obtained 
precedence, and defeated that of Marietta. Anderson's ferry was prigin- 

5? 



410 LANCASTER COUNTY. 

ally the well-known name of this place. Anderson owned about one 
half of the town plot, which was then his farm. He was a man of great 
enterprise and public spirit. He cut the road through the hills towards 
York, and built extensive accommodations for his ferry on the opposite 
side ; and when he had finished them all, the bridge was built at Colum- 
bia, and he found himself a ruined man. Maytown, a small village two 
miles in the interior from Marietta, and Elizabethtown, on the Harris- 
burg turnpike, were laid out many years before Marietta, and not long 
after the commencement of Lancaster. The township containing these 
villages is called Donnegal, and was originally settled by Scotch-Irish. 
The venerable Presbyterian church of Donnegal, about 100 years old, is 
still standing about four miles north of Marietta. Rev. James Anderson, 
who emigrated from Scotland in 1709, after preaching for some years at 
Newcastle, and then at New York, was called to the church of " New 
Ponnegal" in 1726. He died here in 1740. He is said to have been too 
rigidly Scotch in his Presbyterian notions for the people of New York, 
who then inclined towards Congregationalism, or towards the lax Presby- 
terianism of South Britain. The presbytery of Donnegal was the parent 
of that of Carlisle and others west of it. 

All this region was famous in early times, especially during the revolu- 
tion, for the convivial and sprightly spirit characteristic of the Irish. 
Fiddling, dancing, and carousing, or what were then known as hup-se- 
saws, were as common as eating and drinking. 

Bainbridge is an ancient village at the mouth of Conoy cr., 9 miles 
above Columbia. It was formerly the site of Dekanoagah, the village of 
the Conoy or Ganawese Indians. (See page 391.) In the early colonial 
records a number of flat-headed Indians are mentioned as having visited 
the Susquehanna Indians early in the last century, and they were allowed 
to remain by the provincial government. 

We have received from Dr. David Watson, of Bainbridge, in this county, several curiosities 
discovered in the neighborhood of that place by the laborers employed on the Pennsylvania canal, 
— among vphich are a stone tobacco pipe, very neatly formed, a rude tomahawk, a small brass 
basin, two keys, a small globular bell, and some broken pieces of Indian pottery ; but the great- 
est curiosity is the skull-bone of an Indian, which materially differs in form from any that wa 
have ever seen belonging to the human species. The skull is remarkably large, and of an oblong 
or oval form ; the bones themselves of which it is composed have been very thin, much more so 
than is usually the case. What is very remarkable, in the general outline of the skull, is the pe- 
culiar manner in which the frontal bone which forms the forehead recedes from the root of the 
nose, and the superciliary ridges on which the eyebrows rest, and rather lies on the top of the 
Head than juts over the rest of the face, as is usual. Thus there is no forehead, properly so 
called ; the cranium in this respect presenting rather the appearance of the skull of a dog than 
a human being. The Choctaw tribe of Indians were formerly in the habit of flattening their 
heads in this manner, by binding metallic plates on the foreheads of their male children. A 
chief having this singular appearance was in Piiiladelphia in the year 1796. Indians inhabiting 
the source of the Missouri are to this day in the habit of moulding their skulls into this form. 
The Incas or kings of Peru, and all those partaking of or being within a certain degree of con- 
sanguinity to them, (and they only,) were allowed to enjoy the imperial privilege of having their 
heads thus modelled. It may be worthy of observation, that this artificial conformation is not 
known in the slightest degree to impair the mental operation. The skull above mentioned is that 
of a male, probably about 45 or 50 years of age. — Lancaster Gazette, 1829. 

John Haldeman, an early pioneer, first built a mill at Locust Grove, 
below Bainbridge. This was for a long time the principal mill in the 
whole region. Flour was then hauled in wagons to Chester, until the 
people learned to constrii od navigate arks, when they found a more 
natural market at Bait* John Halden>an left a number of sons, 



LANCASTER COUNTY. 



411 



one of whom lives at Harrisburg, and another has extensive mills and a 
splendid residence just under the shadow of the bold precipice of Chiques 
rock, above Columbia. 

Mount Joy and Richland form together a continuous and very thriving 
village on the Harrisburg railroad, 11 miles N. W. from Lancaster. 
Mount Joy w^as laid out by Jacob Rohrer in 1812, and disposed of by lot- 
tery ; and Richland a year or two afterward, by several individuals. 
They have Presbyterian, Methodist, and other churches. Near the end 
of the splendid railroad bridge which here crosses Little Chiques cr., is 
the flourishing and well-known Female Seminary of Rev. N. Dodge. It 
was commenced in 1837. In 1839 a large and commodious edifice was 
built, and appropriately dedicated, as its corner-stone indicates, " to God 
and our country." Mount Joy Institute, designed exclusively for boys, 
under the charge of Mr. J. H. Brown, is situated in the village. It is also 
the result of individual enterprise. 

LiTiz is a beautiful village belonging to the Moravians, 8 miles north 
of Lancaster. The houses are principally of stone, arranged along one 
street with a public square in the centre. The square and streets are 
shaded with trees, and the village has the air of neatness and order cha- 
racteristic of the sect. The population may be about 400. There is but 
one tavern in the place ; and a stranger is much better accommodated 
there than in towns where it is thought, by politicians, " necessary for the 
public convenience" to license half a dozen. All the lots are owned by 
the society, and leased under their regulations only to members of the 
society, except the tavern, which is kept by a stranger. Annexed is a 




Public Square in Litiz. 

view of the public square. In the centre is the church, with a cupola. 
Adjoining the church, on the left, is the minister's dwelling. On the left 
of the view, at the end of the square, is the celebrated Female Seminary, 
now under the charge of Rev. Eugene A. Friauf On the right is the 
Academy for boys, under the charge of Br John Beck. In the rear of 
the church is the " dead house," to which p< rsons are carried immediately 



4i2 LANCASTER COUNTY. 

after their death, previous to interment. The Moravians are celebrated 
for their musical taste : there is a fine organ in the church ; and the vil- 
lagers have a band who are always ready, on proper occasions, to enter- 
tain strangers who desire to hear them. 

" The first place of worship erected by the United Brethren in Warwick 
township was of wood, and was opened for divine service Feb. 9th, 1749. 
Litiz was laid out in 1756, and the congregation dates its commencement 
from the 15th of June, of the same year. The present church, of stone, 
was consecrated Aug. 13th, 1787. The Young Ladies Seminary was 
opened as a boarding school on the 2Gth Oct., 1804. Rev. Mr. Friauf, 
who now has charge, is a native of Bethlehem, but was educated in 
Germany." 

Manheim, a village 5 miles west of Litiz, was laid out at an early day 
by Mr. Steigel, and was famous for its glass and iron works. It now 
contains about sixty or eighty dwellings. 

Strasburg is an ancient village, 8 miles southeast of Lancaster, built 
along both sides of the road for a mile and a half. It was never regularly 
laid out as a town, but seems to have grown up by the attraction of cohe- 
sion among the earlier German emigrants. The ancient road from Lan- 
caster to Philadfelphia ran through it, and took its name of the Strasburg 
road from the place. It was first settled about the same time with Lan- 
caster. Its gro\Vth was very gradual, not more than one or two houses 
being built in a year. The inhabitants were nearly all Germans. The 
father of Dr. Sample, who lives near Paradise, was the first and only 
Englishman in the place at the time of the revolution. The place was 
formerly known as Peddlehausie, a German name, signifying Beggarstown. 
Mr. George Hoffman's grandfather hauled the logs for the first house. It 
was a place of considerable note until the construction of the turnpike 
and railroad, which have diverted the travel. A branch to connect it 
with the railroad was contemplated, but has not yet been constructed. It 
contains a Methodist, a Lutheran, and a Presbyterian church, and an 
academy. About four miles southeast of Strasburg is the Mine ridge, 
upon the top of which is an ancient copper mine, wrought, as is supposed, 
by Swiss m.iners from Maryland, about the time of William Penn. At- 
tempts in modern days to reopen the mine have only resulted in loss. 

Two or three miles northeast of Strasburg, near the railroad, is the vil- 
lage of Paradise, famous for its pleasant name. It was first settled many 
years since by Mr. Abraham Witmer and his family, who built a mill 
there. When it was made a post-town in 1804, and needed a name, he 
remarked that to him it was a paradise, and it has been so called to this 
day. A new Episcopal church was erected hefe in 1$43. The Witmers 
still abound in this region. 

New Holland is a neat village, 12 miles northeast from Lancaster, in 
a rich limestone region. It is built on one long street, well shaded with 
trees, and is distinguished by an appearance of thrift and comfort. The 
place was settled long before the revolution by German emigrants. Mr. 
Primmer was one of the first settlers. It contains Lutheran, German 
Reformed, and Methodist churches. The old Lutheran church bears the 
date of 1763, and is said to have been preceded by an older one of 
logs. 

The other more important villages of this county are Elizabethtown 



LANCASTER COUNTY. 4I3 

Falmouth, Washington-, Millerstown, NEFFsvtLLE, Soudersburg, Inter- 
course, Reamstown, Adamstovvn, Hanstown, Warwick, Charleston, New 
Market, Petersburg, FAiRFfELD, Little Britain, Ephrata, Safe Harbor, 
HiNKLETovvN, and SwoPESTowN. Some of these are villages of considera- 
ble population ; others are merely clusters of houses and stores at the 
intersection of roads. 

Ephrata is situated on the Cocalico creek, at the intersection of the 
Reading road with the Harrisburg and Downingtown turnpike, 13 miles 
N. E. from Lancaster, and 38 from Harrisburg. New Ephrata is a more 
modern village, half a mile south of Ephrata proper, though the name is 
applied to the whole neighborhood. Ephrata is one of the earliest settle- 
ments in the county. Its history is interesting on account of the pecu- 
liarity of the sect which founded it, and the associations connected with 
it. The following sketch of its history is condensed from an article by 
Dr. William M. Fahnestock, in Hazard's Register, vol. 15. 

Ephrata in former times was better known among the German population by the name of 
Kloster, (Cloister,) or Dunkerstown, a nickname from the word Dunker or Tunker, corruptions 
of Taeufer, Baptist. The society of Ephrata, however, are a distinct sect from the Dunkers, 
with whom they have always been confounded. •• Originally they descended from that division of 
Christians. 

In the year 1708, Alexander Mack, of Schriesheim, and seven others, in Schwarizenam, Ger- 
many, met together regularly to examine the New Testament, and to ascertain the obligations it 
imposes on professing Christians ; determining to lay aside all preconceived opuiions and tradi- 
tional observances. Their inquiries resulted in the formation of the society now called Dunkers, 
or First-day German Paptif^ts. Persecuted as they grew into importance, some were driven into 
Holland, some to CreJ^felg, in the Duchy of Cleves, and the mother church voluntarily removed 
to Serustervin in Friesland; and thence emigrated to America in 1719, and dispersed to different 
parts — to Germantown, Skippack, Oley, Conestoga, and elsewhere. Soon after a church waa 
established at Muelbach (Mill cr.) in this county. Of this community was Conrad Beissel, a 
native of Germany. He had been a Presbyterian, and fled from the persecutions of that period. 
Intent upon ascertaining the true obligations of the word of God, he conceived that there was an 
error among the Dunkers, and that the seventh day was commanded to be observed as the sab- 
bath. In 1725 he published a tract on this subject, which created excitement in the society at 
Mill creek ; and he in consequence retired secretly to a cell near the Cocalico, which had pre- 
viously been occupied by one Elimelech, a hermit. When his place of retirement, unknown for a 
long tune, was discovered, many of the Mill creek society, who coincided in his opinions, settled 
aroimd him in sohtary cottages. They adopted the original sabbath — the seventh day — for pubUc 
worship in the year 1728, which has ever since been observed by them. 

In 1732, the solitary was changed for a conventual life, and a Monastic Society was estab- 
lished as soon as the first buildings erected for that purpose were finished — in May, 1733. The 
habit of the Capuchins or White Friars was adopted by both the brethren and sisters, which con- 
sisted of a shirt, trousers, and vest, with a long white gown and cowl, of woollen in winter, and 
linen in summer. The sisters wore petticoats instead of trousers, and had some peculiarity in the 
shape of the cowl. 

Monastic names were given to all who entered the cloister. Onesimus (Israel Eckerlin) waa 
constituted Prior, who was succeeded by Jaebez, (Peter Miller ;) and the title of Father — spiritual 
father — was bestowed by the society upon Beissel, whose monastic name was Friedsam ; to 
which the brethren afterwards added, Gottrecht — implying, together, Peaceable, God-right. In 
the year 1 740, there were thirty-six single brethren in the cloisters, and thirty-five sisters ; and at 
one time the society, including the members living in the neighborhood, numbered nearly three 
hundred. 

The first buildings of the society, of any consequence, were Kedar and Zion — a meeting-house 
and convent, which were erected on the hill called Mount Zion. They afterwards built larger 
accommodations, in the meadow below, comprising a Sister's House called Saron, to which ia 

attached a large Chapel, and " Saal," for the purpose of holding the Agapas or Love Feasts ; a 

Brother's House, called Bethania, wnth which is connected the large meeting-room, with galleries, 
in which the whole society assembled for public worship, in the days of their prosperity, and 
which are still standing, siu-rounded by smaller buildings, which were occupied as printing-office, 
bake-house, school-house, almonry, and others for different purposes ; on one of which, a one-story 
house, the town clock is erected. 

The buildings are singular, and of very ancient architecture — all the outside walls being cov- 



414 LANCASTilR COUNTY. 

ered with shingles. The two houses for the brethren and sisters are very large, being tlree aiid 
four stories high : each has a chapel for their night meetings, and the main buildings are divided 
into small apartments, (each containing between fifty and sixty,) so that six dormitories, which 
are barely large enough to contain a cot, (in early days a bench and billet of wood for the head,) 
a closet, and an hour-glass, surround a common room, in which each subdivision pursued their 
respective avocations. On entering these silent cells, and traversing the long narrow passages, 
visiters can scarcely divest themselves of the feeling of Walking the tortuous windings of some 
old castle, and breathing in the hidden recesses of romance. The ceihngs have an elevation of 
but seven feet ; the passages leading to the cells, or " Kammers," as they are styled, and through 
the different parts of both convents, are barely wide enough to admit one person, for when meet- 
ing a second, one has always to retreat ; — the dens of the Kammers are but five feet high, and 
twenty inches wide, and the window, for each has but one, is only eighteen by twenty-four inches ; 
the largest windows, affording light to the meeting rooms, are but thirty-four inches. — The walld 
of all the rooms, including the meeting room, the chapels, the saals, and even the kammers, or 
dormitories, are hung and nearly covered With large sheets of elegant penmanship, or ink-paint- 
ings, — many of which are texts from the Scriptures, done in a very handsome manner, in orna- 
mented Gothic letters, called in the German Fractur-schrifften. They are done on large sheets 
of paper, manufactured for the purpose at their own mill, some of which are put into frames, and 
which admonish the resident, as well as the casual visiter, which ever way they may turn the 
head. There are some very curious ones : two of which still remain in the chapel attached to 
Saron. One represents the narrow and crooked way, done on a sheet of about three feet square, 
which it would be difficult to describe — it is very curious and ingenious : the whole of the road 
is filled up with texts of Scripture, advertising the disciples of their duties, and the obligations 
their profession imposes upon them. Another represents the three heavens. In the first, Christ, 
the Shepherd, is represented gathering his flock together ; in the second, which occupies one foot 
in height, and is three feet wide, three hundred figures, in the Capuchin dresS, can be counted, 
with harps in their hands, and the heads of an innumerable host ; and in the third is seen the 
throne, surrounded by two hundred archangels. Many of these Fractur-schrifften express their 
own enthusiastic sentiments on the subject of celibacy, and the virtue of a recluse life, while 
others are devotional pieces. 

The society owned a farm, a grist-mill, paper-mill, oil-mill, and fulling-mill. All the Society's 
property was in common, and the labor of the members ; but individual members were not com- 
pelled to relinquish private property which they might have held previous to joining the society. 

The Eckerlins, of whom there were three brothers, one of which was the Prior, had been origi- 
nally Catholics in Europe. They had charge of the secular concerns, and were suspected of cer- 
tain ambitious plans to possess themselves of the title to the property, and to give the establish- 
ment a more luxurious and imposing form. They were expelled, and went to the southwestern 
part of this state or to Virginia. (See Greene co., p. 360.) 

The society has been much misrepresented by writers who know but little of them, and mostly 
draw on their imaginations, and the libels of persecutors, for the principles of this people. 

Morgan Edwards, in his " Materials towards a History of the American Baptists," (published 
in 1770,) says — " From the uncouth dress, the recluse and ascetic life of these people, sour as- 
pects and rough manners might be expected ; but, on the contrary, a smiling innocence and 
meekness grace their countenances, and a softness of tone and accent adorns their conversation, 
and makes their deportment gentle and obliging. Their singing is charming — partly owing to 
the pleasantness of their voices, the variety of parts they carry on together, and the devout man- 
ner of performance." And of Beissel he gives the following character, which he says he had 
from one who knew him well : 

" He was very strict in his morals, and practised self-denial to an uncommon degree. Enthu- 
siastic and whimsical he certainly was, but an apparent devoutness and sincerity ran through all 
his oddities. He was not an adept in any of the liberal arts and sciences except music, in which 
he excelled. He composed and set to music (in three, four, six, aijd eight parts) a folio volume 
of hymns, and another of anthems. He published a dissertation on the fall of man, in the mys- 
terious strain ; also a volume of letters. He left behind him several books in manuscript, curi- 
ously written and embellished." 

Their principles may be summed up in a few words : 

They receive the Bible as the only rule of faith, covenant, and code of laws for church gov- 
ernment. No monastic vows were taken, nor had they any written covenant. They do not ad- 
mit the least license with the letter or spirit of the Scriptures, nor allow one jot or tittle to be 
added or rejected in the administration of the ordinances. 

They believe in the Divinity of Christ, and in the Trinity of the Godhead ; that salvation is 
of grace, and not of works ; and rely solely on the merits and atonement of Christ, and that He 
died for all who will call upon his name and offer fruits meet for repentance. 

They contend for the observance of the original Sabbath — believing that it requires an au- 
thority equal to the Great Institutor to alter any of his decrees. 



LANCASTER COUNTY. 41 5 

They hold to the Apostolic baptism — believers' baptism — and administer trine immersion, with 
the laying on of hands and prayer, while the recipient yet remains kneeling in the water. 

They celebrate the Lord's supper at night, in imitation of our Saviour — washing, at the same 
time, each other's feet, agreeably to his command and example. John xiii. 14, 15. This is at- 
tended to on the evening after the close of the Sabbath, (the Sabbath terminating at sunset of 
the seventh day,) thus making the supper an imitation of that instituted by Christ, and resembling 
also the meeting of the Apostles on the first day to break bread. 

Celibacy they consider a virtue, but never require it, nor do they take any vows in reference to 
it. They never prohibited marriage, and lawful intercourse between the sexes, as is stated by 
some writers ; but when two concluded to be joined in wedlock, they were aided by the society. 
Celibacy was urged as being more conducive to a holy life ; for PaiJ saith, " They that are after 
the flesh, do mind the things of the flesh ; but they that are after the Spirit, the things of the 
Spirit." This was a fond, cherished subject, and was constantly inculcated. It may be con- 
sidered the ground of the Institution at Ephrata, whose prosperity and advancement was depend- 
ent on its being properly appreciated. It was sedulously kept before them by their ministers, in 
its brightest colors. It was a proHfic subject for many of their hymns, which seemed to hallow 
and sanctify virginity. 

They do not approve of paying their ministers a salary, thinking the gospel was sent without 
money and without price ; but they share their own supplies with their ministers. 

It is not one of their customs to wear long beards, as is frequently said of them : this is more 
the case with the Dunkers and Mennonists. They are often represented as living on vegetables, 
— the rules of the society forbidding meats, for the purpose of mortifying the natural appetite, — 
and also as lying on wooden benches, with billets of wood for pillows, as an act of penance. The 
true reason and explanation of this matter is, that both were done from considerations of econo- 
my. Their circimistances were very restricted, and their imdertaking great. They studied the 
strictest simplicity and economy in all their arrangements : wooden flagons, wooden goblets, 
turned wooden trays, were used in administering the communion ; and the same goblets are still 
in use, though they have been presented with more costly ones. Even the plates oft' of which 
they ate were octangular pieces of thin poplar boards, — their forks and candlesticks were of 
wood, — and also every other article that could be made of that material, was used by the whole 
community. After they were relieved from the pressure of their expensive enterprise in providing 
such extensive accommodations, they enjoyed the cot for repose, and many other of the good 
things of life ; though temperance in eating and drinking was scrupulously regarded. 

Although opposed to bearing arms, they opened their houses cheerfully to succor and comfort 
the distressed inhabitants of Paxton and Tulpehocken during the old French war — for which the 
government rendered them its acknowledgments, and Gov. Penn offered them a whole manor of 
land, but they would not receive it. During the revolution, they were decided whigs. After the 
battle of Brandywine, the whole establishment was open to receive the wounded Americans ; 
their Sabbath-school house was converted into an hospital ; great numbers of the sick were trans- 
ported here in wagons ; the camp fever broke out among them, and one hundred and fifty were 
buried on the top of Mount Zion. [On the 4th July, 1843, a movement was made to erect a 
monument to these soldiers.] 

Conrad Beissel died in July, 1768 ; and although his successor, Peter Miller, is spoken of as a 
man of much greater powers of mind, yet the establishment began to decline about the year 1777. 
The institution was more in accordance with the German manners and notions of the 17th cen- 
tury, than with the new ideas in regard to religion, politics, and social life introduced by the revo- 
lution. 

At an early period they built a paper-mill, and established a printing-office — the second Ger- 
man press in the state — where they printed many books, tracts, and hymns. In the revolution, 
the army sent to the mill for paper for cartridges, but finding none, they seized the printed sheets, 
and they were fired off" against the British at the battle of Germantown. 

There are several single sisters remaining in the convent, one of whom has been there forty-six 
years, and another lives in a cottage, solitary life, sixty years. But another government now ex- 
ists. In former days, the whole property and income belonged exclusively to the single brethren 
and sisters ; but now, by a charter obtained from the state legislature, at the instance of the sin- 
gle members then remaining, the property is invested in all the members, single and married. 
Since then, the sisters in the convent are not supported out of the common stock, and their com- 
mon labor, but each has house room, which all the married members are entitled to who require 
it — as well as fire-wood, flour, and milk — from the society, who still possess the farm, (140 acres,) 
and a grist-mill, and a saw-mill, — and their labor they apply to their own use, or dispose of it as 
they see proper. 

As early as 1758, there was a branch of this society on Bermudian creek, in York county, of 
which a few still remain. Another was established in 1763, in Bedford co., which still flourish- 
es ; another at Snowhill, in Franklin co. ; and many members are scattered in the interior cr un- 
ties of the state. 



416 



LEBANON COUNTY. 




Brothers^ and Sisters' houses at Ephrata. 

Anhexfcd is a view of the Sisters' house, (Saron,) and of what was for- 
merly the Sisturs' chapel, but is now occupied by brethren and sisters in 
common. The similar, but much larger house, and chapel, formerly oc- 
cupied by the brothers, are still standing, but in a dilapidated condition. 
The other houses of the society's village are occupied by separate fami- 
lies. The sisters' house is on the left of the view. Only a few aged 
brethren and sisters remain here. 



LEBANON COUNTY. 

Lebanon county was taken from Lancaster and Dauphin by the act of 
16th Feb. 1816. Length and breadth 17 miles; area, 288 sq. miles. 
Population in 1820, 16,988 ; in 1830, 20,557 ; and in 1840, 21,872. 

To say that Lebanon co. is included in the great Kittatinny valley, is 
tantamount to saying that its surface is composed of undulating slate and 
limestone lands, abounding in every element of fertility. " Large and 
commodious houses of stone, in delightful situations, M'ith ornamental 
trees and smiling gardens ; stone barns of immense size ; pure water 
flowing from adjoining hills through verdant fields, or gushing from arti- 
ficial fountains for convenient use — combine elements of substantial com- 
fort and improvement that cannot be surpassed in any country." It 
would follow, too, almost as a matter of course in Pennsylvania, that such 
a region would be occupied by a population of industrious, persevering, 
and thrifty German farmers ; for where are the rich limestone valleys 
in the state which they have not found out, and, in most cases, purchased 
from the original settlers, of a different race ? It is a remarkable fact, 
that the broad belt of slate lands of the Kittatinny valley, all the way 
from Easton to Mercersburg, was originally settled by Scotch-Irish — 



LEBANON COUNTY. 417 

whose descendants have nearly all disappeared, and given place to the 
present German population. 

On either side of the valley rise the lofty mountains of sandstone which 
enclose the co. on the northwest and southeast. The Kittatinny moun- 
tain crosses the northwestern end of the co., the Second mountain, paral- 
lel to it, being the boundary. On the southeastern boundary are the 
Conewago hills. These mountains, too rugged and precipitous for agri- 
cultural purposes generally, are lined with dense forests, which serve to 
reduce the excellent iron ores found among their strata. 

The county is well watered by the Swatara, Little Svvatara, Quitopa- 
hilla, and Tulpehocken creeks, with their branches, and several smaller 
streams of less note. The Reading and Harrisburg macadamized turn- 
pike passes through the centre, and the Ephrata and Harrisburg turnpike 
crosses the southern corner of the county. The latter road was made 
many years since, and was once a great thoroughfare over the mountains. 
It is furnished with mile-stones, marked so many miles to P., and so many 
to T. ; the latter signifying to Tuscarora mountain, west of the Susque- 
hanna. Judge Franckes used to tell a story of his inquiring of a brother 
judge what the T. stood for ; and he replied, quite in earnest, " So many 
miles to Towningtown" — [Downingtown, in Chester co.] 

The Union canal passes along near the Swatara and Tulpehocken 
creeks, touching the town of Lebanon. The navigable feeder up the 
Swatara affords access to the coal-mines of the Sharp mountain, at Pine 
Grove, in Schuylkill co. There are several iron furnaces in the southern 
part of the county, some of which have been established many years. 
There are also a number of woollen factories. But agriculture is the 
great business of the county. Its products " are shipped principally at 
Lebanon. 

German is the common language ; but the introduction of the new 
school-system of the state, which requires that English shall be taught 
in common with German, in the German districts, will soon introduce the 
English language into every family, and eventually eradicate the other. 
At present the boys of Lebanon co., though they recite their English les- 
sons inside of the schoolhouse, play marbles outside in German. 

In East Hanover township, between the Blue mountain and Second 
mountain, is a noted cold spring ; an agreeable w^atering-place, much fre- 
quented in the heat of summer. Mr. Samuel Winter has erected there a 
commodious house of entertainment. 

The history of the origin and construction of the Union canal is inter- 
esting in itself; but it likewise involves the history of the early efforts 
of distinguished citizens of the state, in the cause of internal improve- 
ments. These early efforts doubtless formed the moving spring of that 
great spirit of internal improvements, which subsequently gave such 
glory to New York, and afterwards to Pennsylvania and Maryland. The 
following is abridged from a very able article in the first volume of Haz- 
ard's Register, by George W. Smith, Esq. : — 

William Penn, in his proposals for a second settlement in the province of Pennsylvania, pub- 
lished in 1690, alludes to the practicability of effecting a communication by water between the 
Susquehanna and a branch of the Schuylkill. Canals and turnpikes were unknown at this pe- 
riod, even in Great Britain. Numerous interesting letters of distinguished citizens are extant, 
which prove that the Union is indebted to Pennsylvania for the first introduction of canals and 
turnpikes to public attention. Their views were regarded at that eeirly period, (1750 to 1760,) 

53 



418 LEBANON COUNTY. 

with but little interest in England, and excited the attention of but few in the colonies. At the 
present day it is difficult to determine to whom we are chiefly indebted for introducing the sub- 
ject to public attention. If our information be correct, wc may attribute to David Rittenhouse, 
the astronomer, and Dr. William Smith, provost of the University of Pennsylvania, the credit 
of being the first laborers in this hitherto untrodden field. Afterwards Robert Morris, the finan- 
cier of^the revolution, and still later Robert Fulton, the engineer, of whom Pennsylvania is 
justly proud, lent their powerful assistance. The writings of Turner Camac, William J. Duane, 
and Samuel Brcck, Esqs. ; and subsequently of Gerard Ralston, Ricliard Peters, Jr., Matthew 
Carey, Samuel Mifilln, William Lehman, John Sergeant, and Joseph Mcllvaine, are too well 
known to require enumeration. 

In the year 1762, David Rittenhouse, (and Dr. William Smith, we believe, at the same time,) 
surveyed and levelled a route for a canal to connect the waters of the Susquehanna and Schuyl- 
kill rivers, by means of the Swatara and Tulpehocken creeks. The Union canal, which has since 
accomplished this object, passes over a portion of this route — the first which was surveyed for a 
canal in the colonics. 

The views of the projectors of this work were, if the diflSculties of that period be consid- 
ered, far more gigantic and surprising than have been entertained by their successors in any 
part of the Union. They contemplated nothing less than a junction of the eastern arid western 
waters of Lake Erie and of the Oiiio with the Delaware, on a route extending 582 miles. The 
Allegheny mountain was wisely deemed to offer an insuperable obstacle to a continuous naviga- 
tion. A portage over this section was accordingly recommended : an expedient which we at 
the present day have been compelled to adopt. 

Duly to appreciate the enterprise of that age, we ought to consider that the great valley of the 
Ohio and Mississippi was almost one bbundless forest ; uninhabited, but by the beasts of the for- 
est, or the Indians. Attainable moneyed capital was then almost unknown in the colonies ; the very 
term " engineering" was equally unknown in the vocabulary of those days. No canal was then 
in existence in England. Sankey Brook and the Duke of Bridgewater's had been commenced, 
but were yet unfinished. Public opinion, even there, had yet to learn that canals were not vision- 
ary undertakings. The sneers of many were to be encountered ; nevertheless, under all these 
discouragements, the earliest advocates for inland navigation commenced their efforts in Penn- 
sylvania. In 1769 they induced the American Philosophical Society to order a survey for a ca- 
nal to connect the Chesapeake bay with the Delaware. The provmcial legislature, about the 
same period, authorized a survey on a route, extending 582 miles, to Pittsburg and Erie. This 
survey was performed, and a report made strongly recommending the execution of the pro- 
ject. The adoption of the plan was postponed in consequence of the revolution. After the ter- 
mination of that struggle, several works were commenced in North Carolina, Virginia, and Mary- 
land. The canal through the Dismal swamp, connecting the Chesapeake bay and Albemarle 
sound, with the works on the Potomac, James, and Rappahannock rivers, were commenced and 
partially finished, between the years 1786 and 1791. 

The great project of Pennsylvania was allowed to slumber until the 29th Sept. 1791, about a 
century after William Penn's first prophetic intimation, when the legislature incorporated a com- 
pany to connect the Susquehanna and Schuylkill by a canal and slackwater navigation. Robert 
Morris, David Rittenhouse, William Smith, Tench Francis, and others, were named as commis- 
sioners. The intention of connecting the eastern and northwestern parts of the state is distmctly 
expressed in this, and a subsequent act, of 10th April, 1792. By the terms of this last act, a 
company was incorporated to effect a junction of the Delaware with the Schuylkdl river, by a 
canal extending from Norristown to Philadelphia, a distance of 17 miles. The Schuylkill river, 
from the former city to Reading, was to he temporarily improved ; and thus form, witli the works 
of the Susquehanna and Schuylkill company, an uninterrupted water communication with the 
interior of the state ; with the intention of extending the chain to Erie and the Ohio. Experience 
soon convinced the two companies that a greater length of canal was requisite, in consequence 
of the difficulties of improving the channels of the rivers ; hence the company last mentioned 
determined, (in compUance with the suggestions of Mr. Weston, a British engineer, whom they 
had imported,) to extend their canal from river to river, a distance of 70 miles. In conjunction 
with the former company, they nearly completed 15 miles of the most difficult parts of the two 
works ; comprising much rock excavation, heavy embankments, extensive deep cuttings, and sev- 
eral locks, which were constructed with bricks. In consequence of the commercial difficulties, 
(in which it is known that some of the chief stockholders were shortly after involved,) both 
companies were compelled to suspend their operations, after the expenditure of ^440,000. The 
suspension of these works, and some years after of the Chesapeake and Delaware canal, had a 
most disastrous effect on every similar work which was projected for many years afterwards. 

Frequent abortive attempts were made, from the year 1795, to resume operations; and not- 
withstanding the subscription of $300,000 stock, subsequently tendered by the state, these com- 
panies continued a mere languishing existence. In the year 1811, the two bodies were united, 
and reorganized as the Union Canal Co. They were specially authorized to extend their canal 
from Philadelphia to Lake Erie, with the privileg* of making such further extension, in any other 



LEBANON COUNTY. 4I9. 

part of the state, as they might deem expedient. In 1819 and 1821, the state granted further 
aid by a guarantee of interest, and a monopoly of the lottery privilege. The additional subscrip- 
tions, obtained in consequence of this legislative encouragement, enabled the managers to resume 
operations in 1821. The line was relocated, the dimensions of the canal changedi and the whole 
work finished in about six years from this period ; after 37 years had elapsed from the commence- 
ment of the work, and 65 from the date of the first survey. The Union canal is 89 miles in 
length, including the Swatara feeder, &c., from Middletown, on the Susquehanna, to a point on 
the Schuylkill a short distance below Reading. It is calculated for boats of 25 to 30 tons bur- 
den. At Middletown on the Susquehanna, it connects with the main line of Pennsylvania ca^ 
nals ; at Reading, with the works of the Schuylkill Navigation Co. The descent from the sum- 
mit to the Schuylkill is 311 feet; tO the Susquehanna, 208. 

The summit is 6 miles (between the Swatara and Tulpehocken) 78 chains in length ; to which 
must be added the navigable feederj which at present extends 6 3-4 miles. This summit passes 
over a limestone district : much deep excavation in rock was required. In consequence of the 
many fissures which abound in limestone rocks, the usual expedient of puddling did not succeed 
in retaining the water in the summit. After many experiments, it was found necessary to plank 
this section throughout. On the Schuylkill Navigation Co.'s canal, near Reading, which passea 
over the same limestone formation, a similar expedient was adopted. In both cases the plan was 
successful. On this section, the canal passes through a tunnel of 729 feet in length, excavated 
in solid rock.* This summit is supplied by the water of the Swatara, conducted to it by the 
feeder already mentioned. As the summit is above the level of the feeder, two large water-wheelS 
and pumps are resorted to for the purpose of raising the water to the requisite height. Two 
steam-engines, one of 120, the second of 100 horse power, are provided for the purpose of sup- 
plying the feeder in case of accident to the water-works. [The feeder has since been continued 
to a point within four miles of the coal-mines.] 

A great error was committed, in making the dimensions of this canal too small — an error which 
threatens to be fatal to its existence. It arose partly from the great scarcity of water, and partly 
from erroneous views entertained by engineers and others having charge of the work. The locks, 
being adapted only for boats of 25 tons, While those of the state canals accommodate a boat of 
40 or 50 tons, exclude the greater portion of the boats plying on the state works ; added to which, 
the work has to contend with the competition of the railroads from Harrisburg and Columbia to 
Philadelphia. This latter competition discourages the Union Canal Co. from enlarging their 
locks. 

In 1828, about ,^1,600,000 had been expended in the construction df the work, in addition to 
the proceeds of the lottery, and excluding the sums expended on the old work. 

Lebanon, the county seat, is a large and well-built borough, pleasantly 
situated on a small branch of the Quitopahilla, 25 miles from Harrisburg, 
and 28 from Reading by the turnpike. The town is regularly laid oiit, 
with a large area in the centre, in which stands the market-house. The 
buildings are generally of brick or stone. The courthouse is a spacious 
and splendid edifice of brick, surmounted with a cupola. There are in 
the place Lutheran, German Reformed, Catholic, Methodist, German 
Methodist, and United Brethren churches, an academy, and a public 
library. The canal passes one mile north of the town, where the busy 
little village of North Lebanon has grown up. The annexed view was 
taken from a field southwest of the town. The Lutheran church, with a 
tall spire, is seen in the centre. The population, by the census of 1840, 
was, of the borough proper, 1,860; of the north ward, 1,430; south 
ward, 2,907: total of Lebanon township, 6,197. The borough was incor- 
porated 20th Feb. 1821. 

Little has been recorded, or preserved by tradition, concerning the 
early history of the town or county. The following facts, with those re- 
lating to other towns, were learned from some of the aged citizens of the 
borough. Lebanon — or Steitzetown, as it was for a long tittle called, 

* The first tunnels which were excavated in the Union were in Pennsylvania. There are two 
<i/i the Conemaugh, one on the Union, one on the Schuylkill canal, one still anfinished near 
Maucli Chunk, and two on the Reading railroad. We do not include the smal tunnels, leading 
from mines. 



V20 



LEBANON COUNTY. 




Southwest View of Lebanon. 

and still is by many of the old Germans — was probably laid out about 
the year 1750, by one Mr. Steitze. The father of Col. Adam Reitscher, 
now living in the town, was one of the first settlers, and paid ground- 
rent, as appears by his receipts still extant, as early as 1751. He cleared 
the lot west of the one upon which his son now lives, from the forest then 
standing. The Moravians also made a very early settlement, about two 
miles east of the town. Their present stone church was erected about 
the year 1760 or 1770 ; but it was probably the second on the same site. 
The present Lutheran church, in town, was erected in 1798; and the 
previous one, near the same site, about 1 765 or '66. The German Reformed 
church was erected about 1787. 

During the war of the revolution, many of the residents of this place 
took arms on the American side, and were engaged at the battle of Ger- 
mantown. After the battle of Trenton, many of the Hessian prisoners 
were brought here, and confined in the old Lutheran and Moravian 
churches. 

The Mennonists settled in the southern part of the county, as early as 
1732. Much of the history of this county is merged in that of Lancas- 
ter, of which the southern townships formed a part. 

MiLLERSTowN is a flourishing village on the Quitopahilla, 5 miles west 
of Lebanon. It contains about 120 dwellings, Lutheran and Methodist 
churches, and one church common to the Presbyterians and German Re- 
formed. There are several mills on the creek. The place was formerly 
called Annville, and the post-office here still bears that name officially. 
It was laid out by Messrs. Ulrichs and Reigel. Two or three miles west 
of Millerstown, during the " late war" of 1812, several wealthy gentlemen 
from Lancaster, at the head of whom was Mr. Hentzleman, established 
an immense cotton and woollen factory at a cost of $96,000. Their fabrics 
were accounted equal to any manufactured in the country. At the close 
of the war, the opening of our ports to foreign manufactures was ruinous 
to the concern. 

Shaefferstown is a large village, 8 miles S. E. from Lebanon, contain- 
ing about 100 dwellings, and Lutheran and Presbyterian churches. This 
is one of the oldest places in the county. It was originally settled by 



LEBANON COUNTY. 431 

German Jews, who had a synagogue and a graveyard there. The wall 
around the yard, though built about the year 1732, is still standing; and 
the cement with which it is built is quite as solid as the stone. This ce- 
ment is said to have a larger proportion of lime than those in common 
use. The place was afterwards reinforced by Germans of other denomi- 
nations. About two miles from ShaefTerstown, on the road to Lancaster, 
on a high hill, are the ruins of a fort or castle built by the celebrated 
Baron Steigel, who at that time had charge of the Elizabeth furnace. 
He was a German baron, of considerable wealth, fearless enterprise, great 
skill in the arts, and a much larger proportion of ostentatious vanity than 
was desirable in a new country. He resided with his family in Philadel- 
phia, but was in the habit of occasionally inviting his friends into the 
country with him, to enjoy his baronial hospitality. He had two of these 
towers or castles erected, one about five miles N. W. of Ephrata, and the 
other near Shaefferstown. They were mounted with cannon for the ex- 
press purpose of firing a salute whenever he made his appearance in the 
country. This salute was the signal for his more intimate friends to re- 
pair to his castle, and enjoy with him the festivities of the occasion ; and 
for all his workmen in the furnaces and glasshouses to wash the dirt from 
their hands and faces, take up their musical instruments, (in which every 
German is more or less skilled,) and repair to the baronial castle, to en- 
tertain the great man and his guests. This kind of life could not endure 
long. The revolutionary war cut off" access to his resources in Europe, 
embarrassment ensued, and the utter failure of his enterprises. His pro- 
perty passed into other hands, and he was employed subsequently as a 
superintendent of iron-works for Mr. Coleman. Many of the old Steigel 
stoves still remain as monuments to his memory among the older families 
of Lancaster and Lebanon. 

Jonestown is a considerable village, situated near the forks of the Big 
and Little Swatara, 7 miles N. W. of Lebanon. It contains Presbyterian, 
Lutheran, and German Reformed churches. Southeast of the town rises 
a high hill, which bears the honored name of Bunker Hill. Jonestown 
was one of the settlements pertaining to the " Paxton boys," and was 
originally settled by Scotch and Irish Presbyterians. The Irish and their 
descendants have yielded to the inroads of the more persevering Germans, 
and have retired to the west. The Indians were settled generally along 
under the mountain, near the head- waters of the Tulpehocken and Swa- 
tara. There was a line of provincial forts extending along these moun- 
tains to the Susquehanna, intended as defences against the French and 
Indians. One of the blockhouses, now a dwelling-house, still remains on 
the Swatara. At the " Hill Church," on the Quitopahilla, the old Pres- 
byterians held their worship, while sentinels with loaded rifles watched 
to prevent surprise by the Indians. 

Myerstown, on the Reading turnpike, 7 miles east of Lebanon, is one 
of the largest villages in the county. It is on the head-waters of the 
Tulpehocken, contains about 120 or 130 dwellings, principally of wood, 
and a Lutheran church. 

The other villages are Campbellstown and Palmyra, small villages near 
the Dauphin co. line, on the two turnpikes to Harrisburg. 



422 LEHIGH COUNTY. 



LEHIGH COUNTY. 

Lehigh county was separated from Northampton by the act of 6th 
March, 1812. Length 28 ms., breadth 15; area 389 sq. ms. Population 
in 1820, 18,895; in 1830, 22,266; in 1840, 25,787. The lofty barrier of 
the Blue mountain separates the county on the northwest from the coal 
region beyond. The South mountain, here known as the Lehigh hills, 
crosses the S. E. end of the county ; presenting a rugged surface, but 
exposing among its strata many valuable beds of iron ore. Between 
these mountains is spread out a portion of the lovely Kittatinny valley, 
a region full of the elements of agricultural wealth, and highly cultivated 
by an industrious, persevering, and thriving German population. The 
limestone region of this valley, which lies next to the South mountain, 
abounds in sinking springs ; and there is also in it a remarkable cave at 
one of these springs on Jordan cr., a few miles north of Allentown. The 
Lehigh river, breaking through a wild gap in the Kittatinny or Blue 
mountains, flows along part of the northeastern boundary, and after cour- 
teously bending to pay its respects to the county town, turns suddenly to 
the N. E. and passes on to Easton. Jordan cr., Little Lehigh, Saucon 
cr.. Trout cr., and Copley cr., tributaries of the Lehigh, are the other 
principal streams. The principal business of the county is agriculture ; 
there are also several extensive iron works ; and the citizens are more 
or less interested in the coal and lumber business on the Lehigh above 
the mountain. Good roads intersect the county in all directions ; several 
bridges cross the Lehigh, one of which is a chain bridge ; and there are 
substantial stone bridges across the principal creeks. The canal of the 
Lehigh Navigation Co. furnishes a convenient outlet for the products of 
the county. 

The early history of Lehigh co. is merged in that of Northampton co. 
It is probable that the Scotch-Irish settlements of Allen township extended 
into the upper part of the co. The Moravian Germans settled at Em- 
maus. The Schwenckfelders also spread into the lower corner from Mont- 
gomery, and other classes of Germans from Berks. At present the popu- 
lation of the CO. is chiefly German, and the German language is of course 
predominant. This county, together with parts of Bucks, Northampton, 
and Berks, was the scene of great excitement about the years 1798-99, 
in consequence of the attempt by the federal government to collect a 
direct tax. The particular kind of tax objected to in this instance was 
" the house tax." The following extracts are from an old report of the 
trials published by Wm. W. Woodward, Philadelphia, 1800. " Reported 
by Thomas Carpenter, in shorthand." 

Trial of John Fries and others for treason. 
Mr. Sitgreaves (of Easton) opeaed the trial on the part of the U. S. The following are extracts 
from his speech. " It will appear, gentlemen, from the testimony which will be presented to you, 
that during the latter months of the year 1798, discords prevailed to an enormous extent through- 
out a large portion of the counties of Bucks, Northampton, and Montgomery, and that considera- 
ble difficulties attended the assessors for the direct tax in the execution of their duties, — that in 
several townships associations of the people were actually formed in order to prevent the persons 
charged with the execution of these laws of the U. S. from performing theu- duty, and more par. 
ticularly to prevent the assessors from measuring their houses ; this opposition was rnade at 
many public township meetings called for the purpose ; in many instances resolutions in 



LEHIGH COUNTY. 423 

writing were entered into, solemnly forewarning the officers, and many times accorapanied with 
threats. Not only so, but discontents prevailed to such a height, that even the friends of the 
government in that part were completely suppressed by menaces against any who should assist 
those officers in their duty ; repeated declarations were made, both at public as well as at private 
meetings, that if any person should be arrested by the civil authority, such arrest would be 
followed by the rising of the people, in opposition to that authority, for the purpose of rescuing 
such prisoners ; indefatigable pains were taken, by those charged with the execution of the laws, 
to calm the fears and remove the misapprehensions of the infatuated people ; for this purpose 
they read and explained the law to them, and informed them that they were misled into the idea 
that the law was not actually in force, for that it actually was ; at the same time warning them 
of the consequences which would flow from opposition ; and this was accompanied with promises 
that even their most capricious wishes would be gratified on their obedience. The favor was in 
many instances granted, that where any opposition was made to any certain person executing the 
office of assessor, another should be substituted ; in some townships proposals were made for peo- 
ple to choose for themselves ; but, notwithstanding this accommodating offer, the opposition 
•.ontinued. The consequences were, actual opposition and resistance ; in some parts violence 
was actually used, and the assessors were taken and imprisoned by armed parties, and in other 
parts mobs assembled to compel them either to deliver up their papers or to resign their commis- 
sions ; that in some instances they were threatened with bodily harm, so that in those parts the 
obnoxious law remained unexecuted in consequence. The state of insurrection and rebellion had 
arisen to such a height, it became necessary to compel the execution of the laws, and warrants 
were in consequence issued against certain persons and served upon them ; in some instances, 
during the execution of that duty, the marshal met with insult and almost with violence ; having, 
however, got nearly the whole of the warrants served, he appointed head-quarters for these pri- 
soners to rendezvous at Bethlehem, where some of them were to enter bail for their appearance in 
the city, and others were to come to the city in custody for trial. 

" On the day thus appointed for the prisoners to meet, and when a number of them had actually 
assembled, agreeably to appointment, a number of parties in arms, both horse and foot, more than 
a hundred men, accoutred with all their military apparatus, commanded in some instances by 
their proper officers, marched to Bethlehem, collected before the house in which were the marshal 
and prisoners, whom they demanded to be delivered up to them, and in consequence of refusal, 
they proceeded to act very little short of actual hostility ; so that the marshal deemed it prudent 
to accede to their demands, and the prisoners were liberated. 

" This, gentlemen, is the general history of the insurrection. I shall now state to you the part 
which the unfortunate prisoner at the bar took in those hostile transactions. The prisoner is an in- 
habitant of Lower Milford, Bucks co. Some time in February last a public meeting was held at the 
house of one John Kline, in that township, to consider this house tax ; at that meeting certain 
resolutions were entered into and a paper signed ; (we have endeavored to trace this paper so as 
to produce it to the court and jury, but have failed ;) this paper was signed by fifty-two persons, 
and committed to the hands of one of their number. John Fries was present at this meeting, 
and assisted in drawing up the paper, at which time his expressions against this law were ex- 
tremely violent, and he threatened to shoot one of the assessors, Mr. Foulke, through the legs, if 
he proceeded to assess the houses : again the prisoner at a vendue threatened another of the 
assessors, Mr. S. Clarke, that if he attempted to go on with the assessment he should be com- 
mitted to an old stable and there fed on rotten corn. The assessor in Lower Milford was m- 
timidated so as to decline making the assessments, and the principal assessors, together with 
three other assessors, were obliged to go into that township to execute the law. At the house of 
Mr. Jacob Fries, on the 5th March, Mr. Chapman (the assessor) met with the prisoner, who 
declared his determination not to submit, but to oppose the law, and that by next morning he 
could raise 700 men in opposition to it." 

[Fries and his partisans continued to follow and persecute several of the assessors, chasing 
them from township to township, in parties of 50 or 60, most of whom were in arms, with drum 
and fife. Fries was armed with a large horse-pistol, and accompanied by one Kuyder, who as. 
sisted him in command. Thus equipped they went to Quakertown, seized two assessors, and at. 
tempted to fire at another who ran away, but the fire-arm did not go off. They examined the papers 
of the assessors, and exacted a promise that they should not proceed in the valuation of the houses 
in Lower Milford. They abused a traveller who had the independence to stand up for the gov- 
ernment. At Quakertown, learning that the marshal had taken a number of prisoners, they resolved 
to effect their rescue, and the people of Milford were invited to assist in this business, and a paper 
setting forth their design, was drawn up by Fries, at his own house, and signed by the party.] 

" On the morning of the next day 20 or more of them met at the house of Conrad Marks, in 
arms. John Fries was armed with a sword, and had a feather in his hat. On the road as they 
went forward they were met by young Marks, who told them they might as well turn about, for 
that the Northampton people were strong enough to do the business without those from Bucks 
CO. Some were so inclined to do, but at the instance of Fries and some others they did go for. 
weird, and actually proceeded to Bethlehem. Before the iirrival of these troops a party going on 



424 LEHIGH COUNTY. 

the same business had stopped at the bridge near Bethlehem, where they were met by a deputa- 
tion from the marshal, to advise them to return home ; they agreed to halt there, and send three 
of their number to declare to the marshal their demand : during this period Fries and his party 
came up, but it appears when they came, Fries took the party actually over the bridge, and he 
arranged the toll, and ordered them to proceed. With respect to the proof of the proceedings at 
Bethlehem, it cannot be mistaken ; he was then the leading man, and he appeared to enjoy the 
command. With the consent of his people he demanded the prisoners of the marshal, and when 
that officer told him that he could not surrender them, except they were taken from him by force, 
and produced his warrant for taking them, the prisoner then harangued his party of the house, and 
explained to them the necessity of using force ; and that you should not mistake his design, we 
will prove to you that he declared, ' that was the third day which he had been out on this expe- 
dition, that he had had a skirmish the day before, and if the prisoners were not released he should 
have another that day.' ' Now you observe,' resumed he, ' that force is necessary, but you must 
obey my orders. We will not go without taking the prisoners. But take my orders, you must not 
Ire first ; you must be first fired upon, and when I am gone you must do as well as you can, as 
expect to be the first man that falls.' He further declared to the marshal that tliey would fire 
fill a cloud of smoke prevented them from seeing each other, and executing the office of com- 
mand of the troops, which at that time overawed the marshal and his attendants. He liarangued the 
troops to obey his orders, which tliey did. The marshal was really intimidated to liberate the pri- 
soners ; and then the object was accomplished, and the party dispersed amid the huzzas of the 
insurgents. After this affair at Bethlehem, the prisoner frequently avowed his opposition to the 
law and justified that outrage ; and when a meeting was afterwards held at Lower Milford to 
choose assessors, the prisoner refused his assent, and appeared as violent as ever." 

Most of the above statements were proved, including a variety of other details. Fries, after two 
trials, in both of which he was found guilty of treason, was sentenced to be hung, but was sub- 
sequently pardoned by John Adams. 

Several others from the same vicinity were tried, and generally found guilty of the subordinate 
crimes of sedition, insurrection, and riot ; they were imprisoned for a time, and heavily fined, 
and held to bail for good behavior. George Gittman and Frederick Hainey were also condemned 
for high treason. Among the disaffected who had been taken prisoners by the marshal, and who 
were rescued by the insurgents, was one Jacob Eyerman, a German minister, recently arrived 
from Germany. He seems to have exerted nearly as much influence as Fries in stirring up the 
people in Chestnut Hill and Hamilton townships to opposition. History does not state to what 
sect he belonged, but the testimony would seem to show that he strongly favored the " church 
militant." 

One of the assessors testified that while on his round of duty in Chestnut Hill township, " the 
prisoner (Eyerman) came in and began to rip out in a violent manner against this taxation, say- 
ing that Congress had made laws which were unjust, and the people need not take up with them ; 
if they did, all kinds of laws would follow, but if they would not put up with this, they need not 
with those that would come after, because it was a free country ; but in case the people admitted 
of those laws, they would certainly be put under great burdens. He said he knew perfectly 
what laws were made, and that the President nor Congress had no right to make them. That 
Congress and the government only made such laws to rob the people, and that they were nothing 
but a parcel of damned rogues or ' spitz bube,' [highwayman or thieves."] 

" Were the people of the township much opposed to the law ?" " Yes, they were so violent 
that I knew but one man on the same side as myself." " Would this have been so if it had not 
been for the parson ?" " I am fully convinced it would not." " Did Eyerman appear to be a 
simple sort of man, easily to be led astray or deluded ?" " No, he was not thought so : he was 
always a very good preacher." 

Prisoner. — " Did I not pray for the government, president, and vice-president ?" " Yes, you 
did when in the pulpit ; but when you were out, you prayed the other way." 

John Sneider deposed, that he lived in Hamilton township, and knew the prisoner — as much as 
he understood, the prisoner meant to take arms against it. He said if we let that go forward, it 
would go on as in the old country, but that he [Eyerman] would rather lay his black coat on a 
nail, and fight the whole week, and preach for them Sundays, than that it should be so. 

" How long has this man been at Hamilton ?" " About 18 months." 

"The township was always peaceable, I suppose, before he came among you?" " Yes, and I 
believe if he had not come, nothing would have happened of the kind." 

Another witness said that the prisoner came to his house, where conversation began about the 
house tax, whereupon he said he did not care whether they put up with it or not, for he had no 
house to tax. A person present answered. But you have a great quantity of books to tax. The 
prisoner answered that " if anybody would offer to tax his books, he would take a French, a 
Latin, an Hebrew, and a Greek book down to them, and if they could not read them, he would 
slap them about their ears till they would fall to pieces." The prisoner continued preacher to 
that congregation until he was taken up. 

After the rescue, he fled to New York state, but was apprehended and brought back, and 



LEHIGH COUNTY. 



425 



^'.md guilty of conspiracy, &-c., «fcc. ; was sentenced to be imprisoned one year, pay fifty dollars 
fine, and give security for liis good behavior one year. 

About 30 others were convicted, and fined and imprisoned according to the degree of crime. 

Allentown, the county seat, is situated at the junction of the Jordan and 
Little Lehigh creeks, about half a mile west of the Lehigh river. The 
town is situated upon high ground, commanding a fine view of the sur- 
rounding country. The annexed view was taken from a road east of 




Eastern View of Allentoum. 

Jordan cr. It shows in the centre the splendid stone bridge across the 
Jordan, with the town on the hill in the distance. The two large build- 
ings on the hill, apart from the rest and from each other, are those of the 
Homoeopathic Medical School. The clump of trees on the left in the 
distance conceals the elegant mansion of Mr. Livingston, one of the heirs 
of the original founder of the town. Mrs. Greenleaf's house is on the left 
of the road leading into town. The town is regularly laid out, with the 
streets at right angles, and a public square in the centre. It contains an 
elegant courthouse, a spacious prison, Methodist, Presbyterian, German 
Reformed, and German Lutheran churches, and a church free to all de- 
nominations, called a " free hall ;" an academy and boarding-school, two 
libraries, a splendid water- works, erected in 1828, about half a mile from 
town, by means of which cool spring-water is forced to the height of 160 
feet, and distributed in cast-iron pipes through the town ; several valua- 
ble mills; a foundry; the Northampton Bank, incorporated in 1814, and 
became utterly bankrupt in 1843 ; and the Homoeopathic college ; although 
the latter institution never went into successful operation, as it was de- 
signed to do, under the administration of two eminent professors from 
Philadelphia. The Mauch Chunk company's canal (Lehigh Nav. Co.) 
has opened the trade to Philadelphia and New York, and produce to the 
amount of $200,000 per year is sent from Allentown to those cities. 
Elevated above the surrounding cities, Allentown has been remarkably 
healthy ; and it is a fact worthy of notice, that during the prevalence of 
the yellow fever of 1793 and '99, and cholera in 1832-33, there was not a 
single case of either in that place. The natural curiosities are well worth 

54 



426 LEHIGH COUNTY. 

seeing. The springs of Messrs. Martin, Smith, and Worman are justly 
admired by all who have seen them, while a walk to the Big Rock on the 
Lehigh mountain amply repays the adventurer, by the extent and novelty 
of the scenes which are there spread out before him on every side. A 
thousand feet below are seen well-cultivated farms, stretching away as 
far as the eye can reach, except on the north, where vision is bounded by 
the Blue mountain, after forcing its way through which, the river may 
be traced meandering through a country beautifully variegated. The 
population in 1830 was 1,544 ; in 1840, 2,493. Allentown derives its name 
from its founder, William Allen, Esq., chief-justice of the province, who 
laid it out. Mr. Allen was a. particular friend of the Penn family, from 
whom he derived his large grants of land. Gov. John Penn married his 
daughter. James Allen, a resident of Philadelphia, was a son of the 
founder, and became heir to the town site. He died about 1782, leaving 
the property to his children, James and William, Mrs. Greenleaf, Mrs. 
Tilghman, and Mrs. Livingston. Several of these heirs still occupy their 
elegant mansions in or near the town. The place began to be settled 
before the revolutionary war, but sparsely. The old German Reformed 
church was used during the revolution as a safe depository of valuables 
brought up from Philadelphia. Here the bells which " chime so merrily" 
on Christ church in Philadelphia were concealed. The Mauch Chunk 
Courier of 1 834 says — 

Allentown is one of the oldest settlements on the Lehigh, and in the diiFerent wars of America 
was the scene of many a brave and bloody deed. It was here that Col. James Bird displayed 
such heroism in the early wars with the aborigines ; and it was here, at a still later period of oui 
national existence, that the insurrection, in which the notorious John Fries bore so conspicuous a 
part, was fomented, and, happily for us all, smothered in its birth. 

Inhabited by a few wealthy Germans, and cut off for many years from the different post-routes 
by the influence of the neighboring towns, it remained inactive a long time. Its great elevation, 
too, rendering it difficult to procure the necessary supply of water, had the effect of retarding its 
progress in the n>arch of improvement, and it remained as at first, " unnoticed and unknown," 
until the year 1811, when, by the division of Northampton county, it became the seat of justice 
of Lehigh county, Pennsylvania, was incorporated, and called Northampton borough, (a name 
which by the way has occasioned innurnerable mistakes.) Since that period it has improved 
rapidly, and bids fair to eclipse its neighbors in trade and wealth, as it has already done in point 
of beauty. 

The ambiguous name of Northampton was changed by the legislature 
of 1838 to Allentown. There was formerly a chain-bridge at this place 
across the Lehigh. It was taken away by a flood, and is replaced by a 
superstructure of wood on the common plan. Quite a flourishing vil- 
lage has grown up on the flats west of the bridge, fostered by the busi- 
ness of the canal. About three miles above Allentown, where Beary's 
bridge crosses the river, is situated the very extensive Crane iron- works. 
A successful experiment has been made here in reducing iron ore with 
anthracite coal. 

The citizens of Allentown were very much startled and surprised a few Sundays ago by a 
strange occurrence which happened at the Lutheran chujch of that place. While the Rev. Mr. 
Yeager was about administering the sacrament, and had just left his pulpit to come down to the 
altar for that purpose, two large blacksnakes emerged from the wall, and, unseen by the congre- 
gation below, commenced gambolling and chasing each other upon the top of the sounding-board 
(as it is called) which projects over the pulpit. Those persons who were in the gallery had a f^air 
view of them, and observed that they did not retire until the communion was over. After service 
the place was examined, and a hole found, which, to judge from its size, must apparently liave 
caused considerable compression before it admitted of the anijnals' passage. How the snakes 



LUZERNE COUNTY. 427 

could have made their way through a comparatively new wall to such a height, remains still a 
mystery. — Easton Sentinel, 1832. - 

EiMMAus is a Moravian village, containing about 100 to 150 inhabit- 
ants, situated at the foot of the South mountain, about five miles S. W. 
of AUentown. The land on which the town is erected was bequeathed 
by two members of the society, for the maintenance of a clergyman and 
the promotion of missions. 

MiLLERSTovvN is a Small village about nine miles S. W. from AUentown. 
at the foot of the South mountain, containing about 20 or 30 dwellings. 

Segarsville, containing about 100 inhabitants, is on the head- waters of 
Jordan creek, about 18 miles N. W. of AUentown. 

New Tripoli, Linnville, Foglesville, Trexlerstown, and Freyburg, are 
smaller villages in different parts of the county. 



LUZERNE COUNTY. 

Luzerne county, formerly a part of Northumberland, was established by 
the act of 25th September, 1786, and named in honor of the Chevalier de 
la Luzerne, the minister of France to the United States. It then included a 
part of Bradford, and the whole of Susquehanna and Wyoming counties. 
Its present area is 1,427 square miles. The population, by estimate, in 
1790 was 4,904 ; in 1800, 12,839 ; in 1810, still including part of Bradford 
and all of Susquehanna, 18,109 ; in 1820, without those counties, 20,027 ; 
in 1830, 27,379; in 1840, including Wyoming,. 44,006 ; exhibiting, in the 
last ten years, an astonishing increase, ascribable, doubtless, to the open- 
ing of the coal mines. 

The county is very mountainous ; but notwithstanding its broken sur- 
face, it boasts many beautiful and fertile valleys, and great mineral 
wealth. The mountain-chains range from southwest to northeast. The 
main chain of the Allegheny, here broken into high knobs, irregular 
spurs, and broad table-lands, crosses the northwestern part of the county, 
passing the Susquehanna about the mouth of Tunckhannock cr. Across 
the centre of the co. runs the Shawnee and Lackawannock range ; and 
parallel with it, and about six miles distant, is the chain of the Wyoming 
and Moosic mountains. Between these four mountains, which form but 
two ranges, lies the long, narrow valley of Wyoming, famous in story 
and song, and not less noted in modern days for its agricultural and min- 
eral wealth. The Nescopeck mountain, a sharp, well-defined range, and 
Bucks mountain, cross the southern part of the county. 

The Susquehanna river, entering at the N. W. angle of Wyoming co., 
pursues a S. E. course directly across the great mountain-ranges until it 
has broken through the Shawnee mountain, at the mouth of the Lacka- 
wannock cr. Here, as if beguiled by the beauty of this lovely region, it 
ceases for a time its struggle with the mountain-barriers, suddenly changes 
its course, and meanders with a gentle current for 18 miles through the 
broad meadows of the Wyoming valley. It then breaks through the 
Wyoming mountain, and flows away with a similar gentle current through 



42S 



LUZERNE COUNTY. 



Columbia co. The other principal streams are the sources of the Lehigh, 
on the S. E., boundary; Tunkhannock cr., Falls cr., tjackawannock cr., 
Wapwallopen cr., Nescopeck cr., tributaries on the east side of the Susque- 
hanna ; and, on the west side, Huntingdon, Green, Shickshinny, Harvey's, 
Toby's, and Bowman's creeks, and several smaller streams. Harvey's 
lake, at the base of the Allegheny mountain, 10 miles N. W. of Wilkes- 
barre, is a beautiful sheet of water, surrounded with romantic scenery, 
and stored M'iih excellent fish. Chapman's, Upper and Lower Crystal 
lakes, are smaller sheets of water in the N. E. corner of the co. There 
are some splendid waterfalls in the co., though in late years they have 
lost much of their pictui-esque beauty by being directed to the ordinary 
but useful duty of turning mills. The most conspicuous are Buttermilk 
falls, on Falls cr., at its mouth ; Solomon's, near Wilkesbarre ; Falling 
Spring, above Pittston ; and Wapwallopen falls. 




Buttermilk Falls. 

The principal anthracite coal formation of Luzerne county lies in a long 
narrow trough, between four and five miles wide, extending from Carbon- 
dale on the N. E., to Knob mountain, near Beech Grove, on the S. W., 
some twenty miles below Wilkesbarre, underlying the Wyoming and 
Lackawanna valleys. The length of the basin is about 50 miles. The 
southwestern end of the basin is ascertained, by the recent investigations 
of the state geologists, to be exceedingly contorted and disturbed by sub- 
terranean forces. The coal beds of this region vary from 1 to 30 feet in 
thickness, and are generally more accessible than those of other fields, 
being exposed by deep ravines, abrupt precipices, and small streams, and 
in some places forming the bottom of the Susquehanna and Lackawan- 
nock. This coal region is also remarkable for being one of the most pro- 
ductive agricultural districts in the state. The same acre of land may 
furnish employment for both the agriculturist and the miner. The coal 
for some years after its first discovery, was wrought at the surface b} 



LUZERNE COUNTY. 



429 



stripping off and carrying away the superincumbent rock ; but this being 
too expensive has been superseded, both at Carbondale and Wilkesbarre, 
by the usual mode of drifting; that is, driving a narrow subterraneous 
passage into the hill, and following the course of the coal-seam in various 
directions. The thickest mass of coal in the Wikesbarre basin is the 
great bed of the Baltimore Company's mine, in some places measuring 32 
feet, embracing of course several thin bands of included slate. 




Baltimore Company' s Coal-mine. 

Annexed is a view of the great openings into these mines, and the pre- 
cipice formed by the ancient method of cutting away the hill. These 
openings are not now used except for ventilation ; the company's railroad 
extending directly into the mountain by a new perforation. These mines 
are 2 1-2 miles N. E. from Wilkesbarre, on Coal Brook, and communicate 
with the Pennsylvania canal at that place by railroad. The products of 
this valuable basin, for a long time confined to the rude navigation of the 
natural channel of the rivers, now have the use of artificial modes of con- 
veyance to market. The Delaware and Hudson canal, with its auxiliary 
railroad, takes the Carbondale coal to New York. The Pennsylvania 
canal takes that of the Wilkesbarre basin to Baltimore ; and when this 
line of canal is completed to the state of New York, (and a company is 
chartered for the purpose,) it will render accessible the vast market of 
western New York ; while the railroad nearly finished from Wilkesbarre 
to the Lehigh, 19 3-4 miles, will open the way by the Lehigh and Delaware 
canals to Philadelphia. 

A part of the middle anthracite coal field extends over into the southern 
border of Luzerne from Northampton co. 

The following historical note, by Judge Jesse Fell, was originally pub- 
lished in Professor Silliman's Journal of Science : — 

" Tliere has been some inquiry as to when and by whom this coal was first used. I have made 
some elTort to ascertain the facts. The late Judg^e Obadiah Gore, a blacksmith by trade, came 
into this valley as a Connecticut settler, at an early day, and he himself' informed me that he was 
the first person that used tiie coal of tliis resrjon in a blacksmith's fire : it was about the year 1768 
or 1769. He found it to answer well for this purpose, and the blacksmiths of this place [Wilkes- 
barre] have used it in their forges ever since. I find no older tradition of its being used in a fire 
than the above account. About forty-two years ago, I had it used in a nailery ; I found it to 
answer well for making wrought nails, and instead of losing in the weight of the rods, tlie nails 



430 LUZERNE COUNTY. 

exceeded the weight of the rods, which was not the case when they were wro jght in a charcoal 
fire. There is another advantage in working with this coal — the heat being superior to that of 
any other fire ; the iron is sooner heated, and I believe a blacksmith may do at least one third 
more work in a day than he could do with a charcoal fire. 

" From observation, I had conceived an idea that if a body of this coal was ignited and confined 
together, it would burn as a fuel. To try the experiment, in the month of February, 1808, I had 
a grate constructed for the purpose, eight inches in depth, and eiglit inches in height, with feet 
eight inches high, and about twenty-two inches long, (the length is immaterial, as that may be 
regulated to suit its use or convenience,) and the coal, after being ignited in it, burned beyond 
the most sanguine expectation. A more beautiful fire could not be imagined, it being clear and 
without smoke. This was the first instance of success, in burning this coal in a grate, in a com- 
mon fireplace, of which I have any knowledge ; and this experiment first brought our coal into 
use for winter fires, (without any patent-right.)" 

The principal occupations of the citizens are agriculture, coal-mining, 
and lumbering. There are also some manufactories of woollens, and f. 
few of iron, among which is one of the largest rolling-mills in the country. 
There is a vast amount of water-power in the co. still unappropriated. 
On the Lehigh, in the great swamp formerly known as the Shades of 
Death, are vast forests of lumber, to which the Lehigh Navigation Com- 
pany are now just opening a market. 

It is scarcely necessary to say that the first settlers of this county were 
originally from Connecticut, with a few Germans and Scotch-Irish from 
Pennsylvania. The Germans from the lower counties and from Europe 
have more recently filled up the southern part of the co., and a great 
number of Irish and Welsh miners are settled around the principal coal 
mines. The people of the Wyoming valley, and along the Susquehanna 
above, still retain the manner.s, the steady habits, the enterprise and in- 
telligence, and even the pronunciation of their New England fathers ; 
and the external aspect of things, — the villages with tall spires and 
shaded streets ; the neat white houses with green blinds, and broad front- 
yards fragrant with flowers and shrubbery ; and in the country the an- 
cient red-painted or wood-colored framehouses, — all mark the origin of 
the people. 

Professor Silliman, who visited this valley in 1829, very justly re- 
marks : — 

" The severe and long-continued struggle for the possession of this country, which was sustained 
by the original Connecticut settlers from fifty to eighty years since, and the repeated attempts 
which were made to dispossess them by arms, sufficiently evince the high estimation in which it 
Was held by all the parties. The prize for which the settlers contended was worthy of all the 
heroism, fortitude, and long-Suffering perseverance, which, during so many years, they displayed 
— an cxlnbition of moral courage rarely equalled and never surpassed. Believing tlicn)sclvcs, both 
in a political and personal view, to be the rightful proprietors of the country, they defended it to 
the death ; and no one who now surveys this charming valley can wonder that they would not 
quietly relinquish their claim. 

"The first glance of a stranger entering at either end, or crossing the mountain ridges which 
divide it, (like the happy valley of Abyssinia,) from the rest of the world, fills him with the pecu- 
liar pleasure produced by a fine landscape, combining richness, beauty, variety, and grandeur. 
From Prospect hill, on the rocky summit of the eastern barrier, and from Ross' hill, on the 
west, the valley of Wyoming is seen in one view, as a charming whole, and its lofty and well- 
defined boundaries exclude more distant objects from mingling in the prospect. Few landscapes 
that I have seen can vie with the valley of Wyoming. Excepting some rocky precipices and 
cliffs, the mountains are wooded from the summit to their base ; natural sections furnish avenues 
for roads, and the rapid Susquehanna rolls itg powerful current through a mountain gap, on the 
northwest, and immediately receives the Lackawanna, which flows down the narrower valley of 
the same name. A similar pass between the mountains, on the south, gives the Susquehanna an 
exit, and at both places a slight obliquity in the position of the observer presents to the eye a 
seeming lake in the windings of the river, and a barrier of mountains, apparently impassable. 
From the foot of the steep mountain ridges, particularly on the eastern side, the valley slopea 
away, with broad sweeping undulations in the surface, forming numerous swelling hills of arable 



LUZERNE COUNTY. 431 

and grazing land ; and as we recede from the hills, the fine flats and meadows covered with the 
richest grass and wheat, complete the picture by features of the gentlest and most luxuriant beauty. 

" The traveller will not fail to inquire for the battle-ground, and for the traces, now almost ob- 
literated, of the forts which were so often assailed and defended ; which frequently protected the 
entire population from civil and savage warfare ; and which have been rendered memorable by 
events of the deepest interest. 

" Gen. Ross was charged with burying the dead. It was more than a month after the event, 
and he assured me that, owing to the intense heat of the weather and probably the dryness of the 
air, the bodies were shrivelled, dried, and inoffensive ; but, with a single exception, their features 
could not be recognised. They were buried in one common grave, on land now owned by Mr. 
Gray. 

" The site of Fort Wyoming is now covered by the courthouse ; Fort Durgee was half a mile 
below the borough, near the Shawnee flats ; there was another fort on the eastern bank, nearly 
opposite the hotel, a little below the bridge ; the redoubts (an admirable ' look-out' station,) are 
still visible on the hill at the north of the village, and near them the solitary grave, without a 
monument, of the first clergyman, the Rev. Mr. Johnson, who was buried there by his own request 

" Mill creek empties into the Susquehanna, at the north of the borough, and near its mouth, 
both on the same and on the opposite shore, were blockhouses which were famous in the wars of 
the valley. Ogden's blockhouse was here. Two or three miles north of Wilkesbarrc, and on the 
western side of the river, is the site of Forty Fort, near the tavern of Mr. Myers ; a mile or two 
still fui'ther north is the creek upon whose southern bank the little army of the planters, bravely 
led by Cols. Z. Butler and N. Uenison, took their judicious station on the morning of July 3, 
1778, intending there to await the enemy ; and two or three miles still further north, is the plain 
on and near which most of them were destroyed, in and after the fatal battle accidentally and 
prematurely brought on, in the afternoon of that day. The left wing of the combined army of 
loyaUsts, Indians, and British, under Col. John Butler, rested on Fort Wintermoot, whose site 
near the river is now covered by the house of the late Col. Jenkins, while the right wing extended 
to the swamp at the foot of the hills."* 

The valley of Wyoming is rich in historical incident, and its history, 
more than that of any other region, confirms the remark that " truth is 
more strange than fiction." The annals of each ancient family form a 
romance of themselves ; there was scarcely a family that had not its 
hero — some, five, six, and seven ! 

Before entering upon the more engrossing points in the history of the 
valley, it may be well to notice briefly the movements of its aboriginal 
occupants. Not long after the original settlement of the province by 
Wm. Penn, a clan of the Shawanee Indians — a restless, warlike tribe, 
driven from the south — had been permitted by the Six Nations, the lords 
of the Susquehanna, to settle upon the borders of that river at various 
points. One of their stations was on the western bank of the river, near 
the lower end of the Wyoming valley, upon a broad plain which still 
bears the name of the Shawanee flats. Here they built a town, cultivated 
corn upon the flats, and enjoyed many years of repose. 

When the encroachments of the whites interfered with the Delaware 
and Minsi or Monsey tribes above the Forks of the Delaware and Le 
high, and their lands were wrested from them by the subtlety of the 
" Indian Walk," the Six Nations assigned them also an asylum on the 
Susquehanna — the Monseys occupying the country about Wyalusing, and 
the Delawares the eastern side of the Wyoming valley, and the region 
at Shamokin, at the confluence of the North and West branches. 

Here, in the year 1742, with some aid from the provincial government, 
as stipulated by the treaty of removal, they built their town of Maugh- 

* Measures have been in progress, for some years past, to erect a splendid monument over the 
ashes of the dead, and the structure is commenced ; but, either for want of funds, or in conse- 
quence of disagreement concerning the architectural design, or perhaps both, it still remains un- 
finished Application for pecuniary aid, for this object, was made to the state of Comiecticut, 
but m vain. 



432 LUZERNE COUNTY. 

wawame, on the east side of the river, on the lower flat, just below the 
present town of Wilkesbarre. The Indian name of this town, modified 
and corrupted by European orthography and pronunciation, passed 
through several changes, such as M'ch wnuwaumi, Wmvamie, Waiomink, 
and lastly Wyo?ning. According to Mr. Heckwelder, Maugh-wau meant 
large, or extensive, and wame, plains or meadows. The Delawares had 
been removed from the east against their will, by the dictatorial inter- 
ference of the Six Nations, who supported the pretensions of the proprie- 
tary government in its claim to the lands at the forks. This wrong 
rankled in the hearts of the Delawares ; and though fear of the superior 
strength of the whites and the Six Nations suppressed the wrath of the 
tribe for some years, yet Teedyuscu ng,* their chief, did not fail to complain 
at every treaty of the wrongs inflicted on his nation. (See Northampton co.) 
The smothered fire continued to burn, and years afterwards broke out in 
fearful vengeance upon the heads of the settlers at Wyoming. 

Soon after the arrival of tlie Delawares at Wyoming, in the same year, 1742, the celebrated 
Moravian missionary, Count Zinzendorf, for a season pitched his tent among the Indians of tliia 
valley, accompanied by another missionary, Mack, and the wife of the latter, who served as in- 
terpreter. Becoming jealous of the Count — unable to appreciate the pure motives of his mission 
— and suspecting him of being either a spy, or a land-speculator in disguise — the Shawanees had 
determined upon his assassination. The Count had kindled a tire, and was in his tent deep in 
meditation, when the Indians stole upon him to execute their bloody commission. Warmed by 
the fire, a large rattlesnake had crept forth, — and approaching the fire for its greater enjoyment, 
the serpent glided harmlessly over the legs of the holy n^an, unperceived by him. The Indians, 
however, were at the very moment looking stealthily into the tent, and saw the movement of the 
serpent. Awed by the aspect and the attitude of the Count, and imbibing the notion — fronri the 
harmless movements of the poisonous reptile — that their intended victim enjoyed the speciaj pro- 
tection of the Great Spirit, the executioners desisted from tlieir purpose, and retired. 

This anecdote was not published in the count's memoirs, lest, as he 
states, the brethren should think the conversion of a part of the Shawa- 
nees was attributable to their superstition. Mr. Chapman received the 
narrative from a companion of Zinzendorf, who afterwards accompanied 
him to Wyoming. The Moravian mission was maintained here for seve- 
ral years, and many, both of the Shawanees and Delawares, became — ap- 
parently, at least — converts to the Christian faith. When the men of 
Connecticut began to swarm thickly in the valley, and collision was 
feared, the mission was removed to Wyalusing, where another station 
had been previously planted. 

The French, then in possession of the valley of the Ohio, had used 
strenuous eftbrts to induce the Shawanees to remove thither, where a 
part of their nation had originally gone ; but without success, in conse- 
quence of the influence of the mission. At length the object was effect- 
ed in another way. One summer's day, when the children and women 
of the Shawanee and Delaware tribes were together gathering fruit on 
the Wyoming side, a feud arose between them concerning the title to a 
large grasshopper caught by one child and claimed by another. This in- 
volved a question of boundary and territorial rights. When the warriors 
returned, (who were at the time peaceably engaged together in the 
chase,) they took part with their respective women : a sanguinary con- 
test ensued, in which, after great slaughter, the Shawanees were defeat- 

♦ This name is variously spelt — by tl^e Moravians Tadeuscund, and by the old provincial 
writers, Teedyuscung. 



LUZERNE COUNTY. 433 

ed and expelled from the valley by the Delawares. They retired among 
their brethren on the Ohio. 

During the French war of 1755-58, a variety of troubles continued to 
agitate the valley. The Nanticokes, fearful of proximity to the whites, 
removed to Chemung and Chenango, in the country of the Six Nations. 
The Delawares, after Braddock's defeat, openly declared for the French, 
and were doubtless active in many of the scalping parties that desolated 
the frontiers during the autumn of 1755. But they were conciliated by 
the proprietary government, backed by the influence of Sir Wm. Johnson 
and the Quakers of Philadelphia : their grievances were in a measure 
redressed, and their feelings soothed ; new houses were built for them by 
the government, and munificent presents granted. A part of the nation 
had removed to the Ohio ; but Teedyuscung, and many of the Christian 
Indians, still remained at Wyoming. Until 1763, the frontiers generally 
enjoyed a state of peace. 

New scenes now open on the arena of Wyoming : men of another race 
were now to contest, even unto bloodshed, the title to these fair lands. 
The following succinct statement of the origin and progress of the Wy- 
oming controversy is compiled from various sources ; from Chapman, 
Gordon, Col. Stone, Miner, and Pickering : — 

" The first grants of lands in America," says Mr. Gordon, " by the crown of Great Britain, 
were made with a lavishness which can exist only where acquisitions are without cost, and their 
value unknown ; and with a want of precision in regard to boundaries, which could result only 
from entire ignorance of the country." In 1620, King James I. granted to the Plymouth Co., an 
association in England, a charter " for the ruling and governing of New England in America." 
This charter covered the expanse from the 40th to the 46th degree of north latitude, extending 
from the Atlantic to the Pacific ocean. There was an exception reserving from the grant all ter. 
ritories then actually in possession of the subjects of any other Christian prince or state. 
This exception operated in favor of the Dutch at Manhattan and Fort Orange, afterwards New 
York and Albany. The Plymouth Co. in 1628 granted to the Massachusetts colony their terri- 
tory, and in 1631 to the Connecticut colony theirs ; both by formal charters, which made their 
western boundary the Pacific ocean. On the restoration of Charles II., he granted, in 1662, a 
new charter to the people of Connecticut, confirming the previous one, and defining the southern 
boundary to be at a point on the coast, 120 miles southwest of the mouth of Narraganset bay, in a 
straight line. In 1764, the same monarch granted to his brother, the Duke of York, the territory then 
claimed and occupied by the Dutch, and extending westward as far as the Delaware bay. The 
same j'ear the Duke conquered it from the Dutch, and took possession. A dispute arising be- 
tween New York and Connecticut, concerning their boundary, it was determined by royal com- 
missioners, in 1683, who fixed upon the present line between those states. This of course de- 
termined the southernmost point in the boundary of Connecticut, which is not far from 41 deg. 
north latitude. This line, extending westward, would enter Pennsylvania near Stroudsburg, pass 
through Conyngham in Luzerne co., and cross the Susquehanna at Bloomsburg in Columbia co., 
cutting off all Northern Pennsylvania. 

In 1681, nineteen years after the date of the Connecticut ciiarter, Charles II. granted to Wm. 
Penn the memorable charter of Pennsylvania, by which the northern boundary of his province 
was fixed at the 42d degree of north latitude ; where it is now established. Here then was a 
broad strip of territory granted by the same monarch to different grantees. The lands, how- 
ever, like other portions of the wilderness, remained in possession of the Indians, and the pre- 
emption right only was considered as conveyed by the charters. 

The different principles involved in the charter of the Connecticut colony, and this province, 
necessarily produced an essential difference in the manner of acquiring the Indian title to the 
lands. In the colony, the right of preemption was vested in the people ; and the different towns 
in Connecticut were settled at successive periods, by different bands of adventurers, who sepa- 
rately acquired the Indian title either by purchase or by conquest, and in many instances without 
the aid or interference of the commonwealth. In the province, the preemption right was vested 
in William Penn, who made no grants of lands until tlie Indian title had been extinguished, and 
consequently the whole title in Pennsylvania was derived through the proprietaries. 

In 1753, an association of persons, principally inhabitants of Connecticut, was formed for i]\& 

purpose of commencing a settlement in tljat portion of the Connecticut territories which lay 

tward of the province of New York. 4^gent8 were accprdingly sent out for the purposp pf 

53 



434 LUZERNE COUNTY. 

exploring the country, and selecting a proper district. The beautiful valley upon the Susquehanna 
river, in which the Indians of the Delaware tribe, eleven years before, had built their town of 
Wyoming, attracted tlie attention of the agents ; and as they found the Indians apparently very 
friendly, and a considerable portion of the valley unoccupied except for purposes of hunting, they 
reported in favor of commencing their settlements at that place, and of purchasing the lands of 
the Six Nations of Indians, residing near the great lakes, who claimed all the lands upon Sus- 
quehanna. This report was adopted by the company ; and as a general meeting of commission- 
ers from all the English American colonies was to take place at Albany the next year, in pursu- 
ance of his majesty's instruction, for tlie purpose of forming a general treaty with tlie Indians, it 
was considered that a favorable opportunity woidd then be presented for purchasing the Wyoming 
lands. 

When the general congress of commissioners assembled at Albany, in 1755, the agents ap- 
pointed by the Susquehanna Co. attended also ; and having successfully effected the objects 
of their negotiation, obtained from the principal chiefs of the Six Nations, on the 11th of July, 
1754, a deed of the lands upon the Susquehanna, including Wyoming and the country westward 
to the waters of tiie Allegheny.* 
/^ In the summer of 1755, the Susquehanna Co. having, in the month of May preceding, pro- 
cured the consent of the legislature of Connecticut for the establishment of a settlement, and, if 
his majesty should consent, of a separate government within the limits of their purchase, sent 
out a number of persons to take possession of their lands at Wyoming ; but finding the Indians 
in a state of war with the white people, the settlement of the country was at that time deemed 
impracticable. 

A general peace having been effected with the Indians, a company of about 200 persons from 
Connecticut arrived at Wyoming, in August, 1762, and commenced their settlement at the mouth 
of a small stream, about one mile above the Indian town of Wyoming. After having cleared 
land, sowed some wheat, and concealed some tools, they returned to Connecticut for the winter. 

" In the following year these adventurers returned to the valley, with their families, and resumed 
their labors ; the Indians appearing to be perfectly friendly. The Delaware chief, Teedyuscung, 
a favorite with his own people, and disposed to be on good terms with the whites, had incurred 
the enmity of the Six Nations. A party of them, during this year, stole into the valley, and 
murdered him, by setting fire to his dwelling, in which he was consumed. They charged the 
deed upon the Connecticut settlers. The latter, unconscious of the charge, and trusting to the 
friendly disposition thus far manifested by the Indians, were entirely unprovided with arms. But 
on the 15th Oct., while at work in the fields, the friends of Teedyuscung suddenly fell upon them, 
killed about twenty, and entirely broke up the settlement — the surviving men, women, and 
children being obliged to fly across the dismal mountains, by the light of their own dwellings, 
which were plundered and burnt." No further settlement was made until the year 1769. In the 
mean time, the Delaware Indians, those who were still friendly to the whites, removed to Wya- 
lusing, and attached themselves to the Moravian mission there. After the peace between France 
and Great Britain, in 1763, and a cessation of hostilities on the part of the great nations of north- 
western Indians, in 1764, the opportunity was seized by the English colonies to cultivate a more- 
friendly intercourse with the Indians, and to fix a definitive boundary to the purchases made at 
various times. A general treaty was accordingly held for that purpose, at Fort Stanwix, near 
the Oneida lake, in Oct. 1768. At this treaty the proprietaries of Pennsylvania procured a deed 
from the Six Nations, dated 5th Nov. 1768, for all the lands lying within the province of Penn- 
sylvania, which had not been previously purchased by the proprietaries. This purcliase included 
Wyoming, and all the lands previously sold by cliiefs of the same nations to the Susquehanna 
company. 

After the conclusion of this purchase, the proprietaries of Pennsylvania sent to Wyoming a 
party of settlers who were directed to lay out the lands there into two manors for the use of the 
proprietaries. One on the east side of the river, extending from Nanticoke falls to Monokony 
island, and from the river nearly to the foot of the mountain, including the old Wyoming town, 
was called the " Manor of Stoke ;" and the other on the west side, nearly of the same extent, was 
called the " Manor of Sunbury ;" and a lease for seven years, was given to three of the principal 

* In justice to the Pennsylvanians it must be allowed, that they always protested against the 
legality of this purchase by their rivals — -.alleging that the bargain was not made in open council, 
that it was the work of a few of the chiefs only, and that several of them were in a state of in- 
toxication when they signed the deed of conveyance. It is furthermore true, that in 1736 the 
Six Nations had sold to the proprietaries the lands upon both sides of the Susquehanna, " from 
the mouth of the said river up to the mountains called the Kakatchlanamin hills, and on the 
west side to the setting of the sun." But this deed was held, by the advocates of the Connecti- 
cut purchase, to be quite too indefinite ; and besides, as the " hills" mentioned, which are none 
other than the Blue mountains, formed the northern boundary not only of that purchase, but, in 
the apprehension of the Indians, of the colony of Pennsylvania itself, Wypming valley could not 
have been included, — Stone. 



LUZERNE COUNTY. 435 

persons, whose names were Charles Stewart, Amos Ogden, and John Jennings. These persons 
were directed to take possession of the lands there, and to defend themselves and thqse under 
them, against all enemies whatever. 

On the 8th of Feb., 1769, a company of forty persons from Connecticut arrived at Wyoming ; 
and found Stewart, Ogden, and Jennings, in possession of the improvements which they had 
previously made there, and in which they had attempted to secure themselves by the erection of 
a blockhouse at the mouth of the creek. Having ascertained that the Pennsylvania party 
claimed the lands under grants from that province, and that they refused to give up to them their 
improvements, they built small buildings of logs on different sides of the blockhouse, by which 
means they intercepted all communication with the surrounding country, and entirely invested 
the Pennsylvania garrison. 

Having failed in his hopes of reinforcements, Ogden proposed to the Connecticut people an 
amicable settlement of their respective claims, and invited some of the leaders of the Connec- 
ticut party to the blockhouse, to agree upon the terms ; three of whom repaired thither for that 
purpose. They were immediately seized by Jennings, who Was sheriff of Northampton county, 
and having conducted them to Easton, they were there thrown into prison, until sufficient bail 
could be procured for their release. 

" And now commenced a bitter civil war, which lasted with the alternate success of the different 
parties for upwards of six years. In vain were the two colonial governments of Connecticut and 
Pennsylvania engaged in negotiations to adjust the question of jurisdiction. In vain had the 
crown been appealed to for the same purpose, and in vain was the interposition of other colonial 
authorities invoked for that object. Now the colonists from Connecticut were increased by fresh 
arrivals and obtained the mastery ; and now again, either by numbers or stratagem, did the Penn- 
sylvanians become lords of the manors. Forts, blockhouses, and redoubts, were built upon both 
sides ; some of which sustained regular sieges. The settlements of both parties were alternately 
broken up — the men led off to prison, the women and children driven away, and other outrages 
committed. Blood was several times shed in this strange and civil strife, but, considering the 
temper that was exhibited, in far less quantities than might have been anticipated. Deeds of 
valor and of surprising stratagem were performed. But, strange to relate, notwithstanding these 
troubles, the population of the valley rapidly increased, and as the Connecticut people waged the 
Contest with the most indomitable resolution, they in the long-run came nearest to success. The 
Pennsylvanians having sent a large force against the settlement, under Col. Plunket, which was 
ingloriously defeated, no further military operations against it were attempted from that quarter 
until after the revolution. Meantime the settlements had been greatly extended, and several 
towns designated and surveyed." 

" Until the year 1774 the people had lived under laws of their own enacting, but their population 
had now become so considerable that a more efficient government was judged expedient. An 
application to be taken under the immediate government of Connecticut was attended with suc- 
cess, and under the general [and significant] name of West-more-land the valley of Wyoming 
was annexed to the county of Litchfield, in the state of Connecticut. Zebulon Butler, Esq., a 
gentleman who had served with credit in the French war, and Nathan Dennison, Esq., also a 
gentleman of character, were appointed justices of the peace." 

It would far exceed the limits of this work to describe in detail the 
various sieges, and softies, and capitulations, alluded to in the extracts 
above. The following, from Chapman's History of Wyoming, may serve 
to show the resolute but vindictive spirit thiit animated both parties. 

The proprietaries of Pennsylvania concluded to assemble such forces as their personal exertions 
could raise, for the recovery of Wyoming ; ahd accordingly in September a force of one hundred 
and forty men was placed under the command of Capt. Ogden. A proclamation had been pub- 
lished at Philadelphia by Gov. Pcnn, on the 28th June, 1770, directing all intruders to depart from 
Wyoming, and forbidding any settlements to be made there without the consent of the proprieta- 
ries, and Ogden marched with his forces, accompanied by Aaron Van Campen, Esq., and other 
civil officers, ostensibly for the parj)ose of carrying this proclamation into effect. Ogden, know- 
ing his strbngth was insufficient for the reduction of the settlement in case the settlers should be 
in garrison, concluded, if possible, to attack them by surprise ; and to effect this the more safely, 
he commenced his march by way of Fort Allen, on the Lehigh, near the Water-gap, and thence 
by the wafrior's path to Wyoming. Having arrived in sight of the Wyoming mountains, they 
left the path for the greater safety, and on the night of the 21st of September encamped on the 
head waters of Solomon's creek. In the morning of the 22d, Ogden, with a few attendants, as- 
cended the high knob of Bullock's mountain, now called " Penobscot," which commands a view 
of the whole valley of Wyoming, from which, with his glasses, he observed the settlers leave the 
fort and go into the fields in detached parties at a distance to their work. He concluded t» 
attack them in this situation, unprovided with arms, and accordingly divided his forces into 
several detachments which commenced their attacks nearly at the same time. The working 



436 LUZERNE COUNTY. 

parties were immediately dispersed in every direction, and many of them were taken prisonero 
and sent.under an escort to Easton jail ; the greater number succeeded in reaching the fort, where 
they immediately prepared for their defence. Night was approaching, and Ogden did not think 
proper to attack the fort. He accordingly removed his troops with their booty to their encamp- 
ment at Solomon's-gap. A consultation was held in Fort Durkee, and it was concluded, as they 
had provision and ammunition to lust some time, to send messengers to Coshutunk on the Dela- 
ware, for assistance. Accordingly about midnight the messengers departed, and thinking that 
Ogden and his party would be likely to guard the direct road to Coshutunk, they concluded to go- 
out through Solomon's-gap. Ogden's party for their better security had encamped without fires, 
and took tfie messengers prisoners in the gnp ; they learned from thern the conlused situation of 
the fort, filled with men, women, and children. Upon rcceivinir this intelligence they concluded 
to make an immediate attack upon the fort. Accordingly Ogden's whole force was immediately 
put in motion, and a detachment commanded by Capt. Craig suddenly entered the fort under 
cover of the night, knocked down the sentinel, and arrived at the door of the blockhouse before 
the garrison received notice of the attack. Several of the latter were killed in attempting to make 
resistance in the blockhouse, and Capt. Craig's men having forced a number into a small room 
where they were trami>ling upon the women and children, knocked down Capt. Butler, and were 
about to pierce him with their bayonets, when Capt. Craig himself entered the apartment, drove 
the soldiers back, and prevented further bloodshed. The fort being thus taken, the principal 
portion of the garrison were again sent to prison at Easton, but Capt. Butler and a few others 
were conducted to Philadelphia, where they were confined. 

Ogden and his party then plundered the settlement of whatever moveable property they could 
find, and having formed a garrison in the fort, withdrew with his booty to the settlements below 
the mountains, where most of his men resided. The Connecticut party having disappeared, the 
garrison considered themselves as secure, the fort being in a good state of defence ; but on the 
18th of December, about three o'clock in the morning, while the garrison were asleep, a body of 
armed men, consisting of twenty-three persons, from Hanover in Lancaster county, and six from 
New England, under the command of Capt. Lazarus Stewart, suddenly entered the fort and gave 
the alarm to the garrison by a general huzza for King George. The garrison at this time con- 
sisted of only eighteen men, besides a considerable number of women and children, who occupied 
several houses erected within the ramparts of the fort. Six of the men made their escape by 
leaping front the parapet, and flying naked to the woods ; the remaining twelve were taken pri- 
soners, who, with the women and children, after being deprived of their moveable property, were 
driven from the valley, and Stewart and his party garrisoned the fort. 

Nathan Ogden, a brother of Capt. Ogden, was killed in one of the sub- 
sequent sieges. Capt. Ogden at the same time being closely besieged, 
and unable by any other mode to convey intelligence to Philadelphia, 
adopted a most ingenious stratagem to pass the enemy's lines. 

Having tied a portldn of his clothes in a bundle, with his hat upon the top of them, and hav- 
ing connected them to his body by a cord of several feet in length, he committed himself to the 
river, and floated gently down the current, with the bundle following him at the end of the cord. 
Three of the redoubts cbmmanded the river for a considerable distance above and below, and the 
sentinels by means of the star-light observing some object floating upon the river which excited 
suspicion, commenced a fire upon it, which was continued from two of the redoubts for some 
time, until observing that its motion was very uniform and no faster than the current, their sus- 
picions and their firing ceased. Ogden escaped unhurt, but his clothes and hat were pierced with 
several balls. 

There had settled on the West branch of the Susquehanna, and around 
the Forks of the two branches, a race of men quite as resolute and pttg- 
nacious as the Wyoming boys ; but, deriving their titles from Pennsylvania, 
they viewed with jealousy any attempt to occupy lands under Connefrti- 
cut title. They had already routed an infant Connecticut settlement on 
the West branch, and imprisoned the settlers at Sunbury. Col. Plunkett, 
one of the West branch men, not satisfied with this, was for carrying the 
war into the enemy's country; and accordingly in 1775, about the 20th 
Dec, in the double character of magistrate and colonel, with a force of 
700 armed men, and a large boat to carry provisions, he started up the 
North branch, ostensibly on the peaceful errand " to restore peace and 
good order in the county." The Wyoming boys knew all the strong 
points of their beautiful valley, itself a fortress, and intrenched them- 



LUZERNE COUNTY. 437 

selves at the narrow rocky defile at Nanticoke falls, through which Plun- 
kett's men must necessarily pass. The assailants were welcomed with a 
volley o£ musketry on their first entrance into the defile, from the rampart 
on the western side. They fell back and deliberated. Pulling their small 
boat above the falls, they determined to pass their troops over in small 
parties to the eastern side, and pass up into the valley under the beetling 
precipice that frowns upon the river there. The first boat load, which 
Plunkett accompanied, were attempting to land, when they were startled 
by a heavy fire from Lieut. Stewart and a small party there concealed in 
the bushes. One man was killed — they tumbled into the boat and floated 
down the river as fast as the rapids would carry them. Another council 
was held — to force the breastwork on the western side was deemed im- 
practicable — the amount of the force on the opposite shore was unknown ; 
to ascend the steep rocky mountains in the face of a foe that could reach 
the summit before them, and tumble down rocks upon their heads, was 
equally impracticable ; and as in a few days the river might close, and 
leave them no means of exit by water, they concluded to abandon the 
enterprise. This was the last effort against Wyoming of the provincial 
government, which expired the next year, amid the flames of revolution. 

For a time after the commencement of the revolution, the valley of 
"Wyoming was allowed a season of comparative repose. Both Connecti- 
cut and Pennsylvania had more important demands upon their attention. 
The census of the valley at this time is estimated by Mr. Miner, from au- 
thentic data, at about 2,500 inhabitants. At the opening of the revolu- 
tion, " the pulsations of patriotic hearts throbbed with unfaltering energy 
throughout Wyoming. The fires of liberty glowed with an ardor intense 
and fervent." At a town meeting held Aug. 1, 1775, it was voted, " That 
we will unanimously join our brethren of America in the common cause 
of defending our liberty." Aug. 28, '76, " Voted, that the people be called 
upon to work on ye forts without either fee or reward from ye said town." 
The same year, Lieut. Obadiah Gore enlisted part of a company and 
joined the continental army. Two other companies, each of 86 men, 
under Capt. Robert Durkee and Capt. Samuel Ransom, were raised under 
a resolution of congress the same year, and joined the continental army 
as part of the Connecticut line. These men were in the glorious affair at 
Mill Stone ; they were in the battles of Brandywine and Germantown, 
and in the terrible cannonade at Mud Fort, (below Philadelphia,) where 
the gallant Spalding commanded the detachment, and where the brave 
Matthewson was cut in two by a cannon ball. In Dec. 1777, the town 
meeting voted, poor as they were, and almost all their ablebodied men 
away in the service — nobly voted, " that the committee of inspectors be 
empowered to supply the sogers' wives and the sogers' widows and their 
families with the necessaries of life." 

Wyoming was an exposed frontier bordering on the country of the Six 
Nations — a people numerous, fierce, and accustomed to war. From Tio- 
ga Point, where they would rendezvous, in twenty-four hours they could 
descend the Susquehanna in boats to Wyoming. Nearly all the able- 
bodied men of Wyoming fit to bear arms, had been called away into the 
continental army. It was to be expected that the savages, and their 
British employers, should breathe vengeance against a settlement that 
had shown such spirit in the cause of liberty. They were also, beyond 



438 LUZERNE COUNTY. 

doubt, stimulated by the absconding tories, who were burning with a 
much stronger desire to avenge what they conceived to be their own 
wrongs, than with ardor to serve their king. The defenceless situation 
of the settlement could not be concealed from the enemy, and would natu- 
rally invite aggression, in the hope of weakening Washington's army by 
the diversion of the Wyoming troops for the defence of their own fron- 
tier. All these circumstances together marked Wyoming as a devoted 
victim. 

The following sketch of the memorable battle of 1778 is condensed 
from the plea of the Wyoming delegation, drawn up by the Hon. Charles 
Miner, and intended to be delivered before the legislature of Connecticut 
— with some additional facts from " the Hazleton Travellers," and other 
sources. 

Late in June, 1778, there descended the Susquehanna Col. John Butler, with his own tory ran- 
gers, a detachment of Sir John Johnson's Royal Greens, and a large body of Indians, chiefly 
Senecas. The British and Tories numbered about 400 — the Indians about 700. Jenkins's fort 
was at the head of the valley, just below the gorge. This fort capitulated on the 2d July, to a 
detachment under Capt. Caldwell. Wintermoot's fort had been built near Jenkins's, by a Low' 
Dutch family of that name, with a view, as afterwards appeared, to aid the incursions of the 
tories. As suspected, Wintermoot's fort at once threw open its gates to the enemy. Here the 
British and Indian force was assembled at dinner just before the battle. To defend the settle- 
ment against this force was a half-raised company of Capt. Deathic [Doeterick] Hewitt, consist- 
ing of 40 or 50 men, and the militia, the remains merely, out of which the three companies above 
mentioned had been enlisted for the continental army. There were several forts at Wyoming, — 
not regular fortifications, with walls, and embrazures, and great guns — -but stockades, built by 
setting logs on end in ditches, close together, surrounding a space for the retreat of the women 
and children, with no other means of defence than the small-arms of the men, firing through loop- 
holes. In all Wyoming valley there was but one cannon, a four-poUnder, without ball, kept at 
the Wilkesbarre fort as an alarm gun. Against such a force as the enemy mustered, not one of 
these forts could have held out an hour, or kept the foe from reducing them to ashes. Some of 
the aged men out of the train-bands formed themselves into companies to garrison the forts and 
yield to the helpless such protection as they could. Except at Pittston — which, from its posi- 
tion, was imminently exposed — no company of the Wyoming regiment was retained for partial 
defence. All the rest assembled at Forty Fort, on the Kingston side, prepared in the best man- 
ner they could to meet the enemy. They numbered about 400 men and boys, including many 
not in the train-band. Old, gray-headed men, and grandfathers, turned out to the muster. 

Col. Zebulon Butler happened to be at Wyoming at the time, and though he had no proper 
command, by invitation of the people he placed himself at their head, and led them to battle. 
There never was more courage displayed in the various scenes of war. History does not por- 
tray an instance of more gallant devotion. There was no other alternative but to fight and con- 
quer, or die ; for retreat with their families was impossible. Like bralve men, they took counsel 
of their courage. On the 3d of July they marched out to meet the enemy. Col. Zebulon Butter 
commanded the right wing, aided by Maj. Garret. Col. Dennison commanded the left, assisted 
by Lieut. Col. George Dorrance. The field of fight was a plain, partly cleared and partly covered 
with scrub-oak and yellow-pine. The right of the Wyoming men rested on a steep bank, which 
descends to the low river-flats : the left extended to a marsh, thickly covered with timber and 
brush. Opposed to Col. Zebulon Butler, of Wyoming, was Col, John Butler, with his tory ran- 
gers, in their green uniform. The enemy's right wing, opposed to Col. Dennison, was chiefly 
composed of Indians, [led on, says Col. Stone, by a celebrated Seneca chief, named Gi-en-gwah- 
toh; or He-who-goes-in-tlie-srnoke.]* It was between four and five o'clock in the afternoon when 

* Until the publication, year before last, of the Life of Brant, [by W. L. Stone,] it had been 
asserted in all history that that celebrated Mohawk chieftain was the Indian leader at Wyoming. 
He himself always denied any participation in this bloody expedition, and his assertions were 
corroborated by the British officers, when questioned upon the subject. But these denials, not 
appearing in history, relieved him not from the odium ; and the " monster Brant" has been de- 
nounced, the world over, as the author of the massacre. In the work referred to above, the 
author took upon himself the vindication of the savage warrior from the accusation, and, as he 
thought at the time, with success. A reviewer of that work, however, in the Democratic Maga- 
zine, who is understood to be the Hon. Caleb Gushing of Massachusetts, disputed the point, 
maintaining that the vindication was not satisfactory. The author thereupon made a journey in. 



LUZERNE COUNTY. 439 

the engagement began, and for some time it was kept up with great spirit. On the right, in open 
field, our men fired and advanced a step, and the enemy was driven back. But their numbers, 
nearly three to one, enabled them to outflank our men, especially on the left, where the ground, 
a swamp, was exactly fitted for savage warfare. Our men fell rapidly before the Indian rifles ; 
the rear as well as the flunk was gained, and it became impossible to maintain the position. An 
order to full back, given by Col. Dennison, so as to present a better front to the enemy, could not 
be executed without confusion, [and some misunderstood it as a signal for retreat.] The prac- 
tised enemy, not more brave, but, besides being more numerous, familiarized to war in fifty bat- 
tles, sprang forward, raised their horrid yell from one end of the line to the other, rushed in with 
the tomahawk and spear, and our people were defeated. They deserved a better fate. One of 
the men yielding a little ground. Col. Dorrance, a few minutes before he fell, with the utmost 
coolness, said, "Stand up to your work, sir." After the enemy was in the rear, " See !" said an 

oflicer to Capt. Hewett, " the enemy is in force behind us ; shall we retreat ?" " I'll be d d 

if I do !" was his reply ; and he fell, at the head of his men. " We are nearly alone," said West- 
brook ; " shall we go ?" " I'll have one more shot first," replied Cooper. That instant a savage 
sprang towards him with his spear. Cooper stretched him on the earth, and reloaded before he 
left the ground. When the left was thrown into confusion, our Col. Butler threw himself in 
front, and rode between the two lines, exposed to the double fire. " Don't leave me, my children," 
said he ; " the victory will be ours." But what could 400 undisciplined militia effect against 
1,100 veteran troops ? The battle was lost ! Then followed the most dreadful massacre — the 
most heart-rending tortures. The brave but overpowered soldiers of Wyoming were slaughtered 
without mercy, principally in tlie flight, and after surrendering themselves prisoners of war. The 
plain, the river, and the island of Monockonock were the principal scenes of this horrible mas- 
sacre. Sixteen men, placed in a ring around a rock, (which is still shown, behind the house of 
Mr. Gay, near the river,) were held by stout Indians, while they were, one by one, slaughtered 
by the knife or tomahawk of a squaw. One individual, a strong man, by the name of Ham- 
mond, escaped by a desperate effort. In another similar ring, nine persons were nmrdered in the 
same way. Many were shot in the river, and hunted out and slain in their hiding-places, (in one 
instance by a near, but adverse relative,)* on the now beautiful island of Monockonock. But 
sixty of the men, who went into the battle, survived ; and the forts were filled with widows and 
orphans, (it is said the war made 150 widows and 600 orphans in the valley,) whose tears and 
cries were suppressed after the surrender, for fear of provoking the Indians to kill them ; for it 
was an Indian's pastime to brandish the tomahawk over their heads. 

A few instances will show how universal was the turn-out, and how general was the slaughter. 
Of the Gore family, one was away with the army, five brothers and two brothers-in-law went 
into the battle. At evening five lay dead on the field, one returned with his arm broken by a 
rifle-ball ; the other, and only one, unhurt. From the farm of Mr. Weeks, seven went out to battle ; 
five sons and sons-in-law, and two inmates. Not one escaped — the whole seven perished. An- 
derson Dana went into battle with Stephen Whiting, his son-in-law, a few months before married 
to his daughter. The dreadful necessity of the hour allowed no «xemption like that of the Jew- 
ish law, by which the young bridegroom might remain at home for one year, to cheer up his bride. 
The field of death was the resting-place of both. Anderson Dana, Jr., still living — then a boy 
of nine or ten years old — was left the only protector of the family. They fled, and begged their 
way to Connecticut. 

Of the Inman family, there were five present in the battle. Two fell in the battle, another died 
of the fatigues and exposure of the day ; another was kUled the same year by Indians. 

to the Seneca country, and pushed the investigation among the surviving chiefs and warriors of 
the Senecas engaged in that campaign. The result was a triumphant acquittal of Brant from 
all participation therein. The celebrated chief Captain Pollard, whose Indian name is Kaoun- 
doowand, a fine old warrior, was a young chief in that battle. He gave a full account of it, and 
was clear and positive in his declarations that Brant and the Mohawks were not engaged in that 
campaign at all. Their leader, he said, was Gi-en-gwah-ioh, as already mentioned, who lived 
many years afterward, and was succeeded in his chieftaincy by the late Young King. That 
point of history, therefore, may be considered as conclusively settled. — Col. Stone's History of 
Wyoming 

* During the bloody fight of the 3d, some of the fugitives plunged into the river and escaped 
to the opposite shore. A few landed upon Monockonock island, having lost their arms in the 
flight, and were pursued thither. One of them was discovered by his own brother, who had es- 
poused the side of the crown. The unarmed whig fell upon his knees before his brother, and of 
fered to serve him as a slave forever, if he would but spare his life. But the fiend in human 

form was inexorable; he muttered, " You are a d d rebel!" and shot him dead. This tale 

is too horrible for belief ; but a survivor of the battle, a Mr. Baldwin, confirmed its truth to the 
writer with his own lips. He knew the brothers well, and in Aug. 1839, declared the fact to be 
BO. The name of the brothers was Pensil. — Stone's History of Wyoming. 



440 LUZERNE COUNTY. 

About two-thirds of those who went out, fell. Naked, panting, and bloody, a few, who had 
escaped, came rushing into VVilkesbarre fort, where, trembling with anxiety, the women and chil- 
dren were gathered, waiting the dread issue. Mr. Ilollenback, who had swum the river naked, 
amid the balls of the enemy, was the first to bring them the appalling news — "All is lost.'" 
They fled to the mountains, and down the river. Their sufferings were extreme. Many widows 
and orphans begged their bread, on their way home to their friends in Connecticut. In one party, 
of near a hundred, there was but a single man. As it was understood that no quarter would be 
given to the soldiers of the line. Col. Zebulon Butler, with the few other soldiers who had escaped, 
retired that same evening, with the families, from Wilkesbarre fort. 

But — those left at Forty Fort ? During the battle, (says the venerable Mrs. Myers, who, then 
a child, was there,) they could step on the river bank, and hear the firing distinctly. For a while 
it was kept up with spirit, and hope prevailed ; but by and by it became broken and irregular, 
approaching nearer and nearer. "Our people are defeated — they are retreating!" It was a 
dreadful moment. Just at evening a few of the fugitives rushed in, and fell down exhausted — 
some wounded and bloody. Through the night, every hour one or more came into the fort. Col. 
Dennison also came in, and rallying enough of the wreck of the little Spartan band to make a 
mere show of defending the fort, he succeeded the next day in entering into a capitulation for the 
settlement, with Col. John Butler, fair and honorable for the circumstances ; by which doubtless 
many lives were saved.* 

This capitulation, drawn up in the handwriting of Rev. Jacob Johnson, the first clergyman of 
the settlement, stipulated — 

That the settlement lay down their arms, and their garrison be demolished. That the inhab- 
itants occupy their farms peaceably, and the lives of the inhabitants be preserved entire and un- 
hurt. That the continental stores are to be given up. That Col. Butler will use his utmost 
influence that the private property of the inhabitants shall be preserved entire to them. That the 
prisoners in Forty Fort be delivered up. That the property taken from the people called Tories, 
be made good ; and that they remain in peaceable possession of their farms, and unmolested in a 
free trade through this settlement. That the inhabitants which Col. Dennison capitulates for, 
together with himself, do not take up arms during this contest 

The enemy marched in six abreast ; the British and Tories at the northern gate, the Indians at 
the southern ; their banners flying and music playing. Col. Dorrance, then a lad in the fort, 
remembered the look and conduct of the Indian leader — all eye — glancing quickly to the right — 
then glancing to the left — with all an Indian's jealousy and caution, lest some treachery or am- 
bush should lurk in the fort. Alas I the brave and powerful had fallen : no strength remained to 
resist, no power to defend ! 

On paper the terms of the capitulation are fair, but the Indians immediately began to rob and 
bum, plunder and destroy. Col. Dennison complained to Col. Butler. " I will put a stop to it, 
sir ; I will put a stop to it," said Butler. The plundering continued. Col. D. remonstrated 
again with energy, reminding him of his plighted faith. " I'll tell you what, sir," replied Col. 
Butler, waving his hand impatiently, " I can do nothing with them ; I can do nothing with them." 
No lives, however, were taken by the Indians : they confined themselves to plunder and insult. 
To show their entire independence and power, the Indians came into the fort, and one took the 
hat from Col. Dennison's head. Another demanded his rifle-frock, which he had on. It did not 
suit Col. D. to be thus stripped ; whereupon the Indian menacingly raised his tomahawk, and 
the Col. was obliged to yield, but seeming to find difficulty in taking off the garment, he stepped 
back to where the women were sitting. A girl understood the movement, and took from a pocket 
in the frock a purse, and hid it under her apron. The frock was delivered to the Indian. The 
purse, containing a few dollars, was the whole military chest of Wyoming. Mrs. Myers repre- 
sents Col. Butler as a portly, good-looking man, perhaps 45, dressed in green, the uniform of his 
rangers. He led the chief part of his army away in a few days ; but parties of Indians continutd 
in the valley burning and plundering, until at length fire after fire arose, east, west, north, and 

* The early historical accounts of this battle, by Gordon, Ramsay, Marshall, (first edition,) 
Thatcher, (in his Military Journal,) the London Gentleman's Magazine — and even the " Incidents 
of Border Life," published in the heart of Pennsylvania, as late as 1839 — do great injustice to 
Col. Dennison's conduct on this occasion, as well as to that of the British Col. Butler. They all 
republish and perpetuate the exaggerated tale, collected from the first panic-stricken and suffering 
fugitives, who fled on the night of the battle, and arrived at the Hudson river. They were full 
of enormous exaggerations, such as that, " on Col. Dennison's inquiring on what terms a capitu- 
lation would be granted, the enemy replied, ' the hatchet ;' and that, with this threat of butchery 
to all under his protection, without an effort at defence, or to sell their lives as dearly as possible, 
the whole fort full of women and children was yielded to indiscriminate massacre." No such 
thing — not a life of all t^ose under Col. Dennison's charge was lost. The surviving ladies, who 
were then in the fort, all agree in stating that the Indians were kind to them ; except that they 
plundered them of every thing except the clothes upon their backs, and marked them with paint 
to prevent their being killed by other Indians — a common precaution among red-men. 



LUZERNE COUNTY. 441 

Bouth. In a week or ten days, it was seen that the articles of capitulation afforded no security J 
and the remaining widows and orphans, a desolate band, with scarcely provisions for a day, took 
up their sad pilgrimage over the dreary wilderness of the Pokono mountains, and the dismal 
*' Shades of Death." 

Most of the fugitives made their way to Stroudsburg, where there was 
a small garrison. For two or three days they lived upon whortleberries, 
which a kind Providence seems to have furnished in uncommon abun- 
dance that season — the manna of that wilderness. Mr. Miner, in the 
"Hazleton Travellers," says: — 

" What a picture for the pencil ! Every pathway through the wilderness thronged with women 
and children, old men and boys. The able men of middle life and activity were either away in 
the general service, or had fallen. There were few who were not in the engagement ; so that in 
one drove of fugitives consisting of one hundred persons, there was only one vian with them. Let 
the painter stand on some eminence commanding a view at once of the valley and the mountain. 
Let him paint the throng climbing the heights ; hurrying on, filled with terror, despair, and sor. 
row. Take a single group : the affrighted mother, whose husband has fallen ; an infant on her 
bosom ; a child by the hand ; an aged parent, slowly climbing the rugged way, behind her ; hun. 
ger presses them sorely ; in the rustling of every leaf they hear the approaching savage ; the 
" Shades of Death" before them ; the valley, all in flames, behind them ; their cottage, their 
barns, their liarvests, all swept in this flood of ruin ; their star of hope quenched in this blood- 
shower of savage vengeance !" 



The Weekses who fell in the battle are mentioned above. Not one escaped ; the whole seven 
fell, and the old man was left like the oak struck with lightning — withered, bare, blasted — all its 
boughs torn away. 

" Man cannot tell 

with what an agony of tenderness 

He turned him to the battle-field, where lay 

His hopes — his children — fondly, dearly loved." 

The engagement was on Friday. On Sunday morning twenty Indians came to his house and 
ordered breakfast. They told Mr. Weeks he must go — he could not stay — he must clear out. 
" All my sons have fallen," said the old man, " and here I am left with fourteen grandchildren, 
all young and helpless." After breakfast, one of the Indian leaders stepped up to Mr. Weeks, 
took the hat from his head, and put it on ; he then wheeled into the middle of the street a large 
rocking-chair with a cushion in it, pat himself down, and rocked himself. The tigers, gorged 
with food, blood, and plunder, for the moment paused, and rocked themselves into something 
like good nature. In sending the family into exile, they allowed them a pair of oxen and a 
wagon to carry the children, a bed, and some food. They went up the Lackawanna to Orange 
coimty. New York. (See p. 242.) — Hazleton Travellers. 



Mrs. Jenkins, in her very interesting narrative, says, that in those times of peril and suffering 
the women performed their part. While the men were out on duty, the women gathered, husked, 
and garnered the com. I speak now of other years, for little was saved in the melancholy and 
bloody '78. " We had not only to do this, but at times to make our own powder !" " Your 
own powder, Mrs. Jenkins I" I exclaimed. " Was it so ? Had your people not only to find, 
troops for the continental army — to build their own forts — to raise men for their own defence, to 
clothe them, to arm them, to feed them — but were they obliged to make their own powder ? But 
how did you make it ?" " O, we took up the floors, and dug out the earth — put it up and drained 
water through it, as we leech ashes — mixed weak ley — boiled them together — let the liquid stand, 
and saltpetre would rise in crystallizations on the top ; then we mixed sulphur and charcoal. 
Mr. Hoilenback went down the river and brought up a pounder." — Hazleton Travellers, 



When Forty Fort capitulated, (Mrs. Hewitt was there at the time,) Col. John Butler, as he 
entered the gate, saw Sergeant Boyd, a young man about twenty-five. He was an Englishmaij 
— had deserted from the enemy — was an excellent disciplinarian, and had been serviceable in 
training our men. " Boyd," said Butler, recognising him, " go to that tree," pointing to a pine 
not far outside the fort. " I hope your honor will consider me as a prisoner of war." " Go tq 
that tree !" repeated Butler, sternly. Boyd went, and was shot down. — Hazleton Travellers. 



"In March, 1779, the spring after the battle, a large body of Indians came down on the 
Wyoming settlements. The people were few, weak, and ill prepared for defence, although * 

56 



442 LUZERNE COUNTY. 

body of troops was stationed in the valley for that purpose. The savages were estimated at 
about 400 men. They scattered themselves abroad over the settlement, murdering, burning, 
taking prisoners, robbing houses, and driving away cattle. After doing much injury, they con- 
centrated their forces, and made an attack on tlic fort in Wilkesbarre ; but the discharge of a 
field-piece deterred tiiem, and they raised the siege. The house of Thaddeus Williams was also 
attacked by a party. The old man was sick in bed ; and Sergeant Williams, his son, with a 
boy of thirteen, withstood the siege, killed a part of the assailants, and entifely drove ofT the 
others. — Hazleton Travellers.* 

Soon after the battle, Capt. Spaldinjc^, with a company from Strouds- 
burg, took possession of the desolate valley, and rebuilt the fort at Wilkes- 
barre. Col. Hartley, from Muncy fort, on the West Branch, also went 
up the North Branch with a party, burned the enemy's villages at Wya- 
lusing, Sheshequin, and Tioga, and cut off a party of the enemy who were 
taking a boat-load of plunder from Wyoming. 

Most of the settlers had lied after the battle and massacre, but here and 
there a fajnily had remained, or had returned soon after the flight. Skulk- 
ing parties of bidians continued to prowl about the valley, killing, plun- 
dering, and scalping, as opportunity offered. It was at this time that 
Frances Slocum was captured. The story of her life fully illustrates the 

* The " Hazleton Travellers" is not a volume, but a series of historical and biographical 
sketches, in the form of dialogues between two travellers from Hazleton, written by the Hon. 
Charles Miner, and published in the Wyoming Republican in 1837-38. These sketches con- 
tain many vivid pictures of the adventures, sufferings, and characters of the old settlers of the 
valley — pictures that we would gladly transfer to our pages — but where to begin ? and, having 
begun, where should we stop short of another volume ? Our restricted limits force us, though 
with extreme reluctance, to omit many interesting details, not the least important of which are 
the biographical sketches in those numbers. Mr. Miner has promised to add to the number of 
these sketches, and to give them to the public at some future day. But lest he should there omit 
a sketch of one of the prominent citizens in the valley, we extract the following from Col. Stone's 
History of Wyoming : — 

" My friend Charles Miner is an able man, a native of Norwich, Con., and emigrated to the 
valley of Wyoming in the year 1799 — being then nineteen years of age. He first engaged in 
school teaching. Having a brother, a year or two older than himself, who was a practical printer, 
he invited him to join him in his sylvan retreat, and establish a newspaper. The brother did so ; 
and the twain conjointly established the " Luzerne Federalist." This paper was subsequently su- 
perseded by " The Gleaner," but under the same editorial conduct — that of Charles Miner. It 
was through the columns of the Gleaner that Mr. Miner, for a long series of months, instructed 
and amused the American people by those celebrated essays of morals and wit, of fact and fancy, 
and delicate humor, purporting to come " From the Desk of Poor Robert the Scribe," and which 
were very generally republished in the newspapers. The Gleaner and its editor became so popular, 
that the latter was invited to Philadelphia, as associate editor of the " Political and Commercial 
Register," so long and I'avorably known under the conduct of the late Major Jackson. 

" Not liking the metropolis as well as he did the country, Mr. Miner soon retired to the pleasant 
town of Westchester, eighteen miles from Philadelphia, where, in connection with his brother 
Asher, who had also removed from Wilkesbarre, he established the Village Record — a paper 
which became as popular for its good taste, and the delicacy of its humor, as the Gleaner had 
been aforetime. Poor Robert here wrote again under the signature of "John Harwood." While 
a resident of Westchester, Mr. Miner was twice successively elected to congress, in a double 
district, as a colleague of the present Senator Buchanan. 

" While in congress Mr. Miner showed himself not only a useful, but an able member. In the 
subject of slavery he took a deep interest, laboring diligently in behalf of those rational measures 
for its melioration which were doing great good before a different feeling was infused into the 
minds of many benevolent men, and a diiFerent impulse imparted to their action on this subject. 
There is another act for which Mr. Miner deserves all praise. It was he who awakened the 
attention of the country to the silk-growing business. He drew and introduced the first resolu- 
tion upon the subject, and wrote the able report which was introduced by the late General Ste- 
phen Van Rensselaer, as chairman of the committee on agriculture, to whom that resolution had 
been referred. 

" It is now [in 1840] about eight years since Mr. Miner relinquished business in Westchester, 
and, with his brother, returned to Wyoming, where both have every promise of spending the even- 
ing of their days most happily." 



LUZERNE COUNTY. 443 

remark previously made, that the history of this valley contains much of 
*' truth more strange than fiction." The following extracts are from a 
letter published in the Philadelphia North American, in 1839 : — 

At a little distance from the present courthouse at Wilkesbarre, lived a family by the name of 
Slocum, [Mr. Jonathan Slocum.] The men were one day away in the fields, and in an instant 
the house was surrounded by Indians. There were in it, a mother, a daughter about nine years 
of ajre, a son ag^ed thirteen, another daughter aged five, and a little boy aged two and a half. A 
young man, and a boy by the name of Kingsley, were present grinding a knife. The first thing 
the Indians did wds to shoot down the young man and scalp him with the knife which he had in 
his hand. The nine year old sister took the little boy two years and a half old, and ran out of 
the back door to gfet to the fort. The Indians chased her just enough to see her fright, and to 
have a hearty laugh, as she ran and clung to and lifted her chubby little brother. They then 
took the Kingsley boy and young Slocum, aged thirteen, and little Frances, aged five, and pre- 
pared to depart. But finding young Slocum lame, at the earnest entreaties of the mother, they 
set liim down and left him. Their captives were then young Kingsley and the little girl. The 
mother's heart s\;irelled unutterably, and for years she could not describe the scene without tears. 
She saw an Indian throw her child over his shoulder, and as her hair fell over her face, with one 
hand she brushed it aside, while the tears fell from her distended eyes, and stretching out her 
other hand towards her mother, she called for her aid. The Indian turned into the bushes, and 
this was the last seen of little Frances. This image, probably, was carried by the mother to her 
grave. About a month after this they came again, and with the most awful cruelties murdered 
the aged grandfather, and shot a ball in the leg of the lame boy. This he carried vn\h. him in 
his leg, nearly six years, to the grave. The last child Was born a few months after these trage- 
dies ! What were the conversations, the conjectures, the hopes, and the fears respecting the fate 
of little Frances, I will not attempt to describe. 

As the boys grew up and became men, they were very anxious to know the fate of their little, 
fair-haired sister. They wrote letters, they sent inquiries, they made journeys through all the 
West and into the Canadas. Four of these journeys Were made in vain. A silence, deep as that 
of the forest through which they wandered, hung over her fate during sixty years. 

My reader will now pass over fifty-eight years, and suppose himself far in the wilderness of 
Indiana, on the bank of the Mississinewa, about fifty miles southwest of Fort Wayne. A very 
respectable agent of the United States [Hon. George W. Ewing, of Peru, la.] is travelling there, 
and weary and belated, with a tired horse, he stops in an Indian wigwam for the night. He can 
speak the Indian language. The family are rich for Indians, and have horses and skins in abun- 
dance. In the course of the evening, he notices that the hair of the woman is light, and her skin 
under her dress is also white. This led to a conversation. She told him she was a white child, 
but had been carried away when a very small girl. She could only remember that her name was 
Slocurii, that she lived in a little house on the banks of the Susquehanna, and how many there 
were in her father's family, and the order of their ages ! But the name of the to.wn she could 
not remember. On reaching his home, the agent mentioned this story to his mother. She urged 
and pressed him to Vvrite and print the account. Accordingly he wrote it, and sent it to Lancas- 
ter in this state, requesting that it might be published. By some, to me, unaccountable blunder, 
it lay in the office two years before it was published. In a few days it fell into the hands of Mr. 
Slocum, of Wilkesbarre, who was the little two year and a half old boy, when Frances was taken. 
In a few days he was off" to seek his sister, taking with him his oldest sister, (the one who aided 
him to escape,) and writing to a brother who now lives in Ohio, and who I believe was born after 
the captivity, to m'eet him and go with him. 

The two brothers and sister are now (1838) on their way to seek little Frances, just sixty 
years after her captivity. They reach the Indian countiy, the home of the Miami Indians. 
Nine miles from the nearest vehite they find the little wigwam. " I shall know my sister," said 
the civilized sister, " because she lost the nail of her first finger. You, brother, hammered it off^ 
in the blacksmith-shop, when she was four years old." They go into the cabin, and find an 
Indian woman having the appearance of seventy-five. She is painted and jewelled off", and 
dressed like the Indians in all respects. Nothing but her hair and covered skin would indicate 
her origin. They get an interpreter, and begin to converse. She tells them where she was bom, 
her name, &c., with the order of her father's family. " How came your nail gone ?" said the 
oldest sister. " My older brother pounded it off" when I was a little child in the shop !" In a 
word, they were satisfied that this vi'as Frances, their long-lost sister ! They asked her what 
her Christian name was. She could not remember. Was it Frances ? She smiled, and said 
" yes." It was the first time she had heard it pronounced for sixty years ! Here, then, they 
were met — two brothers and two sisters ! They were all satisfied they were brothers and sisters 
But what a contrast! The brothers were walking the cabin, unable to speak; the oldest sister 
was weeping, but the poor Indian sister sat motionless and passionless, as indifferent as a spec- 
tator. There was no throbbing, no fine chords in her bosom to be touched. 

When Mr. Slocum was giving nie this history, I said to hira, "But could she not speak Eng 



444 LUZERNE COUNTY. 

lish?" " Not a word." " Did she know her age ?" " No — had no idea of it." " But was she 
entirely ignorant?" " Sir, she didiVt know when Sunday comes.'" This was indeed the con- 
summation of ignorance in a descendant of the Puritans I 

But what a picture for a painter would the inside of that cabin ha.ve afforded ? Here were the 
children of civilization, respectable, temperate, intelligent, and wealthy, able to overcome moun- 
tains to recover their sister. There was the child of the forest, not able to tell the day of the 
week, whose views and feelings were all confined to that cabin. Her whole history might be told 
in a word. She lived with the Delawares who curried her otf till grown up, and 4hen married a 
Delaware. He either died or ran away, and she then married a Miami Indian, a chief, as I be- 
lieVe. She has two daughters, both of whom are married, and who live in all the glory of an 
Indian cabin, deerskin clothes, and cowskin head-dresses. No one of the family can speak a 
word of English. They have horses in abundance, and when the Indian sister wanted to ac- 
company her new relatives, she whipped out, bridled her horse, and then, a la Turk, mounted 
astride, and was off. At night she could throw a blanket arouud her, down upon the floor, and 
at once be asleep. 

The brotliers and sister tried to persuade their lost sister to return with them, and, if she de- 
sired it, bring her children. They would transplant her again to the banks of the Susquehanna, 
and of their weultii make her home happy. But no. She had always lived with the Indians; 
they had always been kind to her, and she iiad promised her late husband on his death-bed, that 
she would never leave the Indians. And there they left her and hers, wild and darkened heathen, 
thbugh sprung from a pious race. You can hardly imagine how much this brother is interested 
for her. He intends this autumn to go again that long journey to see his tawny sister — to carry 
her presents, and perhaps will petition congress that, if these Miamis are driven off, there may be 
a tract of land reserved for his sister and her descendants. His heart yearns with an indescriba- 
ble tenderness for the poor helpless one, who, sixty-one years ago, was torn from the arms of her 
mother. Mysterious Providence I How wonderful the tie which can thus bind a family to- 
gether with a chain so strong ! 

I will only add that nothing has ever been heard of the boy Kingsley. The probability cer- 
tainly is, that he is not living. This account I had from the lips of Mr. Slocum, the brother, and 
the same who was two and a half 3'ears old when little Frances was carried away. 

[Frances' second husband was known among liis tribe as " the deaf-man," and the village 
where she lives is called Deaf-mun's village. The United States, by treaty, has granted her a 
rich reserve of land. Her son-in-law, Capt. Brouillette, is a hwlf-brecd, of French extraction, 
and one of the noblest-looking men of his tribe. Tlie whole family are highly respectable among 
their nation, and live well, having a great abundance of the comforts of Indian life. The Miami 
nation has recently agreed to move beyond the Mississippi.] 

In the summer of 1779, Gen. SuUiv.m passed through Wyoming, with 
his army from Easton, on his memorable expedition against the country of 
the Six Nations. As they passed the fort amid the tiring of salutes, with 
their arms gleaming in the sun, and their hundred and twenty boats 
arranged in regular order on the river, and their two thousand pack- 
horses in single file, they formed a military display surpassing any yet 
seen on the Susquehanna, and well calculated to make a deep impression 
on the minds of the savages. Having ravaged the country on the Gene- 
see, and laid waste the Indian towns, Gen. Sullivan returned to Wyoming 
in October, and thence to Easton. But the expedition had neither intimi- 
dated the savages nor prevented their incursions. During the remainder 
of the war they seemed to make it their special delight to scourge the 
valley ', they stole into it in small parties — blood and desolation marking 
their track. 

In the spring (IVl^arch) of 1784, the settlers of Wyoming were compelled 
again to witness ihe desolation of their homes by a new cause. The 
winter had been unusually severe, and on the breaking up of the ice in 
the spring, the Susquehanna rose with great rapidity ; the immense 
masses of loose ice from above continued to lodge on that which was still 
firm at the lower end of the valley ; a gorge was formed, and one general 
inundation overspread the plains of Wyoming. The inhabitants took 
refuge on the surrounding heights, many being rescued from the roofs of 
their floating houses. At length a gorge at the upper end of the valley 



LUZERNE COUNTY 



445 



gave way, and huge masses of ice were scattered in every direction, 
which remained a great portion of the ensuing summer. The deluge 
broke the gorge below with a noise like that of contending thunder- 
storms, and houses, barns, stacks of hay and grain, cattle, sheep, and 
swine, were swept off in the rushing torrent. A great scarcity of provi- 
sions followed the flood, and the sufferings of the inhabitants Were aggra- 
vated by the plunder and persecution of the Pennamite soldiers quartered 
among them. Gov. Dickinson represented their sufferings to the legisla- 
ture with a recommendation for relief, but in vain. This was known as 
the ice flood ; another, less disastrous, which occurred in ItST, was called 
the pumpkin flood, from the fact that it strewed the loWer valley of the 
Susquehanna with the pumpkins of the unfortunate Yankees. 

After the peace with Great Britain, the old controversy on the subject of 
land titles was renewed, and soon grew into a civil waf. This war, like 
the old one, was marked by sieges of forts ; capitulations made only to be 
broken ; seizures by sheriffs ; lynching — in which Col. Timothy Pickering 
suffered some ; petitions, remonstrances, and memorials. Capt. Arm- 
strong, afterwards general, and secretary of war, figured as commander 
of one of the forts or expeditions on the Pennsylvania side. The opposite 
parties in that war were known by the nicknames of Pennamites on one 
side, and Connecticut hoys or Yankees on the other. (For an account of 
the close of the controversy the reader is referred to page 44 of this 
volume.) 

WiLKESBAKRE, the scat of justice of Luzerne Co., derived its peculiar 
name from Messrs. Wilkes and Barre, two distinguished members of the 
British parliament, who stoutly advocated the cause of the American 
revolution ; but Mr. Barre is often defrauded of his share of the honor by 
the erroneous pronunciation, Wilkes-horough. It was laid out by Col. 
Durkee in 1773. It is now a large and rapidly growing borough, occu- 
pying one of the most splendid sites in the state. A public square, or 
diamond, occupies the centre of the town. Annexed is a view of the dia- 
mond, taken from the south side. The courthouse is seen on the right, 




Public Square in \Vilkesharre. 

with the public offices beyond it. On the left is the old Presbyterian 
church, now the Methodist ; and beyond it the new academy. 



446 LUZERNE COUNTY. 

A splendid bridge spans the Susquehanna at this place. The churches 
are the Methodist, Presbyterian, and Episcopal. There are also here the 
Wyoming Bank ; a Young Ladies' Seminary ; and a private classical 
school for young gentlemen, by Mr. Dana. The Pennsylvania North 
Branch canal passes to the east of the town, and extends at present 10 
miles above as far as Pittston. Much of the work is completed still 
further up, and there is a prospect that in a few years the line will be 
opened through to the state of New York. A railroad runs from Wilkes- 
barre, over the mountains, 20 miles to the Lehigh, at White Haven. Two 
and a half miles N. E. of the borough is the rich coal mine of the Balti- 
more Co. Edward R. Biddle, Esq., has recently constructed at this town 
one of the most extensive rolling-mills in the country. The iron is brought 
by canal from Danville. The citizens of the place are a highly intelli- 
gent and moral people, and are generally the descendants of those whose 
blood has purchased this now happy and wealthy valley. Population, by 
the census of 1840, of the borough, 1,718; of the township, 1,513; total, 
3,231. 

Opposite Wilkesbarre, along the high bench of the river, beyond the 
flats, are the very pleasant villages of Plymouth or Shawneetown, King- 
ston, Forty Fort, and Troy. And on the eastern side, 10 miles above 
Wilkesbarre, is Pittston, at the month of Lackawannock cr. There are 
extensive coal mines near Pittston. 

Not far from Wilkesbarre, within a compass of ten miles, there are 
still living several aged survivors of the scenes of 1778. Among them 
are Mr. Blackman, Mr. Samuel Carey, Mr. Anderson Dana, who lives in 
sight of the town, Mr. Bennet, and several others. Mr. Dana, then a lad 
of 13, was the leader of the band of forlorn fugitives through the wilder- 
ness of the Pokono. 

Mr. Carey was a soldier in the battle. In the flight he swam to Monokonock island, but the 
Indians had got there before him and took him prisoner. He was stripped naked, and one of his 
captors, with a malicious smile, drew a knife up and down his breast and abdomen, saying the 
while Te-te Te-te. He was taken to Fort Wintermoot. The next morning Col. Butler struck 
him on the mouth with his open hand. " You are the fellow," said he, " that threatened jester- 
day morning you would comb my hair, are you ?" His captor was Capt. Roland Montour — who 
gave him to another Indian, by whom he was adopted in place of a son, under the name of Coco- 
neunquo. But he was averse to savage life, made a poor substitute for the lost Indian boy, 
whose death his new parents continued to lament. On the return of peace he was restored to his 
home. Though not rich, he is yet, by the industry and frugality of a long life, comfortable in his 
declining days, and has a respectable circle of sons and daughters settled around him. His lady, 
also living, is of the Gore family, of whom so many fell in the battle. He had a brother Nathan, 
who, at the time of the battle, was sick with the small-pox ; but he rushed desperately into the 
fight, and escaped both from that and the small-pox, and — singularly enough — died afterwards of 
old age. 

Among the younger generation of men dwelling near Wilkesbarre, 
and the villages opposite, one may reCognise the honored names of the 
.ancient heroes — the Butlers, Dennisons, Dorrances, Danas, Bidlacks, Ben- 
nets, Williamses, Shoemakers, Jenkinses, Myerses, Johnsons, Rosses, and 
many others equally honorable. 

Carbondale, now a populous borough, has sprung up within a few years 
by the magic power of anthracite coal. It was started by the Hudson 
and Delaware Canal Company, who own the mines at this place, about 
the year 1826. The coal mine is one of the niost extensive and best of 
the Lackawannock basin. Its products are transported at the rate of 
800 to 900 tons daily, by inclined planes and railroad over the Moosic 



LUZERNE COUNTY. 



447 



mountain to Honesdale, and thence by canal to New York. The coal 
was formerly wrought by laying bare the surface of the stratum ; but is 
now excavated by means of drifts, and side chambers ; it is sent away as 
fast as mined. About 300 miners are employed ; they are paid by the 
ton, two men contracting for a chamber in the mine. The use of the 
neighboring land is allowed them free for the purpose of building shanties. 
The miners are principally Irish and Welsh, and compose a large part of 
the population of the place. Their shanties are crowded together on two 
hills, Irish hill, and Welsh hill, and from the village have the appearance 
of the camp of an army in winter-quarters. The dwellings of the mer- 
cantile and professional citizens in the village are neat, and pleasantly 
adorned with trees, and the place has quite a bustling, business-like air. 
There are here Catholic, Presbyterian, Episcopal, Methodist, Welsh Bap- 
tist, and Independent Welsh churches. The annexed view shows a num- 
ber of the churches on the left. The Catholic church is that with a 




Churches in Carhondale. 

steeple. The shanties of the miners are seen on the hill in the distance. 
Population of the town and township in 1840, 2,398. The lands in this 
vicinity were originally owned by Mr. Russell, a wealthy English gen- 
tleman, who resided with or near Dr. Priestley, at Northumberland, He 
took up large tracts in the north part of the state. (For a history of the 
Delaware and Hudson Canal Company, &c., &c., see Wayne co.) 

CoNYNGHAM is a plcasaut village, situated in the Nescopeck valley, on 
the Berwick and Mauch Chunk turnpike, about 20 miles from Wilkesbarre. 
The " warrior's path" across the mountains between Wyoming and Gnad- 
enhutten, passed not far from this place. The town has a considerable 
trade with the contiguous valley, which is chiefly settled by Germans. 

Nescopeck is a pleasant village on the Susquehanna, opposite Berwick, 
with which it is connected by a bridge. 

Stoddartsville a*nd White Haven are on the Lehigh river, in the midst 
of the great lumber-country. The latter place promises to increase by the 
tFade with the railroad from Wilkesbarre, here communicating with the 
Lehigh Navigation. 



448 LYCOMING COUNTY. 



LYCOMING COUNTY. 

Lycoming county was taken from Northumberland by the act of 13th 
April, 1795. It then comprised all the northwestern part of the state 
beyond Mifflin, Huntingdon, and Westmoreland counties, and as far as 
the Allegheny river. Its limits have been curtailed by the successive 
establishment of Centre. Armstrong, Indiana, Clearfield, Jefferson, McKean, 
Potter, Tioga, and Clinton counties. Length 60 miles, breadth 30; 
area 1,500 sq. miles. Population in 1800, 5,414 ; in 1810, 1 1 006 ; in 1820, 
13,517; in 1830, 17,636; in 1840, 22,649. 

The West branch of the Susquehanna flows through the southern por- 
tion of the CO., receiving as its principal tributaries, on the left or north 
bank, Pine, Larry's, Lycoming, Loyalsock, and Muncy creeks ; and on the 
right bank, Nippenose, Black Hole, and White Deer Hole creeks. Nature 
has divided this co. into two distinct portions, forming a perfect contrast 
to each other. One, and by far the largest portion, comprises the wild, 
rugged, and sterile region of Allegheny and Laurel Hill mountains, which 
sweep in a broad belt across the northern and central parts of the co., 
rising to the height of 1,500 or 2,000 feet above the lower country. This 
region can only sustain a very sparse population along the narrow valleys 
of the streams. It contains, however, several valuable beds of bituminous 
coal and iron ore, and vast forests of pine timber. The other portion of 
the CO., comprising the lovely valley of the West Branch, with the subor- 
dinate limestone valleys to the south of it, and Muncy valley on the east, is 
not surpassed in picturesque beauty or fertility by any section of Pennsyl- 
vania, and promises to sustain a very dense population. The valley of the 
W. Branch is shut in on the south by the continuation of the Bald Eagle 
mountain, which separates it from Nippenose and White Deer Hole val 
leys. The southern boundary of the co. is the White Deer mountain. 

The Nippenose valley presents a very curious formation. It is an oval 
limestone basin, about ten miles long, surrounded on every side by high 
hills, the streams from which, after descending a short distance towards 
the centre of the valley, lose themselves under the surface of the limestone 
rocks. Nippenose cr. collects their waters from springs bursting up from 
the rocks on the north side of the valley, and conveys them away to the 
West Branch. 

The internal improvements of the co. are the state canal along the left 
bank of the West Branch, extending into Clinton co. ; the Williamsport 
and Elmira railroad, finished as far as Ralston, 26 miles from Williams- 
port ; and an excellent stone turnpike along the West Branch. 

Agriculture and lumbering form the principal occupations of the citi- 
zens ; there are several iron works along Lycoming cr. and its tributaries. 
The census of 1840 enumerates in the co. 4 furnaces, 3 forges, bloomeries, 
rolling-mills, &c., 20 tanneries, 10 fulling-mills and woollen manufactories, 
and 11 distilleries. 

The population of the co. was originally composed of Scotch-Irish and 
Quakers, from the lower counties of the state, and their descendants still 
occupy the valleys, together with many Germans and others from Penn- 
svlvania and New York. 



LYCOMING COUNTY 449 

The purchase of land by the proprietary government at the treaty of 
Fort Stanwix,* Nov. 5, 1708, then known as the " new purchase," opened 
the way for the settlement of the whites on the West Branch. Previous 
to this date, the valley had been occupied by a few straggling bands of 
Shawanee and Monsey Indians, who had retired from the lower valley 
of the Susquehanna ; and occasionally parties of the Senecas came down 
to hunt, or more commonly to fall upon the defenceless families of the 
frontier. The Indians dwelling here were visited by David Brainerd, 
and by the Moravian missionaries, about the years 1744 to 46. The 
terms and boundaries of the purchase were as follows : — 

We, Tyanhasare, alias Abraham, sachem or chief of the Indian nation called the Mohocks, 
Senughsis — of the Oneydas ; Chenughiata — of the Onondagos ; Gaustarax — of the Senecas ; 
Sequariscra — of the Tuscaroras ; Tagaaia — of the Cayugas, in general council of the Six Na- 
tions at Fort Stanwix. assembled for the purpose of settling a general boundary line between the 
said Six Nations, and their confederate and dependant tribes, and his majesty's middle colonies, 
send greeting, &c. In consideration of ten thousand dollars, they grant to Thomas Penn and 
Richard Penn, all that part of the province of Pennsylvania, not heretofore purchased of the In- 
dians, within the said general boundary line, and beginning in the said boundary line, on the east 
side of the East branch of the river Susquehanna, at a place called Owegy, and running with 
the said boundary line, down the said branch on the east side thereof, till it comes opposite the 
mouth of a creek called by the Indians Awandac, (Tawandee,) and across the river and up the 
said creek on the south side thereof, and along the range of hills called Burnett's hills by the 

English, and by the Indians , on tlie north side of them, to the heads of a creek which 

runs into the West branch of the Susquehanna, which creek is by the Indians called Tiadaghton, 
and down the said cre«k on the south side thereof, to the said West branch of Susquehanna, then 
crossing the said river, and running up the same on thp south side thereof, the several courses 
thereof to the fork of the same river which lies nearest to a place on the river Ohio, called the 
Kittanning, and from the said fork by a straight line to Kittanning aforesaid, and then down the 
said river Ohio by the several courses thereof to where the western bounds of the said province 
of Pennsylvania cross the same river, and then with the said western bounds to the south 
boundary thereof, and with the south boundary aforesaid to the east side of the Allegheny hills, 
and with the said hills on the east side of them to the west line of a tract of land purchased by 
the said proprietors from the Six Nation Indians, and confirmed October 23d, 1758, and then 
with the northern bounds of that tract to the river Susquehanna, and crossing the river Susque- 
hanna to the northern boundary line of another tract of land purchased of the Indians by deed, 
(August 22d, 1749,) and then with that northern boundary line to the river Delaware at the north 
side of the mouth of a creek called Lechawachsein, then up the said river Delaware on the west 
eide thereof to the intersection of it, by an east line to be drawn from Owegy aforesaid to the said 
river Delaware, and then w^ith that east line to the beginning at Owegy aforesaid. 

During several years previous to the purchase, the Scotch-Irish rangers 
of the Kittatiimy valley had often visited the valley of the West Branch, 
extending their excursions as far up as the Big island, for the purpose of 
cutting off hostile parties of Indians, and their practised eyes had not 
failed to notice the extreme fertility and beauty of the land. Accordingly, 
no sooner was the purchase known, than a crowd of these adventurers 
flocked in, and when the land-office was opened in April following, it was 
besieged by a great number of applicants, and it became necessary to 
decide the priority of location by lottery. The purchases were limited to 
300 acres for each individual, at £5 per 100 acres, and one penny per 
acre quit-rent. An allotment was made of 104,000 acres to the officers 
of the provincial regiments, who had served during the Indian campaigns, 
and who were desirous of settling together. Soon after the purchase of 
1768, a question arose between the settlers and the government, whether 
Lycoming cr. or Pine cr. was the English name for the stream called 
Tiadaghton in the treaty ; and the question remained unsettled for sixteen 

* Fort Stanwix occupied the present site of Rome, on the Erie canal, in New York. 

57 



450 LYCOMING COUNTY. 

years, when, at another treaty at Fort Stanwix, in 1784, it was learned 
from the Indians that Tiadaghton meant Pine cr. In the mean time, says 
a note in Smith's Laws, vol. 2 — 

There existed a great number of locations of the 3d of April, 1769, for the choicest lands oa 
the West branch of Susquehanna, between the mouths of Lycoming^ and Pine creeks ; but the 
proprietaries from extreme caution, the result of that experience, which had also produced the 
very penal laws of 1768 and 1769, and tiie proclamation already stated, had prohibited any sur- 
veys being made beyond the Lycoming. In the mean time, in violation of all law, a set of hardy 
adventurers had from time to time seated themselves on this doubtful territory. They made im. 
provements, and formed a very considerable population. It is true, so far as regarded the rights 
to real property, they were not under tlie protection of the laws of the country ; and were we to 
adopt the visionary theories of some philosophers, who have drawn their arguments from a sup- 
posed state of nature, we might be led to believe that the state of these people would have been a 
state of continual warfare ; and that in contests for property the weakest must give way to the 
strongest. To prevent the consequences, real or supposed, of this state of things, they formed a 
mutual compact among themselves. Tiiey annually elected a tribunal, in rotation, of three of 
their settlers, whom they caWed fair-play-men, who were to decide all controversies, and settle 
disputed boundaries. From their decision there was no appeal. There could be no resistance. 
The decree was enforced by the whole body, who started up in mass, at the mandate of the court, 
and execution and eviction were as sudden and irresistible as the judgment. Every new-comer 
was obliged to apply to this powerful tribunal, and upon his solemn engagement to submit in all 
respects to the law of the land, he was permitted to take possession of some vacant spot. Their 
decrees were, however, just ; and when their settlements were recognised by law, and fair play 
had ceased, their decisions were received in evidence, and confirmed by judgments of courts. 

The process of ejection, when any person refused to comply with the 
decrees under the code o^ fair-ploy, was to place the offender in a canoe, ■ 
row him down to the mouth of Lycoming cr., the boundary of civiliza- 
tion, and there set him adrift. The " seat of justice" of the fair-play-men 
is said to have been at Chatham's mill, now Ferguson's, near the mouth 
of Chatham's run. After the true construction of the treaty had been 
learned, a law was passed, allowing the settlers between Lycoming and 
Pine creeks a pre-emption right to not over 300 acres each, on proof of 
actual settlement previous to 1780. This pre-emption was granted, as 
the law declared, in consideration of " their resolute stand and sufferings 
during the late [revolutionary] war." Many cases subsequently came 
before the courts under this la^v, in which it became necessary to prove 
by oral testimony the usages of the fair-play men. While Chief-justice 
McKean was holding court in this district, partly, perhaps, from curios- 
ity, and partly with reference to the case before him, he inquired of Brat- 
ton Caldwell, a shrewd old Irish pioneer, if he could tell him exactly what 
the provisions of the fair-play code were 1 Bratton's memory did not 
serve him as to details ; he could only convey an idea of them by com- 
parison, " All I can say is," said he, " that since your honor's courts have 
come among us, fair-play has entirely ceased, and law has taken its 
place." 

During seven years after the purchase, a state of peace prevailed on 
the frontier, and the pioneers of the West Branch were permitted quietly 
to build their cabins and clear their fields. Scarcely, however, had they 
begun to enjoy the comforts which their industry had secured, when the 
alarm of the opening revolution called them to a new field of duty. The 
change was not great from the life of the hunter and backwoodsman to 
that of the soldier. Always patriotic ; accustomed to war by long train- 
ing in the frontier campaigns of 1755 to '63 ; and having been ever the 
decided opponents of royal government, even as a substitute for that of 
the proprietaries, the Scotch-Irish of the West Brar^qh eq.gerly seized their 



LYCOMING COUNTY. 451 

arms in the cause of independence : and although their own homes were 
exposed to savage invasions, and their families but poorly provided with 
the necessaries of life, they cheerfully left them for the scenes of active 
service at Boston, 

Stockade forts were erected at each important settlement along the 
river, as places of refuge for families in times of invasion. Some of these 
were garrisoned by continental or provincial troops ; others were de- 
fended by the settlers of the neighborhood. There was a blockhouse near 
the site of Lock Haven, commanded in 1778 by Col. Long. Samuel 
Horn's fort was on the right bank of the West Branch, a little below 
Chatham's mill, and three miles above the mouth of Pine cr. Antis' fort 
was also on the right bank, at the head of Nippenose bottom. Fort 
Muncy was between Pennsborough and the mouth of Muncy cr. Fort 
Menninger was at the mouth of Warrior's run, and Freeland's fort was 
four miles up the run.* Fort Schwartz was one mile above Milton ; and 
Boon's fort two miles above Milton, on Muddy run ; Fort Bos^ley, on the 
Chillisquaque, near where Washington now is ; ' Fort Jenkins near 
Bloomsburg, and Fort Augusta at Sunbury. 

Lycoming co. during the revolution was a part of Northumberland, 
and much of its history will be found under the head of that county. One 
of the most important events that occurred on the West Branch at that 
epoch was the big runaivay, as it is called by the early settlers. The fol- 
lowing account of it was given to the compiler by the venerable Robert 
Covenhoven, (usually called Crownover,) an aged pioneer, who still lives 
in the neighborhood of Jersey Shore : — 

In the-autumn of 1777, Job Gilloway, a friendly Indian, had given intimation that a powerful 
descent of marauding Indians might be expected before long on the head-waters of the Susque- 
hanna. Near the close of that season, the Indians killed a settler by the name of Saltzburn, on 
the Sinnemahoning, and Dan Jones at the mouth of Tangascootac. In the spring of 1778 Col. 
Hepburn, afterwards Judge Hepburn, was stationed with a small force at Fort Muncy at the 
mouth of Wallis' run, near which several murders had been committed. The Indians had killed 
Brown's and Benjamin's families, and had taken Cook and his wife prisoners on Loyalsock cr. 
Col. Hunter of Fort Augusta, alarmed by these murders, sent orders to Fort Muncy that all the 
settlers in that vicinity should evacuate, and take refuge at Sunbury. Col. Hepburn was ordered 
to pass on the orders to Antis' and Horn's forts above. To carry this message none would vol- 
unteer except Covenhoven and a young Yankee millwright, an apprentice to Andrew Culbertson. 
Purposely avoiding all roads, they took their route along the top of Bald Eagle ridge until they 
reached Antis' gap, where they descended towards the fort at the head of Nippenose bottom. At 
the bottom of the hill they were startled by the report of a rifle near the fort, which had been fired 
by an Indian at a girl. The girl had just stooped to milk a cow — the harmless bullet passed 
through her clothes between her limbs and the ground. Milking cows in those days was danger- 
ous work. The Indians had just killed in the woods Abel Cady and Zephaniah Miller, and mor- 
tally wounded young Armstrong, who died that night. The messengers delivered their orders 
that all persons should evacuate within a week, and they were also to send word up to Horn's 
fort. 

On his way up Covenhoven had staid all night with Andrew Armstrong, who then lived at the 
head of the long reach, where Esq. Seward now lives. Covenhoven warned him to quit, but he 
did not like to abandon his crops, and gave no heed to the warning. The Indians came upon him 
suddenly and took him prisoner with his oldest child and Nancy Bunday : his wife, who was en- 
ceinte, concealed herself under the bed and escaped. 

Covenhoven hastened down to his own family, and having taken them safely to Sunbury, re- 
turned in a keel. boat to secure his household furniture. As he was rounding a point above Derrs- 
town (now Lewisburg,) he met the whole convoy from all the forts above ; such a sight he never 
saw in his life. Boats, canoes, hog-troughs, rafts hastily made of dry sticks — every sort of float- 
ing article had been put in requisition, and were crowded with women, children, and " plunder" — 
there were several hundred people in all. Whenever any obstruction occurred at a shoal or rip- 

* For an account of the capture of Freeland's fort, see Northumberland county. 



i 
452 LYCOMING COUNTY, 

pie, the women would leap out and put their shoulders, not indeed to the wheel, but to the flat 
boat or raft, and launch it again into deep water. Tiie men of the settlement came down in sin- 
gle file on each side of the river to guard the women and children. The whole convoy arrived 
safely at Sunbury, leaving the entire line of farms along tlie West Branch, to the ravages of the 
Indians. They destroyed Fort Muncy, but did not penetrate in any force near Sunbury ; their 
attention having been soon alter diverted to the memorable descent upon Wyoming. 

After Coveniioven had got liis bedding, &,c., in his boat, and was proceeding down the river, 
just below Fort Menninger, he saw a woman on the shore fleeing from an Indian. She jumped 
down the river bank and fell, perhaps wounded by his gun. The Indian scalped her, but in his 
haste neglected to strike iier down. She survived the scalping, wns picked up by the men from 
the fort, and lived near Warrior's run until about the year 1840. Her name was Mrs. Durham. 

Shortly alter the big runawaj', Col. IJroadlicud was ordered up with his forces of 100 or 150 
men to rebuild Fort Muncy, and guard the settlers while gathering then- crops. After performing 
this service he left for Fort Pitt, and Col. Hartley with a battalion succeeded him. Capt. Spald- 
ing from Stroudsburg, also came down with a detachment by way of the Wyoming valley. Hav- 
ing built the barracks at Fort Muncy, they went up on an expedition to burn the Indiati towns at 
Wyalusing. .Sheshequin, and Tioga. This was just after tlie great battle at Wyoming, and be- 
fore the British and Indians had finished getting their plunder up the river. After burning the 
Indian towns, the detachment had a sharp skirmish with the Indians from Wyoming, on the left 
bank of the Susquehanna at the narrows north of the Wyalusing mountain. Mr. Covenhoven 
distinguished himself in that affair by his personal bravery. He was holding on by the roots of 
a tree on the steep precipice, when an Indian approached him and called to him to surrender. 
Mr. C, in reply, presented his gun and shot the Indian through the bowels. 

WiLLiAMSPORT, the scat of justice, is very pleasantly situated on an ele- 
vated plain, on the left bank of the West branch of the Susquehanna^ 
between Lycoming and Pine creeks. The town is remarkably well- 
built, and in many instances the architecture of the public and private 
buildings bears testimony to the intelligence and taste of the citizens. 
The public square, on which stands the courthouse, is shaded with trees, 
and enclosed with an iron railing; and the courthouse and several of the 
churches are surmounted with graceful spires and cupolas, which form 
conspicuous objects amid the rich scenery surrounding the borough. The 
hotels are spacious, and abound in the luxuries and comforts, without be- 
ing encumbered with the enormous charges of those of our large cities. 
There are here Old and New School Presbyterian, Episcopal, Methodist, 
and German Reformed churches, and an academy. There are also a 
large foundry and two extensive tanneries, in which the operations are 
carried on by steam. The numerous stores are well stocked, and the 
place has altogether that appearance of thrift and bustle, which distin- 
guishes it as the centre of a large internal trade. Population in 1840, 
1,353. The U. S. court for the western district of Pennsylvania is held 
alternately here and at Pittsburg. The West Branch canal, "which was 
opened for navigation in 1834, passes through the town. The Williams- 
port and Elmira railroad, constructed by a company, has been finished as 
far as Ralston, 2G miles from this place. The whole length of the road 
is 74 miles, and when completed it will open an important route for travel 
and the transportation of coal, iron, and agricultural produce. 

The annexed view shows the principal street, with the courthouse and 
public square on the left. Williamsport was laid out, and selected by the 
commissioners as the county seat, in the year 1795, the same year that 
the county was organized. Mr. John Hall, an early settler here, was 
one of the commissioners. Several other places were rivals for the ad- 
vantages of the county seat. The site of the town was owned by Mi- 
chael Ross, and the lots were .sold for his benefit, except what might 
have been reserved for public uses. Mr. William Hepburn had much in- 
fluence in procuring the location of the county seat. Mr. William Wood- 



LYCOMING COUNTY. 



463 




Central part of WilUamsport. 

ward, father of Apollos Woodward, Esq., was one of the earliest settlers, 
soon after the town was laid out. An important point was gained for 
the prosperity of the place, when the U. S. courts were appointed to be 
holden here ; and a still stronger impetus was given by the construction 
of the canal and railroad, and the opening of the iron and coal mines 
above. About the same time an addition was laid out, adjoining the 
town, by Jeremiah Church, Esq. 

About the year 1803, the indignation and sympathies of the citizens 
of Williamsport, and of the whole valley, were highly excited by an oc- 
currence which took place in the then wilderness, on the south side of the 
river, some miles from the borough. It appears, from the village news- 
papers of that day, that — 

A young lady suddenly appeared at a lonely cabin, almost in a state of nudity, in great dis- 
tress from cold and hunger, and her limbs and wrists galled and bloody, as if they had been 
chafed with a rope. For some time she could scarcely speak. At length she recovered strength 
enough to say that she had been travelling on horseback, from her uncle's in Kentucky, where 
she had been at school, to Montreal, where her parents resided. She had been accompanied by 
one Benjamin Connet, a Canadian, either an agent or servant of her father, whom he had sent 
expressly to conduct her home. Not far from the cabin, in a lonely part of the road, he had pre- 
sented a pistol at her, compelled her to dismount, stripped her, robbed her of all her money as 
well as her clothing, tied licr to a tree, and left her there to perish with hunger, or be devoured by 
wild beasts. She had remained in thitt sifu;ition all night, when, after the most desperate strug- 
gles, she had extricated herself. After being refreshed, she went with the family and pointed out 
the tree, and the path she had beaten round it in her struggles to get loose. There was somethino- 
artless in her appearance ; and her modest demeanor, and delicate frame, left no doubt in the 
minds of those who saw her that her statement was true. Slie appeared to be overwhelmed with 
distress at the thought of her situation. Her name she said was Esther McDowell. The kind 
people of the cabin soothed her distress, clotlied her, and took her on as far as Williamsport, 
where she was lodged with a worthy and pious family, until news could be conveyed to Montreal. 

In the mean time, public indignation was highly excited against the villain Connet ; the chiv- 
alry of the West Branch was aroused, and scouts and handbills were sent out in all directions. 
He had twenty-four hours' start, however, and had eluded all observation ; for no one had seen 
any stranger pass, answering his description. Two or three weeks had elapsed, and no news was 
heard of the villain : no letters had been received from Montreal ; nor had any discoveries been 
made concerning this mysterious affair, except that a bundle of man's clothes had been found 



454 LYCOMING COUNTY. 

hidden near the tree where the robbery was committed. These might have been left by the rob- 
ber, who had shifted his suit. Some people were malicious enough to insinuate that the young 
lady had robbed herself; but her deportment in the family where she lodged was a triumphant an- 
swer to any such base insinuations. She was lady-like in her manners, highly intelligent, and 
possessing a well-cultivated mind ; and if not pious, at any rate piously disposed. She rather 
modestly avoided, than sought society, and would only converse with persons of the most sedate 
character. Time, however, wore away ; no news was received from Montreal ; and the number 
of the suspicious began to increase. The clothing found near the tree had been recognised as 
that of a young tailor, who had lived for some time in a neighboring town, and had lately moved 
away. Some of those who knew the tailor happened to visit Miss McDowell, and there, forsooth, 
they found the very face, which the young tailor had worn, upon her shoulders. Here was a de- 
velopment ! Since the secret was out, she confessed that she was the daughter of highly respect- 
able Quaker parents in Philadelphia : she had been beguiled into evil ways ; but detesting the 
career of vice, she had fled from the city, and, trusting to her needle for support, she had, with 
no less ingenuity than enterprise, established herself as a gentleman tailor, in one of the villages 
on the West Branch, (either at Jersey Shore or Muncy.) She succeeded tolerably well in her 
new sex and profession ; but eventually becoming tired of it, she adopted the stratagem de- 
scribed above. Her duped, but still sympathizing friends, restored her to her disconsolate pa. 
rents ; and it was learned afterwards that she went to the west, under a new name, and Was mar- 
ried. The whole affair was some months in progress, before its final development ; and after it 
was out, many a wise one chuckled, as he said to his neighbor, " I t-o-l-d you so 1" 

Newbury is a small village two miles west of Williamsport, on the 
right bank of Lycoming cr., about a mile above its mouth. It contains 
Methodist and Presbyterian churches, three taverns, several stores, and 
two very extensive flouring-mills. It was laid out about the same time 
w^ith Williamsport, and was a competitor with it for the honor of the 
county seat. Jaysburg, a village nearer the river on the same side of the 
creek, was also intended for the county seat. The commencement here 
of the old road to Painted Post in New York, commonly known as the 
Blockhouse road, gave to Newbury considerable importance at that early 
day. The road was laid out by Mr. Williamson, an agent of Sir William 
Pulteney, about the year 1795. 

Jersey Shore is a very flourishing village on the left bank of the West 
Branch, three miles below the mouth of Pine cr., and 15 west of Wil- 
liamsport. It contains Presbyterian, Methodist, and Baptist churches. 
Within about ten years past, since the completion of the public works, 
the place has increased very rapidly, and the public and private edifices 
erected during that period are elegant and substantial. A very extensive 
lumber trade is carried on with the country on the head-w^aters of Pine 
cr. There is little or no manufacturing done here. Pop. in 1840, 525. 

When the settlers who had fled in the big runaway returned to their 
homes after the peace of 1783, Jeremiah and Reuben Manning, two 
brothers from New Jersey, and others from the same state, came up and 
settled below the mouth of Pine cr., and called their neighborhood the 
Jersey Shore. The Mannings purchased the island from Thomas Foster, 
who had previously bought it from Henry Sterret, who removed to Ly- 
coming cr. About the year 1800, one of the Mannings laid out the town 
and called it Waynesburg ; but the long-established habit of calling it 
Jersey Shore could not be eradicated, and it is well that it could not — 
for the old name is by far the most distinctive ; there are already two 
other W^aynesburgs in the state. The name was fixed by its incorpora- 
tion as a borough 15th March, 1826. 

Just above Pine creek, and north of the road to Lock Haven, is one of 
those ancient circular fortifications of earth, so well known in this state 
and Ohio. The banks are becoming gradually obliterated by the action 



LYCOMING COUNTY. 455 

of the elements. Near the fort, and on both sides of the creek, are an- 
cient Indian burying-grounds, from which bones and trinkets have been 
occasionally disinterred by the whites. Tradition says that two hostile 
tribes once lived on each side of the creek. 

A very flourishing settlement has recently grown up at the forks of 
Pine creek, eight miles northwest of Jersey Shore. A large double saw- 
mill has been erected, several stores, tavern, &c. 

About four miles below Jersey Shore, a little south of the road to Willlamsport, lives the vene- 
rable Robert Covenhoven, (commonly known as Mr. Crownover,) at the advanced age of 88. 
His venerable lady is still living with him, with her faculties bright and unimpaired. Mr. Co- 
venhoven was born of Low Dutch parents in Monmouth co.. New Jersey. He was much em- 
ployed during his youth as a hunter and axeman to the surveyors of land in the valleys tributary 
to the North and West branches of the Susquehanna. The familiarity thus acquired with all 
the paths of that vast wilderness rendered his services eminently useful as a scout and guide to 
the military parties of the revolution, which commenced about the time of his arriving at man- 
hood. It is unnecessary to say, that the graduate of such a school was fearless and intrepid — 
that he was skilful in the wiles of Indian warfare — and that he possessed an iron constitution. 
With these qualifications, at the call of his country in 1776, he joined the campaigns under Gen. 
Washington. He was at the battles of Trenton and Princeton. His younger brother had also 
enlisted ; but his father took his place, and the general, with his characteristic kindness, per- 
mitted the boy to return and protect his mother. In the spring of 1777 Robert returned to his 
home on the W. Branch, where his services were more needed by the defenceless frontier, than 
on the seacoast. Mr. Covenhoven was one of those men who were always put forward when 
danger and hard work were to be encountered, but forgotten when honors and emoluments were 
to be distributed. Nevertheless, he cheerfully sought the post of danger, and never shrunk from 
duty, although it might be in an humble station. Few men have passed through more hair- 
breadth escapes ; few have encountered more personal perils in deadly encounters with savages 
than Mr. C. His services at the big runaway have been mentioned above ; he was eminently 
useful in obtaining intelligence at Fort Freeland, the day before its capture ; he was the guide to 
Col. Hartley's expedition up the North Branch after the battle of W^yoming ; and he was in sev- 
eral bloody skirmishes with Indians on Loyalsock and Pine creeks. On one occasion, (I think 
it was after the return of Col. Hepburn to Fort Muncey,) a detachment was started out under 
the command of Capt. Berry, to recover some horses stolen by the Indians, reported to be 
up on Loyalsock. Covenhoven for some reason was sent out to advise Berry to return, 
but the latter would not acknowledge the colonel's authority, and persisted in going forward. 
Several of Covenhoven's brothers, and his uncle WyckofF, were in Berry's detachment, and a 
friendly Indian by the name of Capt. Sharpshins. As so many of his own family were in this 
expedition, Robert Covenhoven determined to go along as a guide ; but he could not persuade 
Berry to keep the woods, and before long they found themselves ambuscaded. A bloody struggle 
commenced, in which a brother of Mr. C. was killed, another brother was taken prisoner, with 
several of his cousins, and his uncle Wyckoff. The latter had been previously bald, but strange- 
ly enough, after the hardships of imprisonment, he returned with a fine head of hair. Robert 
Covenhoven, after hard fighting, was chased some distance along the bank of the creek, dodging 
up and down the bank alternately that his pursuer might get no aim at him. He escaped and 
returned to the fort. Brave as he was, the old man speaks of the fluttering of his heart often 
during this chase. The skirmish occurred on Loyalsock, just above Scott's, one mile above the 
bridge. The old man tells a queer story about his " surrounding," in company with Rob't King, 
a party of Indians and refugees who were working a loaded boat up the N. Branch from the dep- 
redations of Wyoming. The party in the boat greatly outnumbered them, but the prize was too 
tempting to be resisted. King, remaining in the bushes, kept up a prodigious hullaholoo, whoop- 
ing and shouting to his imaginary comrades to come on. Covenhoven rushed out with gun in 
hand, and ordered the fellows in the boat to surrender, which they did, and permitted themselves 
to be secured. King made his appearance, and the two, forcing the prisoners by threats to as- 
sist them, arrived with their prize at Wyoming — where, says Mr. Covenhoven, the officers and 
Boldlers of the continental army cheated the poor provincials out of their share of the plunder. 

Mr. Covenhoven is now enjoying a hale and hearty old age, surrounded by his family, and pos- 
Besslng a farm which yields him the comforts of life. 



On Saturday evening last, the ice in the West Branch which had been formed since the late 
freshet, took its departure for the Chesapeake bay. The river was exceedingly high, and it 
passed off smoothly, doing but little Injury as we have yet learned. An incident, however, oc- 
curred, which is, we think, without a parallel in the history of ice-freshets upon the Susquehanna. 
About dark, on Saturday evening, Mr. Joseph Bailey, of the island opposite Jersey Shore, in en- 



456 LYCOMING COUNTY. 

deavorinpf to secure a flat-boat, which lay near the lower end of the island, exposed to the loose 
ice, ventured into it, and at that moment a large quantity of ice came in contact with the boat, 
broke the rope by which it was fastened, and drove it past the point of the island. The river be- 
ing entirely covered with floating ice, his lamentable cries for assistance were in vain — no human 
power could rescue him from his perilous situation. About midnight, several citizens of Jersey 
Shore arrived at this borough and gave the alarm. A light was placed upon the bank of the river 
to attract his attention, and in a few minutes he passed by, without the least possibility of saving 
him. He informed us that he was almost perishing with cold and fatigue, and that he was not 
able to escape from the ice with which he at first started. All hope of saving him except at the 
bridge was now abandoned, and an express sent on to Milton to make preparations. He passed 
over the race.ground rapids, and through the breach of the Muncy dam bel'ore daylight ! and ar- 
rived at Milton about nine o'clock in the morning, after a voyage of near 50 miles. The spirited 
citizens of Milton, whose conduct upon this occasion is deserving of the highest praise, had eve- 
ry means prepared to save the life of a fellow-being which ingenuity could invent, and it is with 
unbounded pleasure we state they were successful. He was drawn up by a rope suspended from 
the bridge, amid the shouts of the assembled multitude. Who can imagine the feelings of his 
relations and friends during his absence, particularly of his bosom companion and aged mother ? 
— Lycoming Gazette, Feb. 8, 1832. 

RALSTO>f is situated at the mouth of Stony or Rocky run, on Lycoming 
or., 26 miles above Williamsport. There are at this place a furnace, 
rolling-mill, nail-factory, saw-mill, and valuable bituminous coal mines. 
The Williamsport and Elmira railroad was finished to this point in 1837. 
The place derives its name from the late Matthew C. Ralston, Esq., of 
Philadelphia, President of the Railroad Co., to whose enterprise and cap- 
ital both the village and the railroad owe their existence. Unfortunate- 
ly, however, his large fortune was absorbed in the undertaking. The late 
Wm. P. Farrand, Esq., the engineer of the railroad, also devoted himself 
most enthusiastically to the accomplishment of this enterprise. As the 
fruit of their labors in opening a way into this secluded region, several 
large iron works have within a few years past sprung up along the valley of 
Lycoming cr. At Astonville, or Oakville, near Frozen run, below Rals- 
ton, there is a furnace ; below Trout run is Mr. Hepburn's forge ; and 
still further down is the extensive rolling-mill of Mr. Eilman. 

Muncy borough, formerly called Pennsborough, is situated near the left 
bank of the West Branch, a short distance below the mouth of Muncy 
creek, and 14 miles by the road from Williamsport. The river here 
makes a graceful bend to the south. This is a neat and flourishing vil- 
lage, rapidly increasing. It enjoys the trade of the rich and extensive 
valley of Muncy, which produces a vast quantity of wheat and lumber. 
There are here Methodist, Episcopal, and Presbyterian churches, and a 
population, by the census of 1840, of 662. Pennsborough was incorpo- 
rated 15th March, 1826 ; but the name was changed to Muncy by anew 
act of 19th Jan. 1827. About 5 miles N. E. from Muncy, on Muncy cr., 
is the village of Hughsville. 

This region was originally settled by Quakers from the counties near 
Philadelphia, as the names of the townships, Penn, Moreland, Shrews- 
bury, &c., might indicate. There were also along the river quite a num- 
ber of Irish settlers from the Kittatinny valley. Among these were the 
family of Capt. John Brady, famous in the history of the frontier wars, 
and Col. Robb, (concerning whom see Northumberland co.) 

Capt. John Brady had a fort near the mouth of Muncy creek, known as Fort Muncy, during 
the revolution. The Bradys, father and sons, joined the army at Boston at the first opening of 
the revolution, but returned again when the exposed state of the valley seemed to need their ser- 
vices. (See page 272.) They were again in service at the battle of Brandywine. They were 
at Fort Freeland when it capitulated, but escaped. 



McKEAN COUNTY. 457 

Shortly after the return from camp of Capt. Brady and his son, a company of six or seven 
men formed to aid Peter Smith in cutting his oats from a field at Turkey run, about a mile below 
Williamsport. James Brady, son of Capt. John Brady, and a younger brother of the famous 
Capt. Sam Brady, was one of the party. It was the custom of those days to place sentinels at 
the sides of the field, to watch while the others were reaping — the arms being stacked at a con- 
venient point for seizure. The sentinels in this instance were rather careless, and the Indians 
were down upon the reapers before they were aware of it. Brady, who was near the river bank, 
reached for his gun, but at that moment fell, wounded by an Indian. The latter struck him 
down and scaljjcd him, but he was left alive. His companions had fled ; but a party from the 
fort, out in pursuit of the Indians, found Brady with his skull broken in, but still living. He de- 
sired to be taken to the fort at Sunbury, where his parents were. Mr. Covenhoven was one of 
those who assisted in taking him down, and he describes the meeting between the mother and 
her wounded son as heart-rending. They arrived at the dead of night, and the mother, ever 
awake to alarms, (although the party did not intend to wake her,") came down to the river bank, 
and assisted in conveying her son to the house. On the way down he was feverish, and drank 
large quantities of water. He soon became delirious, and after lingering five days, expired. 
Capt. John Brady, the father, was afterwards out with Peter Smith, near Wolf run, a tributary 
of Muncy cr. At a secluded spot, three Indians fired. Brady fell dead. Smith escaped on a 
frightened horse. 

Capt. Samuel Brady was with Broadhead, at Pittsburg, at the time he heard of his father's 
death ; and he is said then to have taken a solemn vow to devote his life to revenge the death of 
his father and brother. (See Beaver, Butler, and Clarion counties.) A brother of Samuel Bra- 
dy's was lately living in Indiana co., and two sisters at Sunbury. Gen. Hugh Brady, of the U. 
S. army, is also either a brother or nephew of Capt. Samuel Brady. 

On the head-waters of Loyalsock creek, in the northeastern corner of 
this CO., and perhaps partly in Wyoming county, a company of enterpris- 
ing Germans, called the Free German Society, purchased 17,000 acres of 
land, and about 60 families commenced a settlement in 1841. Sixty more 
came the next spring ; and they are to follow thus, sixty families each 
spring and fall, until the whole land is occupied. It i§ said the colony is 
thriving. 



McKEAN COUNTY. 

McKean county was separated from Lycoming by the act of 26th 
March, 1804 ; but being at that time an unbroken wilderness, it was not 
organized for judicial purposes until 27th March, 1824. It is named in 
honor of Hon. Thomas McKean, formerly chief-justice, and for nine 
years governor of the state. Length 42 miles, breadth 35 ; area 1,442 
square miles. These dimensions, however, include a part of Elk county, 
recently formed from McKean and Clearfield counties. Population in 
1810, 142 ; in 1820, 728 ; in 1830, 1,439 ; in 1840, 2,975 ; being only about 
that of single townships in the lower part of the state. 

The county occupies a broad and elevated table land, upon which the 
Allegheny river and several of its principal tributaries take their rise. 
The sources of the Driftwood branch of the Sinnemahoning also interlock 
with those of the Allegheny near the southeastern corner of the county. 
It is said that an enterprising emigrant some years ago ascended the Por- 
tage branch of the Sinnemahoning to its head in his canoe, and with the 
aid of his hoe succeeded in connecting it with a small stream running 
toM^ards the Allegheny. The same thing might occur at other points of 
the dividing ridge. The Allegheny here flows northward into the state 

58 



458 McKEAN COUNTY. 

of New York. Its principal tributaries are the Oswaya, Stanton creek, 
Potato creek, and Tunenguant ; and, after it has again returned to Penn- 
sylvania, Sugar creek, Kenjua creek, and the sources of the Clarion river. 
There are no mountains, but the face of the country generally is inter- 
spersed with hills and valleys ; the hills, being formed by the action of 
water, are higher and more precipitous as the streams increase in size. 
Near the summits it is common to find an uninterrupted level for miles, 
broken only here and there by a gentle rolling or a spring run. This 
upland is finely timbered with hard wood — beech, maple, and cherry ; 
" and so open are the woods, that a squirrel may be seen 60 rods in ad- 
vance." The lower valleys of the streams are covered with a heavy 
growth of pine and hemlock, of which large quantities are annually 
sawed and taken to the Ohio river. 

As the county lies on the verge of the great bituminous coal basin, its 
soil has been mainly formed by the decomposition of the sandstones and 
conglomerates that underlie that formation ; and consequently is better 
adapted for grazing, and the raising of oats, rye, and potatoes, than for 
corn or wheat. Along the streams are some rich interval or bottom 
lands, better adapted for corn. The heavy frosts, however, generated by 
the humidity preserved by the shade of those vast forests, must operate 
for some years to come, until the country is more populous, against the 
cultivation of corn and wheat. Coal, of good quality, is found in several 
places ; and with its contiguous strata there alternate beds of limestone, 
vv^hich furnish an efficient auxiliary to the agriculture of this region. 
Iron ore of superior quality has also been found. 

The climate is healthy in the extreme, the waters being of the purest 
kind, bursting out from springs on every farm, and flowing off with a 
gradual descent. Immigrants have here nothing to fear on this head, as 
they have on the rich bottoms of the southwest. The greatest drawback 
to the settlement of this county has been the want of, and the vast ex- 
pense of making, good roads through the interminable forest. The roads 
must necessarily be long — the people were few ; but this difficulty has 
been in some measure overcome. The great east and west state road, 
opened in 1816-18, runs from Kenjua on the Allegheny through the cen- 
tre of the county to Coudersport and Wellsborough. Another road, opened 
in 1827 to '29, runs from Smethport, through Caledonia and Karthauss, to 
Milesburg near Bellefonte ; another, by way of Coudersport, to Jersey 
Shore, in Lycoming co. ; and another into Jefferson co. 

The population was, until recently, principally from New England and 
New York — of course industrious, frugal, and well educated. A large 
number of Germans are now coming in, and will probably soon out num- 
ber the other races. The principal occupation of the people is clearing 
land, lumbering, and raising cattle ; the two latter items furnishing the 
only articles of export. 

The greater part of this county is, and has been for many years, owned 
in immense tracts by gentlemen residing in the lower part of the state, 
and by the Holland Land Co. The principal individual owners are 
Messrs. John Keating & Co., Richards and Jones, and the heirs of William 
Bingham and Jacob Ridgeway, of Philadelphia, James Trimble, Esq. of 
Harrisburg, and B. B. Cooper, Esq., of New Jersey. These gentlemen 
have done much by their enterprise and capital towards opening roads 



McKEAN COUNTY. 459 

and establishing schools in the co. Most of them have agents in the cc, 
from whom their lands may be purchased at from $1 to $3 per acre, 
with a credit of from five to ten years, payable by instalments. 

Smethport, the county seat, a pleasant town, is situated on the left bank 
of Potato cr., where the great east and west road crosses, and at the 
confluence of Marvin cr. It contains the courthouse, substantially built 
of brick, an academy, a Methodist church, and two Congregational so- 
cieties who attend service in the public buildings ; two printing offices, 7 
stores, 3 taverns, grist-mill, saw-mill, and clothing-mill. The following 
facts relating to the early settlement of this place, and of others in the 
county, are derived from a communication in Hazard's Register for 1832, 
by O. J. Hamlin, Esq. 

Smethport was laid out under the superintendence of John Bell, Thos. Smith, and John C. Brevofit, 
in 1807. The first house was erected by Capt. Arnold Hunter, in 1811 ; another built in 1812 ; 
but both abandoned in 1814. No permanent settlement was commenced until 1822. About this 
time, the first county commissioners were elected, and held their office in a small building, erected 
by Dr. Eastman, at the lower part of the town plot. The first commissioners were Rensselaer 
Wright and Jonathan Colegrove, for McKean, and John Taggart, for Potter county : Joseph 
Otto, treasurer. This county was organized for judicial purposes in 1826 ; and the first county 
court was held in September of that year. The courthouse, a respectable brick building, ^ya3 
erected this year. At this time there were but about half a dozen dwelling-houses. A printing 
press was estabhshed in 1832. A weekly mail arrives here from the north, the east, the south- 
cast, the south, and west ; and a stage commenced running to Coudersport, thence to Jersey 
8hore, or to Wellsborough. By the legislature, an appropriation of $2,000 was made for an 
academy at Smethport. Several years ago, John Keating, Esq., gave $500, and 150 acres of 
land adjoining the village, as a donation towards such an institution, and individuals of McKean 
county have subscribed rising of $500 for that purpose. These amounts have been vested in 
productive funds. 

Several years previous to 1810, the first settlement commenced in the cotmty began. A Mr. 
King, an enterprising English gentleman, with several friends of his from England, settled on 
the Oswaya creek, in Ceres township, 25 miles from Smethport. There is now a flourishing set- 
tlement here ; and some of the oldest orchards are in that neighborhood. This neighborhood is 
usually called King's settlement. 

The first settlers of this county suffered great inconveniences : so much greater than those of 
the present day, that there is scarce a comparison. They found here a dense wilderness, without 
a road, or an inhabitant, save the beasts of the forest, some of which were of a very ferocious 
character, while others served as a slender support to those who practised hunting. The first 
settlement, of which I have a correct account, was made by six families from the state of New 
York, who came on about the same time, and located on Potato creek, from three to seven 
miles north of Smethport, in 1810. They had great difficulty in getting to their new homes, 
having to bring their families and goods up the stream in canoes. There was no settlement 
within many miles of them ; and they were even obliged for a time to bring their provisions in by 
canoes or on pack-horses. All kinds of eatables were very dear, even at the nearest settlements. 
This settlement suffered many privations ; but those settlers are now well compensated, for they 
are the owners of flourishing farms, and are themselves in a prosperous condition. It is usually 
known by the name of the lower settlement. 

Norwich settlement, lying along the Potato creek, commencing about four miles southeast from 
Smethport, and extending up that stream, was commenced in 1815, when 14 families came on, 
having exchanged their property in Norwich, Chenango county. New York, with Messrs. Cooper, 
M'llvain & Co., for those lands where they now reside, being then an entire wilderness. Having 
no roads, they were obliged to ascend the Potato creek, with much labor and expense, in canoes, 
with their families and moveables. They were under much embarrassment for the first year or 
two, for want of roads and provisions ; and were often obliged to get their provisions, grain, &c., 
in Jersey Shore, a distance of more than 100 miles, on pack-horses. Corn was worth, when got 
here, $2 per bushel, and salt was sold for ,$14 per barrel. This settlement went on vigorously, 
and in two or three years raised more than sufficient for their own consumption. It is now in a 
flourishing situation. 

A settlement had been commenced at Instanter, four miles west of the Norwich settlement, a 
short time previous to the latter; and in 1821 or '22, 400 acres of land were cleared on one farm, 
belonging to Jacob Ridgeway, Esq., under the superintendence of P. E. Scull, who has always 
been an active man in furthering the improvement of this county. Judge Bishop, now one of our 
associate judges, was the first settler at that place. Since those settlements were formed, other* 



460 McKEAN COUNTY. 

have been commenced and carried on in different parts of the county. The townships of Brai* 
fori I and Corydon, have within the last three years been rapidly increasing. 

In 1831, the manufacture of salt was commenced by Messrs. Allen Rice &, Co., at a salt spring 
in the southeastern part of Sergeant township. The operations were found quite favorable, and 
large boiling works erected. Salt was made of an excellent quality, and the water found to bear 
a good per cent. 

Port Allegheny is on the Allegheny, 10 miles east of Smethport, near 
the confluence of the Portage branch. The Canoe-place is about two 
miles above. It was here that the early settlers of Warren co. came 
about the year 1795 ; constructed a canoe, and floated down to the mouth 
of the Conewango. 

Bradford is a small village recently started in the forks of Tunenguant, 
on land purchased from the United States Land Co., better known as the 
Boston Co. 

Ceres, formerly King's settlement, is a smart and flourishing village, in- 
habited by New York and Yankee lumbermen, on Oswaya cr., in the 
northeastern corner of the county. It contains a Methodist church, several 
stores, mills, &c. 

Teutonia is the name of the new German town, situated on the right 
bank of Stanton cr., 5 miles southwest of Smethport. This town is the 
property of "The Society of Industry." It was started in March, 1843, 
on the plan and by the enterprise of Mr. Henry Ginal, a German now 
residing in Philadelphia, and agent of the society. It contains at present 
about 450 inhabitants. A schoolhouse is built, but no church. Some 
seventy or eighty log-houses have been erected, besides a steam saw-mill, 
a large tannery, and a store furnished with every article necessary for 
food and clothing. The society is in possession of 40,000 acres of land, a 
considerable part of which is already cleared, and they keep from forty 
to fifty hands at chopping, all of them members of the society. Excellent 
bituminous coal, iron ore, limestone, brick-clay, &c., abound on the lands. 
The soil is generally of good quality. The society is founded on the prin- 
ciple of community of property, money and furniture excepted, and is 
sustained by the cooperation of its members ; an equal distribution of 
the profits being made half-yearly. In its fundamental principles it differs 
from Fourier's system. The society has about $40,000 capital ; some 
$16,000 of which is invested in land. This stock is divided into 660 
shares, of which 360 are already sold. When the balance is sold the 
number will be limited, and shareholders will be admitted only by buying 
out others. The shares are now worth about $200 ; originally they were 
only worth $100, but have risen with the improvements. The land is 
divided into several districts ; in the centre of each there is to be a town, 
with houses built in Uniform style, and the stables and barns will be out- 
side of the village. Marriage is not only allowed but encouraged, and 
each family resides in its separate house, possessing its own furniture and 
money. Clothing of a plain and uniform kind, provisions, fuel, &c., are 
regularly distributed by rations from the society's common stores. An 
individual becomes a member by purchasing a share of stock, going on 
the ground, and working with the rest. The society will build him a 
house if married ; or furnish him or her with a lodging, if single. Chil- 
dren, when they grow up, become members by conforming to the rules 
of the society. Married women are not obliged to work for the commu- 
nity, but devote their attention to the care of their own families. All 



MERCER COUNTY. 4611 

religions are tolerated hete ; (but it would perhaps be better if the society 
had commenced with selecting some one in particular.) Whenever 300 
shareholders vote to maintain a minister they may do so, the minister 
himself buying a share ; the society will furnish him with a house, and 
will consider him entitled to the maintenance belonging to his share in 
return for his spiritual labors ; but if any less number than 300 should 
desire a minister, he must perform his regular share of physical labor, 
unless his friends choose privately to support him. 

Although agriculture and the raising of cattle are the prominent objects 
of the society, yet having many sitilful mechanics, they intend to estab- 
lish several manufactories. The members of each trade choose their own 
inspector, and determine the amount of work which shall be done by 
each individual, or company of persons. The above facts were learned 
by the compiler from Mr. Ginal himself. 

GiNALSBURG, four miles east of Teutonia, contains about 100 inhabitants. 
It is built with frame houses, and contains a stone schoolhouse, a steam 
saw-mill, and a pottery ; a furnace is about to be erected, and a boarding 
school will be opened there next year. This village also pertains to the 
Society of Industry. 



MERCER COUNTY. 

Mercer county is one of the range contiguous to the western boundary 
of the state. It was taken from Allegheny co. by the act of 12th March, 
1800. Length 32 ms., breadth'26 ; area 765 sq. ms. Population in 1800, 
3,228; in 1810, 8,277; in 1820, 11,681 ; in 1830, 19,729; in 1840, 32,873. 

The principal streams are the Pymatuning or Shenango, which rises in 
Crawford co., and meanders in various directions through Mercer into 
Beaver co., where it is joined by the Neshannock, which rises in the 
northern end of Mercer co. These two form one of the principal branches 
of Beaver river. Slippery Rock cr. touches the southeastern, and French 
cr. the northeastern corner of the co. A small lake in the northeastern 
part of the co. pours its waters into Sandy cr. The soil is generally fer- 
tile ; the surface undulating and in some places broken, but not as much 
so as in the counties on the Allegheny and Ohio rivers. 

The southern part of the co. is well adapted for grain ; the northern 
for grass and pasturage. Iron ore, of the bog and kidney species, has 
been found in several localities, and two furnaces were wrought formerly, 
but have since been abandoned. Coal, of the finest quality, and lime- 
stone are abundant. Copperas has been found near Mercer in abundance, 
but its preparation for market was found on trial to be unprofitable. In 
the vicinity of Sharon, on the Pittsburg and Erie canal, exists a most 
valuable bed of coal of peculiar quality, between anthracite and bitumin- 
ous, without the least sulphur. The finest steel, it is said, can be wrought 
with it without coking. It has been tried successfully for smelting iron 
in a common charcoal furnace. Horn's falls, on a small run about five 
miles south of Mercer, are said to be interesting, " not so much on account 



462 MERCER COUNTY. 

of the height or quantity of the water, as from the wild, rugged, and 
romantic boldness with which the place abounds. The sound of the 
water, descending from rock to rock, the steep perpendicular bluffs, the 
tall trees and deep ravines, conspire to show the wildness of uncultivated 
nature.'- About three miles from Mercer are several curious caves, 
under an enormous bed of rocks. " The entrance is horizontal, and suffi- 
ciently large for an individual to enter comfortably. After going about 
six or eight feet, there is a perpendicular descent for a few feet ; then 
the passage increases and diminishes alternately, and finally opens into 
day on the opposite side of the hill. A cool current of air constantly 
issues from the mouth, and ice is found there during the whole of sum- 
mer." The far-famed Neshannock or Mercer potatoes are natives of the 
soil of this CO. There are twelve churches in the county, and special 
attention is paid to common-school education. 

Mercer county was a wilderness until several years after the passage 
of the celebrated land law of April, 1792, providing for the survey and 
settlement of all the lands " north and west of the Ohio and Allegheny 
rivers and Conewango creek." Soon after peace was restored to the 
frontier, in 1795, settlements were made extensively about the southern 
end of Mercer co., in the forks of Mahoning, Shenango, and Neshannock 
creeks; and the census of 1800 showed a population of 3,238. Mr. Ben- 
jamin Stokely, who is still living, came into the central part of the county 
in 1 796. Mr. John Findley, who is still the county surveyor, came here first 
about 1801 ; but no general settlement was made around Mercer until the 
fall of the year 1806, when several families came in from Westmoreland, 
Allegheny, and Washington counties, and made an opening. For want 
of provisions they were compelled to return during the winter, only Mr. 
Findley and one other family remaining on the ground. In the spring 
they returned here with their families, and commenced a permanent set- 
tlement. Mr. Findley's neighbors at that early day were John Pugh, 
James Breden, John Garvin, William Alexander, Mr. Hawthorn, Mr. 
McCullough, &c. 

The adventures of these worthy pioneers were few, and of little general 
interest. The county was for many years retarded in its growth, and 
the actual settlers were greatly harassed, by the various and conflicting 
titles to land growing out of the acts of 1785, and 1792. (See Crawford 
county, page 259.) 

Mercer, the county seat^ is situated near the Neshannock cr., on ele- 
vated ground, 57 miles N. W. from Pittsburg by the turnpike. It was 
laid out in 1803 by John Findley, William Mortimore, and William 
M'Millan, trustees, on 200 acres of land, given to the county by John 
Hoge, of Washington co., who owned large tracts of land in the vicinity* 
The hill on which it is situated was formerly a dense hazle thicket. The 
first courts were held in an old log courthouse which stood where Mrsw 
Shannon now lives. The court and county officers are now accommo- 
dated in elegant public buildings of brick, surrounded by a verdant lawn 
planted with trees, and enclosed by a neat white fence. In 1807 there 
were only two or three houses in the place. In 1840 it had a population 
of 781. The dwellings are neat and substantial, and display a pleasing 
variety of architectural embellishment. Besides the county buildings, 
there are in the town an academy, Methodist, Union, Seceder, Old and 



MERCER COUNTY. 463 




Public Square and Courthouse at Mercer. 

New School Presbyterian churches ; a foundry, and the usual stores and 
taverns. Daily lines of stages pass through on the Pittsburg and Erie 
turnpike. 

New Castle is located on the southern boundary of the co., at the junc- 
tion of Shenango and Neshannock creeks, 16 miles S. W. from Mercer, 
and 24 miles from the confluence of the Beaver and Ohio rivers. It was 
laid out about the year 1800 ; in 1806 it contained about 20 houses. Its 
population in 1840 was Oil. The surrounding country is well adapted 
for the growth of wheat and wool. Its healthy and picturesque situation 
has been much admired by visiters. 

The Pennsylvania canal, which is to connect Lake Erie with the Ohio 
river, passes through the town, and when completed, will open another 
channel for the rich productions of the neighborhood. Iron ore is found 
in abundance for 15 miles around ; on the run near town, a furnace is be- 
ing built, and a rolling-mill and nail factory in town. Bituminous coal, 
fire-clay, and quartz suitable for making glass exist in abundance in the 
neighboring hills. The water-power of the Neshannock and Shenango is 
immense ; and, if all brought into use, must create a large manufacturing 
town. At three different points, powers may be created with a sufficiency 
of water, and from 16 to 28 feet fall. The town is passing the second 
stage in improvement, from frame buildings to brick. There are here 
Presbyterian, Seceder, and Methodist churches, and a " Protestant Me- 
thodist" church is organized. 

West Greenville is situated in the northwestern part of the co., on the 
Shenango river, and is surrounded by large bodies of fine land. The 
Erie Extension canal passes through the town, affording every facility 
to commerce. There are in the immediate vicinity extensive beds of 
iron ore, and mines of very superior coal, which will form an important 
article of export to the lake. The rapid growth of the town, and the taste 
and beauty exhibited in its embellishments, indicate the advantages of its 
location. Seven years since, the population was not more than 300 ; it 
numbered in 1840, 626. The Shenango river affords a very ample water- 
power, which drives several large mills, and is still not all occupied. 



464 MIFFLIN COUNTY. 

There is a foundry in the place, and an oil-mill in the vicinity. The 
place contains five churches, Presbyterian, Methodist, Congregationalist, 
Associate, and " Reformed Presbyterian." 

Sharon is a flourishing village on the Shenango, 14 miles west of Mer- 
cer. The Erie Extension canal passes near the village. 

Pulaski is about 14 miles from Mercer, and 9 miles from New Castle 
on the Erie Extension canal. 

Georgetown is a new and neat village, on a small branch of Sandj 
or., 15 miles north of Mercer by the turnpike. It contains Methodist, 
Baptist, and Presbyterian churches. 

New Bedford is between the Shenango and Mahoning creeks, about 10 
miles N. W. from New Castle. 



MIFFLIN COUNTY. 

Mifflin county was formed from Cumberland and Northumberland 
counties by the act of 19th September, 1789. Length 39 miles, breadth 15 ; 
area about 3G0 sq. miles. Population in 1790, 7,562; in 1800, 13,809; 
in 1810, 12,132; in 1820, 16,618; in 1830, 21,690 ; in 1840, (after the se- 
paration of Juniata co.) 13,092. The county forms a long irregular figure, 
stretching in a southwest and northeast direction, traversed longitudinally 
by a series of rugged mountain ranges, of nearly uniform height. These 
mountains are separated by soft undulating valleys of slate and limestone, 
of exceeding beauty and fertility. The lovely vale of Wyoming has been 
more distinguished in history and song ; and yet it is only a specimen — 
a rare one, it must be conceded — of many similar valleys that adorn the 
apparently rugged Apalachian formation, both in Pennsylvania and Vir- 
ginia. The valley in which Lewistown is situated bears a striking re- 
semblance to that of Wyoming, and if in some points inferior, it has the 
advantage in the possession of limestone, that inexhaustible element of 
fertility. The mountain ranges, commencing on the S. E., are Blue ridge, 
and Shade, Jack's, Stone, and Path Valley mountains. The latter is some- 
times called the Seven Mountains. 

Between these there are the narrow valley of Licking cr. ; Lewistown 
valley, which is subdivided into several smaller ones ; and Kishicoquillas 
valley. The Juniata, breaking through the wild gap of Jack's mountain, 
enters at the S. W. end of the co., meanders leisurely through the Lewis- 
town valley, and again enters the mountains at the romantic gorge called 
the long narrows, which is a trough four miles long, between the Black 
Log and Shade mountains, barely wide enough for the river to pass ; at 
the end of this pass the river breaks through Shade mountain. Kishico- 
quillas cr. is a beautiful, never-failing stream, fed by the mountains sur- 
rounding the Kishicoquillas valley, out of which it breaks by a deep gorge 
in Jack's mountain, and enters the Juniata at Lewistown. Jack's cr. and 
Licking cr. are smaller tributaries of the Juniata. 

Iron ore of the best quality abounds in the co., such as is used in 
making the famous Juniata iron. In the limestone districts, there are 



MIFFLIN COUNTY. 455 

several curious caves, Alexander's cave in Kishicoq's valley abounds in 
the finest stalactites and stalagmites ; it is also a natural icehouse, pre- 
serving it in the nriidst of summer. Ilenawall's cave, near M'Veytown, 
is of vast dimensions, abounding with calcareous concretions : crude salt- 
petre has been taken from it at times. Bevin's cave is on the summit of 
a limestone ridge. The Pennsylvania canal and the Huntingdon turnpike 
pass along the left bank of the Juniata, nearly parallel with the Harris- 
burg turnpike road, and occasionally Ibrcing the latter to climb the sides 
of the mountain. The prominent products of the co. for export are wheat 
and iron. A large forwarding business is done at Lewistown, for an 
extensive district of country beyond Bellefonte. 

As early as the date of the old P^rench war of 1755, a few adventurous 
pioneers, from the Scotch-Irish settlements on the Conococheague, had 
passed up the old Raystown road, and found their way, down the Rays- 
town and Aughwick branches, to the lovely valleys of the Juniata. Ar- 
thur Buchanan — a man who loved the woods, and preferred a half sav- 
age life to that of civilization — built himself a cabin, and took up the 
land where Lewistown now stands, about the year 1755. His cabin 
stood near the mouth of the creek, about where the canal bridge now 
is, below the packet landing. He had several sons, frontier-men like 
himself One of them became distinguished as Col. Buchanan. There 
was a Fort Granville built about the same time on the bank of the Ju- 
niata, a mile above Lewistown, near a very fine spring. The canal 
passed over the spring, and absorbed its waters ; and it also destroyed 
an Indian mound near the canal bridge, which contained many bones, 
arrow-heads, &c. After the defeat of Braddock had imboldened the 
French and Indians, they made incursions upon all parts of the unpro- 
tected frontier in 1755 and '56. The attack upon Fort Granville was 
made in harvest time of the year 1756. The fort was commanded by 
Lieut. Armstrong, brother of Gen. Armstrong who destroyed Kittanning. 
Lieut. Faulkner had been sent with a small detachment to guard the 
reapers in Tuscarora valley. The following account of the capture of 
the fort, is from the appendix to Gordon's History of Pennsylvania. 

On the twenty-second of July, a party of sixty Indians appeared before Fort Granville, and 
challenged the garrison to combat ; but this was declined by the comniarider, in consequence of 
the weakness of his force. The Indians fired at and wounded one man belonging to the fort, 
who had been a short way from it — yet he got in safe ; after which they divided themselves into 
small parties, one of whom attacked the plantation of one Baskins, near Juniata, whom they mur- 
dered, burnt his house, and carried off his wife and children ; and another made Hugh Carroll and 
his family prisoners. 

On the thirtieth of July, Capt. Ward, commanding at Fort Granville, left the fort with all ma 
men, except twenty-four under the command of Lieut. Armstrong, to guard some reapers in 
Shearman's valley. Soon after the captain's departure, the fort was attacked by about one hun- 
dred Indians and French, who, having assaulted it in vain during the afternoon and night of that 
day, took to the Juniata creek, and, protected b}' its banks, attained a deep ravine, by which they 
were enabled to approach, without fear of injury, to within tliirty or forty feet of the fort, to 
which they succeeded in setting fire. Through a hole thus made, they killed the lieutenant and 
one private, and wounded three others while endeavoring to put out the fire. The enemy then 
offering quarter to the besieged if they would surrender, one Turner immediately opened the gate 
to them. They took prisoners twenty. two soldiers, three women, and some children, whom they 
loaded with burdens and drove before them. The fort was burned by Capt. Jacobs, pursuant to 
the order of the French commander. When the Indians reached Kittanning, they put Turner to 
death with the most horrid tortures. They tied him to a black post, danced around him, made a 
great fire, and haying heated gun-barrels red hot, ran them through his body. Having tormented 

59 



466 MIFFLIN COUNTY. 

Iiim for three hours, they scalped him alive, and at last held up a boy with a hatchet in his hand 
to give him the finishing stroke. 

Old Kishikokelas, (as the old settlers pronounced the name — or Kishi- 
coquillas, as modern refinement w^ill have it,) a friendly Indian, had his 
wigwam near Buchanan's cabin. Some of the friendly Indians gave 
notice to the Buchanans of the expected attack on the fort, and they fled 
with their families and cattle to Carlisle. The friendly Indians M^ho lived 
in this vicinity, it is said, would frequently exhibit lead, which they had 
found apparently pure. They usually went to seek it in the direction of 
Granville gap, but would never allow a white man to accompany them. 
It is still undetermined whether such tales, \vhich were common among 
the old settlers, were or were not devised by the Indians to sport with the 
credulity of the whites. 

The settlers returned cautiously after the Indians had retired, but not 
very extensively until after 1768, when what was called the new pur- 
chase was made by the treaty of Fort Stanwix, and the region beyond 
the Blue mountain became the property of the proprietary government. 
The land-office was opened in 1769. Samuel Milliken, Judge Wm. 

Brown, and McNitt, were among the first settlers in Kishicokelas 

valley. Samuel McClay came also to this region at the same time, as 
surveyor. There was also an early settlement at the southwestern end 
of the CO., by the Brattons, Hollidays, Junkinses, Wilsons, Rosses, Stack- 
poles, &c., names that bespeak an Irish origin. 

Of Kishicokelas, the Indian, tradition has preserved little except the 
name. Another friendly chief, distinguished in American annals, had his 
cabin for a number of years beside a beautiful limestone spring, on Kishi- 
cokelas creek, a mile or two above the wild gorge where the creek passes 
Jack's mountain. This was Logan, the Mingo chief, whose eloquent 
speech is familiar to every one. Logan was the son of Shikellimus, a 
chief of the Cayugas. Mingo, or Mengwe, was the name given by the 
Delawares to the Iroquois or Six Nations. 

Reedsville, or Brown's Mills, is a pleasant manufacturing village on 
the middle branch of Kishicokelas cr., about six miles from Lewistown, 
on the Bellefonte turnpike. A short distance above the village is the 
mansion of John Norris, Esq., who now owns the mills. Mrs. Norris, 
from whom some of the following particulars were derived, is the daugh- 
ter of Judge Brown. About a quarter of a mile further up the creek, a 
little north of the turnpike gate, is Logan's spring, on the left bank of the 
creek. The annexed sketch shows the site, with the more modern build- 
ings erected upon it. The spring rises in the garden, and flows through 
the small spring-house on the bank of the creek. The following letter, 
published in the Pittsburg Daily American, is from Hon. R. P. Maclay, a 
member of the state senate, and son of the gentleman alluded to in the 
anecdote. 

Senate Chamber, March 21, 1842. 
To George Darsih Esq., of the Senate of Pennsylvania. 

Dear Sir — AUoi r me to correct a few inaccuracies as to place and names, in the anecdote of 
Logan, the celebrat hi Mingo chief, as published in the Pittsburg Daily American of March 17th, 
1842, to which you ;alled my attention. The person surprised at the spring now called the Big 
spring, and about .? £ [four] miles west of Logan's spring, was William Brown — the first actual 
settler in Kishacocf Jlas valley, and one of the associate judges of Mifflin county from its organi 
zation till his deatt at the age of ninety-one or t\vo — and not Samuel Maclay, as stated by Dr 



MIFFLIN COUNTY. 



467 



^:^ii&^ -^ 




Logan^s Spring. 

Hildreth. I will give you the anecdote as I heard it related by Judge Brown himself, while on a 
visit to my brother, who then owned and occupied the Big .Spring farm.* 

" The first time I ever saw that spring," said the old gentleman, " my brother, James Reed, 
and myself, had wandered out of the valley in search of land, and finding it very good, we were 
looking about for springs. About a mile from this we started a bear, and separated to get a shot 
at him. I was travelling along, looking about on the rising ground for the bear, when I came 
suddenly upon the spring ; and being dry, and more rejoiced to find so fine a spring than to have 
killed a dozen bears, I set my rifle against a bush and rushed down the bank and laid down to 
drink. Upon putting my head down, I saw reflected in the water, on the opposite side, the shad 
ow of a tall Indian. I sprang to my rifle, when the Indian gave a yell, whether for peace or war 
I was not just then sufliciently master of my faculties to determine ; but upon my seizing my 
rifle, and facing him, he knocked up the pan of his gun, threw out the priming, and extended his 
open palm toward me in token of friendship. After putting down our guns, we again met at the 
Spring, and shook hands. This was Logan — the best specimen of humanity I ever met with, 
either white or red. He could speak a little English, and told me tiiere was another white hunt- 
er a little way down the stream, and offered to guide me to his camp. There I first met your 
father. We remained together in the valley a week, looking for springs and selecting lands, and 
.aid the foundation of a friendship which never has had the slightest interruption. 

" We visited Logan at his camp, at Logan's spring, and your father and he shot at a mark for 
a dollar a shot. Logan lost four or five rounds, and acknowledged himself beaten. When we 
Were about to leave him, he went into his hut, and brought out as many deerskins as he had lost 
dollars, and handed them to Mr. Maclay, — who refused to take them, alleging that we had been 
his guests, and did not come to rob him — that the shooting had been only a trial of skill, and the 
bet merely nominal. Logan drew himself up with great dignity, and said, ' Me bet to make you 
shoot your best — me gentleman, and me take your dollar if me beat.' So he was obliged to take 
the skins, or affront our friend, whose nice sense of honor would not permit him to receive even 
a horn of powder in return. 

" The next year," said the old gentleman, " I brought my wife up and camped under a big 
walnut tree, on the bank of Tea creek, until I had built a cabin near where the mill now stands, 
and have lived in the valley ever since. Poor Logan" (and the big tears coursed each other 
down hia cheeks) " soon after went into the Allegheny, and I never saw him again." 

Yours, R. P. MACLAY. 

Mrs, Norris confirmed and repeated the above, nearly in the same 
words. She stated that her father was for a long time almost the only 
settler in that valley. She also related the following additional incidents, 
highly characteristic of the benevolent chief: — 

Logan supported his family by killing deer, dressing the skins, and selling them to the whites. 
He had sold quite a parcel to one De Yong, a tailor, wIk) lived in Ferguson's valley, below the 
gap. Tailors in those days dealt extensively in buckskin breeches. Logan received his pay, ac- 



* This spring is a few rods south of the Huntington road, in the rear of a blacksmith's shopi 
four miles west of Reedville. 



468 MIFFLIN COUNTY. 

cordingf to stipulation, in wheat. The wheat, on being taken to the mill, was found so worthk'sr 
that tlic miller refused to grind it. Logan was much chagrined, and attempted in vain to obtain 
redress from the tailor. He then took the matter before his friend Brown, then a magistrate • 
and on the judge's questioning him as to the character of the wheat, and what was in it, Logai 
souglit in vain to find words to express the precise nature of tlie article with which the wheat 
was adulterated, but said that it resembled in appearance the wheat itself. " It must have been 
f Arfl/," said the judge. " Yoh !" said Logan, " that very good name for him." A decision was 
awarded in Logan's favor, and a writ given to Logan to hand to the constable, which, he was 
told, would bring him the money for his skins. But the untutored Indian — too uncivilized to be 
dishonest — could not comprehend by wiiat magic this little paper would force the tailor, against 
his will, to pay for tiie skins. The judge took down his own commission, with the arms of the 
king upon it, and explained to him the first principles and operations of civil law. " Law good," 
said Logan ; " make rogues pay." But how mucli more simple and efficient was the law which 
the Great Spirit had impressed upon iiis heart — io do as he would be done by ! 

When a sister of Mrs. Norris (afterwards Mrs, Gen. Potter) was just beginning to learn to 
walk, her mother happened to express her regret that she could not get a pair of shoes to give 
more firmness to her little step. Logan stood by, but said nothing. He soon after asked Mrs. 
Brown to let the little girl go up and spend the day at his cabin. The cautious heart of the 
mother was alarmed at such a proposition ; but she knew the delicacy of an Indian's feelings — 
and slie knew Logan too — and witJi secret reluctance, but apparent cheerfulness, she complied 
witii iiis request. Tlie hours of tlie day wore verj' slowly away, and it was nearly night, wiieu 
her httle one had not returned. But just as the sun was going down, the trusty chief was seen 
coming down the path witii his charge ; and in a moment more the little one trotted into lier 
mother's arms, proudly exhibiting a beautiful pair of moccasins on her little feet — the product 
of Logan's skill. 

Such was the man, whose whole family vvas afterwards barbarously 
murdered, on the Ohio, below Wheeling, by some white savages, without 
a shadow of provocation. It was not long after that act that his consent 
was asked, by a messenger with wampum, to a treaty with Lord Dun- 
more, on the Scioto, in 1774. Logan delivered to the messenger the fol- 
lowing speech, which is now well authenticated to have been his own j 
and not composed, as had been suspected, by Mr. JelFerson : — • 

" I appeal to any white man to say, if ever he entered Logan's cabin hungry, and he gave him 
not meat : if ever he came cold and naked, and he clothed iiim not. During the course of the 
last long and bloody war. Logan remained idle in his cabin, an advocate for peace. Such was 
my love for the whites, that my countrymen pointed as they passed, and said, ' Logan is the friend 
of white men.' I had even tiiouglit to have lived with you, but for the injuries of one man. 
Col. Cresap, the last spring, in cold blood, and unprovoked, nuirdered all the relations of Logan, 
not even sparing my women and cliildren. There runs not a drop of my blood in the veins of 
any living creature. Tiiis called on me for revenge. I have sought it : I have killed many. I 
have fully glutted my vengeance : for my country I rejoice at the beams of peace. But do not 
harbor a thought that mine is the joy of fear. Logan never felt fear. He will not turn on hia 
heel to save his life. Who is there to mourn for Logan ? — Not one." 

Logan was a son of the Cayuga chief, Shikellimus, who dwelt at 
Shamokin in 1742, and was converted to Christianity under the preaching 
of the Moravian missionaries. Shikelliinus had a high esteem for James 
Logan, the secretary of the province^ and most probably had his son bap- 
tized with the Christian rites, by the missionaries. 

Lewistown, the county seat, is the most populous and flourishing tOAvn 
on the Juniata. It is 55 miles from Harrisburg, and 154 from Pittsburg. 
The town stands on an elevated plain, on the left bank of the Juniata, 
just above the confluence of Kishicokelas cr. A high limestone ridge 
rises behind the town, from which a grand and imposing view may be 
had of the valley, the river, and the wild mountain-gorge through which 
it passes, below the town. The Kishicokelas furnishes ample and per- 
manent power for a number of mills and manufacturing establishments 
at the town, and for some five miles above. Lewistown derives consid- 
erable advantage from its peculiar location, as a deposit for the trade and 



MIFFLIN COUNTY. 



469 



forwarding business of a large scope of country, beyond Bellefonte, as 
Avell as of that place and the contiguous valleys. There are several fur- 
naces within a circle of eight or nine miles around Levvistown, and the 
iron-trade generally of the county has been extensive. Lewistown con- 
tains, in addition to the usual county buildings, seven churches — Episco- 
pal, Presbyterian. Methodist, Baptist, Lutheran, Catholic, and African ; 
the Lewistown Bank, two foundries, and a flouring-mill. Population in 
1840. 2,0.'j8. The houses are generally of brick, built with good taste, 
and the whole place has a lively and business-like appearance. A splen- 
did new courthouse, now going up, (1842,) on the north side of the pub- 
lic square, will add much to the appearance of the place ; especially af- 
ter the old courthouse, which now encumbers the centre of the square, is 
removed. 

The annexed view of one of the principal streets was taken from a 
window of the old courthouse. 




View in the central part of Lewistown. 

A resident of the place boasts, not without some reason, that many 
circumstances concur to make Lewistown a desirable resort for strangers. 
"The scenery is the finest in the world ; we breathe the pure mountain 
air. Our clear streams abound with fish, particularly trout. Our forests 
are filled with game of every description ; and Milliken's Spring, on a 
farm adjoining the town, is ascertained to possess all the medicinal qual- 
ities of the Bedford water, particularly in bilious complaints." 

The early settlement of the Buchanans at this place has been noticed 
above. When the county was established. Gen. James Potter, Judge 
William Brown, and Maj. Montgomery were owners of the town plot, 
and laid out the town in 1790. The neighboring valleys had at that time 
a population of 7,5G2. The Juniata division of the Pennsylvania canal 
was completed as far as this place in 1829, when the opening of the nav- 
igation was celebrated by the citizens with appropriate ceremonies. 

When an attempt was made to run out the boundaries of the county, 
a dispute arose relating to the western corner between Huntington and 
Mifflin. A glance at the map will show the zigzag course of the line. 



470 MIFFLIN COUNTY. 

The people of Huntingdon co. contended that the line, after passing south-' 
westerly along Stone mountain, and turning towards the southeast, should 
continue that southeast course directly across Jack's mountain to Shade 
mountain ; while the people of Mifflin, and especially those living in the 
disputed territory, claimed that the line turned again, and ran down along 
Jack's mountain to the Juniata, &c. The usual conflict of jurisdictions 
naturally occurred on the first attempt to enforce legal process. The 
settlers in the disputed territory were chiefly of Irish blood, and a small 
skirmish would have been rather acceptable than otherwise. Jemmy 
Stackpole kept a tavern just below M'Veytown, near the line in dispute. 
The Huntingdon sheriff", in serving a process, was seized by the inhabit- 
ants, and taken to Lewistown jail. Judge Brown released him on habeas 
corpus. He rallied an armed posse to come down and take his man, but 
could not find him. The inhabitants saw him coming, and at a precon- 
certed signal, (the firing of a rifle,) they assembled to take the sheriff 
and his posse ; but the latter had prudently taken themselves off" by an- 
other route. Another circumstance occurred about the same time to 
disturb the harmony of the county, which resulted in a fearful riot, and 
had well-nigh ended in bloodshed. Judge Bryson, who had been ap- 
pointed an associate judge of the new county, had a short time previous 
been a brigade inspector ; and in that capacity, for some reason, had 
refused to commission two colonels who had been elected by their regi- 
ments, and commissioned others of his own selection in their places. 
This gave great offence to the friends of the officers, and they resolved 
that Judge Bryson should not enjoy the honors of his new office. One of 
the colonels not commissioned was the brother of Wilson, the sheriff" of 
the county. The courts were then held in an old log courthouse, which 
also served as a jail, standing on the site of the present jail. These ex- 
planations will serve to render more intelligible the following extracts 
from " the Pennsylvania Herald and York General Advertiser," of 5th 
October, 1791 :— 

A Report of the Riot at Lewistown, in the County of Mifflin, 
Sir— 

On Monday, the 12th of September, 1791, the Hon. W. Brown, James Bryson, and JameS 
Armstrong, Esquires, met in the forenoon, in order to open the court and proceed to business ; 
but Thomas Beale, Esquire, one of the associate judges, not having arrived, their honors waited 
until three o'clock in the afternoon, at which time he arrived, and was requested to proceed with 
them and the officers of the court to the courthouse ; he declined going, and the procession 
moved on to the courthouse, where the judges' commissions were read, and the court opened, and 
the officers and the attorneys of the court sworn in, and the court adjourned till ten o'clock next 
morning. 

About nine o'clock, while preparing business to lay before the grand jury, I received informa- 
tion that a large body of men were assembled below the Long Narrows, at David Jordan's tav« 
em, on the Juniata, and were armed with guns, swords, and pistols, with an avowed intention 
to proceed to Lewistown, and seize Judge Bryson on the bench and drag him from his seat, and 
march him before them, and otherwise ill-treat him. This information was instantly comnmni- 
cated to Messrs. Brown, Bryson, and Armstrong, the judges, who agreed with me that Samuel 

Edmiston, Esq., the prothonotary. Judge Beale, Stewart, Esq., Bell, Esq., should, with 

George Wilson, Esq., the sheritf of Miffliin county, proceed and meet the rioters ; and the sheriff 
was commanded to inquire of them their object and intention, and if hostile, to order them to 
disperse, and tell them the court was alarmed at their proceedings. 

Two hours after this, the court opened, and a grand jury was impannelled. A fife was heard 
playing and some guns fired, and immediately the mob appeared marching towards the 
courthouse, with three men on horseback in front, having the gentlemen that had been sent to 
meet them under guard in the rear, all of whom, on their arrival at Lewistown, they permitted to 
go at large, except the sheriff, whom four of their number kept a guard over. The court ordered 



MIFFLIN COUNTY. 471 

me, as the representative of the commonwealth, to go out and meet them, remons.lrate against 
their proceedings, and warn them of their danger, which order was obeyed ; but all endeavors 
were in vain, the mob crying out, " March on ! march on ! draw your sword on him ! ride over 

him I" I seized the reins of the bridle that the principal commander held, viz., Wilson, Esq., 

brother of the sheriff aforesaid, who was well mounted and well dressed, with a sword and I 
think two pistols belted round him, a cocked hat, and one or two feathers in it. He said he 
would not desist, but at all events proceed and take Judge Bryson off the bench, and march him 
down the Narrows to the judge's farm, and make him sign a written paper, that he would never 
sit as a judge there again. The mob still crying out, " March on," he drew his sword, and told 
me he must hurt me, unless I would let go the reins. The crowd pushed forward, and nearly 
pressed me down ; one of them, as I learned afterwards, a nephew of Judge Beale, presented hit) 
pistol at my breast, with a full determination to shoot me. I let the reins go, and walked be- 
fore them until I arrived at the stairs on the outside of the courthouse, when Judge Armstrong 
met me and said, " Since nothing else will do, let us defend the stairs." We instantly ascended, 
and Mr. Hamilton and the gentlemen of the bar, and many citizens ; and the rioters, headed by 
William Wilson, Col. Walker, and Col. Holt, came forward, and the general cry was, " March 
on, damn you ; proceed and take him." Judge Armstrong replied, " You damn'd rascals, come 
on ; we will defend the court and ourselves, and before you shall take Judge Bryson, you shall 
kill me and many others, which seems to be your intention, and which you may do." At this 
awful moment one Holt seized Judge Armstrong by the arm, with intent to pull him down the 
stairs, but he extricated himself. Holt's brother then got a drawn sword, and put it into his 
hands, and damned him to run the rascal through ; and Wilson drew his sword on me with 
great rage, and young Beale his sword, and cocked his pistol and presented it. I told them they 
might kill me, but the judge they could not, nor should they take him ; and the word fire away 
shouted through the mob. I put my hand on his shoulder, and begged him to consider where he 
was, who I was, and reflect but for a moment. I told him to withdraw the men, and appoint 
any two or three of the most respectable of his people to meet me in half an hour, and try to set- 
tle the dispute. He agreed, and with difficulty got them away from the courthouse. Mr. Ham- 
ilton then went with me to Mr. Alexander's tavern, and in Wilson and Walker came, and also 
Sterett, who I soon discovered to be their chief counsellor. 

Proposals were made by me that they should return home, offer no insult to Judge Bryson or 
the court, and prefer to the governor a decent petition stating their grievances, (if they had any,) 
that it might be laid before the legislature, and that in the mean time the judge should not sit on 
the bench this court. They seemed agreed, and our mutual honor to be pledged ; but Sterett, 
who pretended not to be concerned, stated that great delay would take place : that injuries had 
been received which demanded instant redress, and objected to the power of the governor as to 
certain points proposed. At this moment young Beale and Holt came up, the former with arms, 
and insisted on Wilson's joining them, and broke up the conference, I followed, and on the field 
among the rioters, told VVilson, " Your object is, that Judge Bryson leave the bench, and not sit 
on it this court?" He and Walker said " Yes." " Will you promise to disperse and go home, 
and offer him no insult ?" He said " Yes." And our mutual honor was then pledged for the 
performance of this agreement. 

Mr. Hamilton proceeded to the court, told the judge, and he left his seat and retired. I scarce 
had arrived until the fife began to play, and the whole of the rioters came on to the courthouse, 
then headed by Wilson. I met them at the foot of the stairs, and told them the judge was gone, 
in pursuance of the agreement, and charged them with a breach of the word and forfeiture of 
honor ; and Walker said it was so, but he could not prevail on them. Wilson said he would 
have the judge, and attempted going up stairs. I prevented him, and told him he should not, 
unless he took off his military accoutrements. He said he had an address to present, and com- 
plied with my request, and presented it, signed "The People." Young Beale, at the moment I 
was contending with Wilson, cocked and presented his pistol at my breast, and insisted that 
Wilson and all of them should go ; but on my offering to decide it by combat with him, he de- 
clined it, and by this means they went off swearing, and said they were out-generalled. 

The next day Col. McFarland, with his regiment, came down and offered to defend the court, 
and addressed it ; the court answered, and stated that there was no occasion, and thanked him. 
Judge Bryson read a paper, stating the ill-treatment he received, and mentioned that no fear of 
danger prevented him from taking and keeping his seat ; but that he understood an engagement 
had been entered into by his friends that he should not, and on that account only he was pre- 
vented. The court adjourned until two o'clock that day, and were proceeding to open it, with 
the sheriff, coroner, and constable in front, when they observed that Judge Beale was at the house 
of one Con. They halted, and requested the sheriff to wait on him and request him to walk with 
them ; he returned, and said the judge would not walk or sit with Bryson, and addressed Judo-e 
Bryson with warmth, who replied to it in a becoming manner. The sheriff struck at him, and 
kicked also. Judge Armstrong seized the sheriff, and commanded the peace, and took the sher- 
iff's rod from him ; the coroner took his place, and the sheriff was brought up before the court. I 
moved he might be committed to jail, and his mittimus wrote and signed ; and the court ordered 



479 MIFFLIN COUNTY. 

the coroner and jailer to take him, and he submitted. The court adjourned. After night the 
drum beat, and Holt collected about seventy men, who repeatedly huzzaed, crying out, " Liberty 
or death," and he ordered to rescue the sheriff, but the sheriff refused. At ten o'clock at night I 
was informed expresses were sent down the Narrows to collect men to rescue the sheriff, and 
Major Edmiston informed the sheriff was sorry for his conduct, and offered to beg the court's 
pardon, and to enter into recognizance. I communicated this to Judges Brown and Armstrong, 
and requested they would write to the jailer to permit him to come down ; they did, and the 
sheriff came with Major Edmiston, begged pardon of every member of the court but Judge Bry- 
son, who was not present, and entered into recognizance to appear at next sessions. The next 
day near .300 were assembled below the Nan-ows, and I prevailed on some gentlemen to go down 
and disperse them ; and, upon being assured that the sheriff was out of jail, they returned to their 
respective homes, and tiie court liave finished all business : nothing further requiring the atten- 
dance of the grand jury, the court dismissed them and broke up. I must not omit to inform that 
Judge Beale had declared, during tlie riot, in court, that he would not sit on the bench with Judge 
Bryson, and that both him and said Stewari appeared to countenance the rioters, and arc deeply 
concerned. 

I must now close the narrative with saying, that, owing to the spirit and firmness of Judge 
Armstrong and the whole of the bar, I was enabled to avert the dreadful blow aimed at Judge 
Bryson, and to keep order and subordination in court ; and unless the most vigorous measures 
are exerted soon, it will be impossible ever to support the laws of the state in that county, or 
punish those who dare transgress. 

The excise law is execrated by the banditti, and from every information, I expect the collection 
of the revenue will be opposed. 

I am happy to add, the dispute, which originated by a mistake between Huntingdon and 
Mifflin counties, is happily closed in the most amicable manner, without any prosecution in 
Mifflin. 

I am, sir, your most obedient, 

JOHN CLARK, Dy. St. Attorney. 

To Thomas Smith, Esq., President of the Court of Mifflin county. 

McVeytown, formerly called Waynesburg, is quite a flourishing village 
on the canal, 1 1 miles, by the turnpike, above Lewistown. Many new- 
brick and frame houses have been erected within a year or two. It con- 
tains a Methodist and Presbyterian church, and a furnace, foundry, and 
forge near town. The place is incorporated as a borough, and has as- 
sumed to itself, in that capacity, the invaluable prerogative of issuing 
shinplasters. These notes have been extensively circulated, and have 
enjoyed a respectable credit during the hard times of 1841, '42. Popula- 
tion in 1840, 348. 

Hamiltonville, or Newton Hamilton, formerly called Muhlenberg, is a 
small but smart village on the canal, 10 miles above McVeytown, and 21 
from Lewistown. The river here makes a circuitous bend. Above the 
bend, the canal crosses on a splendid aqueduct to the right bank of the 
Juniata, and soon after (in ascending) is passed the gap through Jack's 
mountain. 

Belleville, Horrelstown, and Reedville, are small but pleasant vil- 
lages in Kishicokelas valley, containing some 20 houses each. Reedville 
has been noticed in connection w4th Logan's Spring. It contains a large 
flouring-mill, stores, taverns, &c. About a mile below Reedville, in the 
deep gorge in Jack's mountain, is the edge-tool factory of Mr. Mann, 
whose axes have sounded their own praises, and cut their own way 
through all the forests of the west. 

In the southwestern part of the Kishicokelas valley is a large settle- 
ment of German Mennonists, with long beards. Many of their customs 
are like those of the Friends, particularly in the observance of the com- 
mand to " live peaceably with all men." They are excellent farmers, 
industrious, and exceedingly economical. Mr. Zug, one of their number, 
has written a history of the sect. 



MONROE COUNTY. 473 



MONROE COUNTY. 

Monroe county was taken partly from Pike and partly from Northamp- 
ton, by the act of April, 1835. Stroudsburg was at the same time se- 
lected as the county seat. Length 25 m., breadth 25 ; area about 600 
s(i. m. Population in 1840, 9,879. A small portion of this county, in 
1843, has been included in the new county of Carbon. The county is 
generally mountainous ; the greater portion of it being occupied by the 
lofty and desolate ranges of the Pokono, and other sandstone ridges and 
spurs, underlying the coal formation. In the northwestern part of the 
county, on the head-branches of the Lehigh, lies an immense body of 
rather wet land, covered with a dense forest of pine. This place was 
called, by the forlorn fugitives from Wyoming, the Great Swamp, or the 
Shades of Death — dismal names, and in fact rather more repulsive than 
the region itself, which promises to open a rich supply of timber for the 
trade of the Lehigh navigation, and when cleared of its lumber to afford 
many sites for farms of at least tolerable productiveness. The towering 
ridge of the Kittatinny mountain rises along the southeastern boundary 
of the county, and would seem to shut it out from the world below, were 
it not for the open doors of the far-famed Delaware Water-gap, the Wind- 
gap, and Smith's gap. Between this mountain and the Pokono are seve- 
ral subordinate parallel ranges, with long narrow valleys of the limestone 
and slate formations, exhibiting a striking contrast in their beauty and 
fertility to the rugged soil of the mountains. 

The Delaware washes a portion of the southeastern boundary : its trib- 
utaries are Bush kill. Mill cr., Marshall cr., Broadhead's or Analomink cr., 
with several large branches, and Cherry cr. The tributaries of the Lehigh 
are the Tobyhanna, several branches of Big cr., and the sources of the Aquan- 
shicola cr. One of the branches of Tobyhanna rises in a small lake, 
called Long Pond. The country around the heads of these streams, in 
the northwestern section of the county, is still comparatively a wilderness, 
and most of its lands are classed as " unseated." The opening of the 
Lehigh navigation, however, is attracting many lumbermen to that re- 
gion. The great bulk of the population is distributed along the valley 
of the Delaware and Broadhead's cr. ; and along a belt of some five miles 
wide, parallel with the Blue mountain. The turnpike road from Easton 
to Wilkesbarre enters the county through the Wind-gap, and traverses 
the Pokono ranges towards Stoddartsville. The Lehigh Navigation Co. 
have extended their works up as far as Wright's cr., 26 miles above 
Mauch Chunk. The county is settled by people from the lower counties, 
and from New Jersey. The business is about equally divided between 
agriculture and lumbering, with some little attention to iron manufacture. 

The earliest settlements made by the whites along the Delaware flats, 
in this county, were probably by the Dutch, who came in from Esopus, 
(now Kingston,) on the Hudson river. It is not impossible that these set- 
tlements may have been the earliest in Pennsylvania, preceding the pur- 
chase in 1682, by William Penn. The following extract is from a letter 
of Samuel Preston, of Stockport, Wayne co., to the editor of Hazard's 
Register ; — 

60 



474 MONROE COUNTY. 

In 1787, the writer went on liis first surveying tour into Northampton co. He was deputy un. 
der John Lukens, surveyor-general, and received from him, by way of instructions, the following 
narrative respecting the settlement of Meenesink, on the Delaware, above the Kittatiniiy, or Blue 
mountains : That tiie settlement was formed a long time before it was known to the government 
in Philadelphia. That when government was informed of tlic settlement, they passed a law, in 
1729, that any such purcjiascs of the Indians should be void, and the purchasers indicted for 
forcible entry and detainer, according to the laws of England. That in 1730 they appointed 
an agent to go and investigate the facts ; that the agent so appointed was the famous surveyor, 
Nicolas Scull ; that he, J. Lukens, was then N. Scull's apprentice, to carry chain and learn sur- 
veying ; that he accompanied N. Scull : as they both understood and could talk Indian, they 
hired Indian guides, and had a fatiguing journey, there being then no white inhabitants in the 
upper part of Bucks or Northampton counties. That they had very great difficulty to lead their 
liorses through the Water-gap to Meenesink fiats, which were all settled with Hollanders; with 
several they could only be understood in Indian. At the venerable Samuel Depuis's, they found 
great hospitality, and plenty of the necessaries of life. J. Lukens said the first thing that struck 
his admiration was a grove of apple-trees, of size far beyond any near Philadelphia. That as N. 
Scull and himself examined the banks, they were fully of opinion that all those flats had, at some 
very former age, been a deep lake, before the river broke through the mountain ; and that the best 
interpretation they could make of Meenesink was, '■the water is gone.' [Doubtful.] 

That S. Depuis told them that when tlie rivers were frozen he had a good road to Esopus frorn 
the Mine Holes, on the Mine Road, some hundred miles : that he took his wheat and cider there, 
for salt and necessaries ; and did not appear to have any knowledge or idea where the river ran — 
Philadelphia market — or being in the government of Pennsylvania. They were of opinion that 
the first settlements of Hollanders in Meenesink were many years older than William Penn's 
charter ; and as S. Depuis had treated them so well, they concluded to make a survey of hia 
claim, in order to befriend him if necessary. When they began to survey, the Indians gathered 
round : an old Indian laid his hand on N. Scull's shoulder, and said, " Put up iron string — go 
home .'" That they quit, and returned. 

I had it in charge from John Lukens to learn more particulars respecting the Mine Road to 
Esopus, &,c. I found Nicholas Depuis, Esq., (son of Samuel,) living in a spacious stone house, 
in great plenty and afiluence. The old Mine Holes were a few miles above, on the Jersey side 
of the river, by the lower point of Paaquarry flat ; that the Meenesink settlement extended 40 
miles or more, on both sides of the river. That he had well known the Mine Road to Esopus, 
and used, before he opened the boat-channel through Foul Rifts, to drive on it several times every 
winter, with loads of wheat and cider, as also did his neighbors, to purchase their salt and neces- 
saries in Esopus, having then no other market, or knowledge where the river ran to. That after 
a navigable channel was opened through Foul Rifts, they generally took to boating : most of the 
settlement turned their trade down stream, and the Mine Road became less and less travelled. 
This interview with the amiable Nicholas Depuis, Esq., was in the month of June, 1787. He 
then appeared to be perhaps about 60 years of age. I interrogated him as to the particulars of 
what he knew ; as to when and by whom the Mine Road was made ; what was the ore they dug 
and hauled on it ; what was the date, and from whence or how came the first settlers of Meene- 
sink, in such great numbers as to take up all the flats, on both sides of the river, for 40 miles. 
He could only give traditional accounts of what he had heard from older people, without date, in 
substance as follows : 

" That in some former age there came a company of miners from Holland — supposed, from 
the great labor that had been expended in making that road, about 100 miles long, that they were 
very rich, or great people in working the two mines ; one on the Delaware, where the mountain 
nearly approaches the lower point of Paaquarry flat ; the other at the north foot of the same 
mountain, near half way between Delaware and Esopus. That he ever understood abundance 
of ore had been hauled on that road, but never could learn whether it was lead or silver. That 
the first settlers came from Holland, to seek a place of quiet, being persecuted for their religion. 
I believe they were Arminians. They followed the Mine Road to the large flats on the Dela- 
ware. That smooth cleared land, and such an abundance of large apple-trees, suited their views ; 
that they bona fide bought the improvements of the native Indians, most of whom then removed 
to Susquehanna. That with such as remained there was peace and friendship, until the year 
1755." 

I then went to view the Paaquarry Mine Holes. There appeared to have been a great abun- 
dance of labor done there, at some former time ; but the mouths of these holes were caved full, 
and overgrown with bushes. I concluded to myself if there ever had been a rich mine under 
that mountain, it must be there yet, in close confinement. The other old men that I conversed 
with gave their traditions similar to Nicholas Depuis ; and they all appeared to be the grandsons 
of the first settlers, and generally very illiterate as to dates, or any thing relating to chronology. 

In the summer of 1789, I began to build on this place. There came two venerable gentlemen 
on a surveying expedition. They were the kte Gen. James Clinton, the father of the late De 
Witt Clinton, and Christopher Tappan, Esq., the clerk and recorder of Ulster co. For many 



Monroe: couNty. 4175 

Jrears before they had both been surveyors under Gen. Chnton's father, when he Was sinrveyor. 
general. In order to learn some history from gentlemen of their general knowledge, I accompa- 
nied them in the woods. They both well knew the Mine Holes, Mine Road, &c., and as there 
Was no kind of documents or records thereof, united in opinion that it was a work transacted 
while the state of New York belonged to the government of Holland ; that it fell to the English 
in the year 1664; and that the change of government stopped the mining business. That the 
road must have been made many years before so much digging could be done ; that it must un- 
doubtedly have been the first good road, of that extent, ever made in any part of the U. S. 
From tiie best evidence that I have been able to obtain, I am clearly of opinion that Meenesink 
Was the oldest European settlement, of equal extent, ever made in the territory afterWards named 
Pennsylvania. 

The Depuis house still Stands near the Delaware, about five miles east 
of Stroudsburg. Depuis was a Frenchman, who married a Dutch girl 
from " 'Sopus." The Mine-road ran between Godfrey's hill and the Blue 
mountain. The Minisink or Monsey tribe of Indians formerly held the 
whole of the territory in this vicinity, extending up the Delaware ; and 
the Dutch settlements afterwards adopted the same name. 

The famous Indian walk (see Northampton co.) was performed in 1737, 
(according to Nicolas Scull's deposition, in the Colonial Records.) The 
route probably passed through the Wind-gap, and terminated on one of 
the spurs of the Pokono mountain. Mr. Scull mentions that he and Ben- 
jamin Eastburn, with some others, " lodged, the night after the said walk 
Was completed, at an Indian town called Pohkopophunk, where there 
Were many of the Delawares, among whom he well remembers there 
was one called Capt. Harrison— a noted man among the Indians. Neither 
he nor any of the Indians made complaint, or showed the least uneasiness 
at any thing done relating to the said walk : if they had he would have 
heard of it." The last remark of Scull may or may not be true— perhaps 
they chose to conceal their indignation for a fitter opportunity. Certain 
it is that this walk was a flagrant, outrageous fraud, and the undoubted 
cause of subsequent bloody wars upon the frontier. In the year 1755, it 
is noted in the Colonial Records, under the date of— 

"Dec. 16. Accounts from Bethlehem and Nazareth, that about 200 Indians had broke into 
Northahipton co., beyond the Blue mountains, murdering and burning." " Accounts from Eas- 
ton, (Dec. 25,) of the whole country up the river being deserted, from that to Broadhead's, who, 
with his sons and others, defended himself stoutly, till the Indians retired." 

This settlement of Broadhead's was probably not far from the mouth of 
the creek which bears his name, or it might have been near the site of 
Stroudsburg. One of the sons, who defended themselves so gallantly, 
was no doubt the same who was afterwards distinguished in the revo- 
lution, and in the subsequent Indian wars as Gen. Broadhead. He had 
command of Fort Pitt about the year 1780 ; and pre\ious to that had 
charge of a garrison on the West Branch. He was particularly distin- 
guished for his intrepidity and success in heading small parties of frontier 
men against the Indians. 

Stroudsburg, the county seat, is situated on a handsome plain at the 
forks of the Analomink or Broadhead creek, and Pokono creek. McMi- 
chaels cr. also joins the Analomink at the same place. The village is 
not large, but pleasantly laid out ; the streets are wide, the houses hand- 
some, and generally situated back a short distance from the street, with 
neat yards in front, adorned with shades and shrubbery ; and altogether, 
the place has much the air of a pretty New England village. There are 
in the place the usual county buildings ; an academy ; a public library ; 



4^»; 



MONROE COUNTY. 




Stroudshurg. 

JA, Presbyterian, a Methodist, and a free church, and two Friends' meet- 
ing-houses ; together with taverns, stores, a tannery, grist-mill and saw- 
mills. There is also, within a short distance on the Analomink, a large 
forge for the manufactory of bar iron. Stroudsburg is 3 miles N. W. of 
the Delaware Water Gap, and 24 miles from Easton. The Analomink is 
navigable for rafts in high water, and considerable quantities of lumber 
descend it towards the Philadelphia market. The scenery of the neigh- 
borhood is highly picturesque ; gently undulating hills covered with fer- 
tile farms, are seen immediately around the town, shut in at a distance 
by loftier mountains, clothed with verdant forests. The society of the 
place is excellent, maintaining the moral and quiet habits that distinguish 
the Quakers, who predominate in the vicinity. Population in 1840, 407. 
Stroudsburg was first settled by Col. .Tacob Stroud, of the revolutionary 
army, who had command here of Fort Penn, and owned about 4000 acres 
of land in the vicinity. He died in 1806. Previous to his death, he 
erected three houses — the large roughcast house facing the west end of 
the street, now (1842) a temperance hotel ; another at the east end, still 
standing ; the third was about opposite HoUinshead's tavern in the centre 
of the town. He refused, however, to sell any lots. After his death, Da- 
niel Stroud, one of his sons, and now a venerable citizen of the place, 
widened the main street, sold lots as occasion offered, and exacted a con- 
dition from the purchasers, (which was inserted in their deeds,) that they 
should place their houses thirty feet back from the street. Previous to 
laying out the town, he had travelled through Newark and Elizabethtown, 
in New Jersey, and some of the New England villages ; and determined 
to impart to his own town the quiet rural air that he had so much ad- 
mired in those places. The place was selected as the county seat, in 1835, 
on the organization of the county. Mr. Stroud states that Fort Hamil- 
ton, one of the line of frontier posts, extending from the Delaware to the 
Potomac, erected during the old French war of 1755-58, stood at the west 
€nd of the town, nearly opposite the Temperance Hotel. Two soldiers 
of the garrison, walking among the scrub oaks on the brow of the hill, 
"Vvhere the academy now stands, were killed by a party of Indians in am- 



MONROE COUNTY. 4T>% 

bush. During the revolution Fort Penn was built, near the east end of 
the village. The road passing through the wind-gap, across the Pokono 
mountains to Wilkesbarre, was cut by Gen. Sullivan on his memorable 
expedition against the Six Nations, in 1779, after the battle of Wyoming. 

" The celebrated chief of the Lenelenoppes, or Delaware Indiarig, Tced3'uscung, was occa- 
sionally a resident here. This chieftain was an able man, who played a distinguished but subtle 
part during the border troubles of the French war, particularly towards the close of his life. He 
was charged with treachery towards the English, and perhaps justly ; and yet candor demands 
the acknowledgment that he did not take up the hatchet against them without something more 
than a plausible reason ; while by so doing, he was the means of restoring to his people something 
of the dignity characteristic of his race, but which had almost disappeared under the oppression 
of the Six Nations. He was professedly a convert to the Moravian missionaries ; but those who 
have written of him have held that he reflected little credit upon the faith of his new spiritual 
advisers. But whether injustice may not have been done him in this respect also, is a question 
Upon which much light will be thrown in another place." [See Northampton co.] * * * * 

"At the great council held at Easton, in 17.58, the Six Natirins had observed with no very 
cordial feelings, the important position which Teedyuscung had attained in the opinion of the 
whites, by the force of his talents and the energy of his character. Long accustomed to view the 
Delawares and their derivative tribes as their subjects, the haughty Mengwes could not brook 
this advancement of a supposed inferior, and the reflection had been rankling in their bosoms 
ever since the meeting of that council, until it was determined to cut off the object of their hate 
For this purpose, [Oct., 176.3,] a party of warriors from the Six Nations came to the Wyoming 
Valley upon a pretended visit of friendship, and after lingering about for several days, they in 
the night time treacherously set fire to the house of the unsuspecting chief, which, with the 
veteran himself, was burnt to ashes. The wickedness of this deed of darkness was heightened 
by an act of still greater atrocity. They charged the assassination upon the white settlers from 
Connecticut, and had the address to inspire the Delawares with such a belief. The consequences 
may readily be anticipated. Teedyuscung was greatly beloved by his people, and their exas- 
peration at 'the deep damnation of his taking off"' was kindled to a degree of corresponding 
intcnsitv ^^^T^^^^^^^i/t: 

" Thus fell Teedyuscung, who, with all his faults, was nevertheless one of the noblest of his 
race. Major Parsons, who acted as secretary to the conference with Teedyuscung, in 1756, de- 
scribed him as ' a lusty raw-boned man, haughty, and very desirous of respect and command.' 
He was, liowever, something of a wit. A tradition at Stroudsburg states, that he there met one 
day a blacksmith named Wm. McNabb, a rather worthless fellow, who accosted him with ' Well, 
cousin, how do you do ?' ' Cousin, coUsin !' repeated the haughty red man, ' how do you make 
that out ?' ' Oh ! we are all cousins from Adam.' ' Ah ! then, I am glad it is no nearer!' " 
Col. Stone^s History of Wyoming. 

The following incidents are related by Mr. Miner, in his " Hazleton 
Travellers :"— 

" John Carey, the brother of Samuel, is upwards of 80 years old, a hale, hearty old gentleman. 
He moves about his farm with the apparent strength, if not quickness, of a man of forty. Mr. 
Carey was bom in Dutchess co., New York. He came to Wyoming with his father in 1769, 
being then about 14 years old. The first settlement was made at Mill creek, where a foitifica- 
tion was erected on a pretty large scale, so that there was a village within it. Around the sides 
were houses, huts, sheds, and a small store, sufficient for the wants of the inhabitants, kept by 
Matthias Hollenbach, a very young man from Virginia, who was all life, activity, and enterprise. 

" In February of 1770 or '71, the inhabitants got out of provisions. Little grain had yet been 
raised, and there was no mill within sixty miles to grind it. To save the infant settlement from 
starving, it was resolved to send nine men to the Delaware for flour. Mr, Carey, then about 15, 
was one of the number. There was neither road nor bridle path, so they made tiieir way through 
the wilderness on foot. When they came to the Lehigh and other large streams, the party found 
them open in the middle, but frozen from both shores ; so, as they had no alternative, they cut 
the ice and waded in, and then cut their way out, every one being wet, and nearly perishing with 
the cold. 

" There lived by the Delaware, not far from Stroudsburg, a Scotchman named McDowell, who 
I shrewdly suspect must have been a Cameronian, out in the year '45 ; and found it necessary, 
to escape persecution for religious and political opinions, to emigrate to America. He spoke 
broad Scotch, and all agree he was a rtoble-souled, most generous man. How, 1 do not exactly 
learn, but he had become the zealous and abiding friend of the Wyoming settlers. The nine ar- 
rived in the evening, when they learned there was a wedding in the house ; Mr. McDowell's 
daughter being that night married (if 1 have the name aright) to John Shaw, — a name in Bucka 
CO. of great respectabiQty. 



478 MONROE COUNTY. 

" So is the name of McDowell most respectable in Bucks co. ; perliaps a descendant. 

" I don't know. But there was a crowd of guests, and the nine wayworn and hungry Wyomi 
ing boys dare not let it be generally known they were there, lest some enemy should be present, 
and they should be arrested and sent to Easton. So they contrived to get word to the good 
Scotchman, who immediately sent them to the barn — supplied them with a noble supper and 
every cheering accompaniment — and at daylight the next morning despatched them, the eight 
men having 75 lbs. of flour each in his sack ; and Mr. Carey being young carried 45. I nevei* 
think of it but Jacob's children, from Reuben to Benjamin, going down to Egypt, to buy corn, 
presents itself to memory. Having traversed the dreary wilderness, and rewaded the half-frozen 
streams with their burdens, they arrived safe at Wyoming, to the great relief of all. 

" After the revolution the civil wars broke out again. A fort had been built near Toby's eddy^ 
which the opposite party, out-generalling the Yankees, had obtained possession of. Capt. Daniel 
Gore and Obadiah Gore made a cannon by boring a pepperidge log, and hooping it with iron. 
The first shot did very well ; but the second tney put in too much powder ; the bands broke, the 
Cannon was burst, and some pieces were found on the opposite side of the river. 

" All the settlers were expelled, and Mr. Carey again speaks Of the almost unbounded kindness 
and hospitality of Mr. McDowell, not only furnishing the fugitives with provisions, but sending 
his wagons to take the women and children a day's journey on their route. 

" I may here add that, in the revolutionary war, two of Mr. McDowell's sons were at Wyom- 
ing, and were taken prisoners at Plymouth by a party of Indians, and one of them kept, I be- 
lieve, till the close of the war ; and one of the old gentleman's granddaughters — a child of one 
of those who were taken captive — married a distinguished son of Pennsylvania, who now (1838) 
holds one of the highest seats in the national councils." 

Stroudsburg was the first settlement reached by the forlorn fugitives 
from Wyoming after the battle of July, 1 778. Col. Spalding was here at 
the time with a detachment, and immediately left to endeavor to succoi* 
the people of Wyoming ; but he was too late, and passed on to the West 
Branch, and afterwards went up to Sheshequin. 

Two miles and a half S. E. from Stroudsburg is the little hamlet of 
Dutotsburg, founded some years since by Mr. Antoine Dutot, a French- 
man, who still resides in the place. It was once a merry place, particu- 
larly in the spring, when the lumbermen along the Delaware had occasion 
to tarry there ; but the lumber trade has decreased ; business has been 
transferred to Stroudsburg, and with it the glory of Dutotsburg has de- 
parted. 

A short distance from Dutotsburg, on the rocky bank of the river, is an 
excellent hotel, kept by Mr. Brodhead, from which may be had a fine 
view of the Delaware Water-gap. The following graphic sketch of the 
scenery about the Gap, is from two letters of Col, Stone's in the Commer- 
cial Advertiser of 1839. He approached it from the south. 

" At length we entered the gorge of the mountains — the road winding along the base beneath 
their frowning peaks, narrow, and often upon the very verge of a gulf, rendered more appalling 
by the dimness of the light, and our ignorance of the depth. Now and then a mass of the moon's 
light was thrown through a notch, but only by its " pale reflex" to disclose the rocky and vertical 
surface of a precipice beetling over the dark still waters below. Our little party were silent al- 
most to the suppression of respiration ; and the whole chasm — save the creaking and jostling of 
the coach — as still as the inmost apartment of the great pyramid. The distance of the pass to 
the hotel, which stands upon a subdued though jutting promontory near its northern entrance is 
only two miles ; but we were at least an hour in overcoming it, and the time seemed two. It 
was a scene of thrilling interest and gloomy grandeur. We would not again encounter the pass 
in the night for a small sum ; we would not be deprived of its recollection, for a much larger one. 
We had only been able to survey the outlines of the mountains, cleft in the mighty convulsion 
which opened a sinuous course to the river between them, while the spiked rocks hanging upon 
their sides, and the irregularities of their conformation, had remained comparatively undistin. 
guishable. In the morning, before yet the sun had gilded their tops, the whole mountain struc- 
ture of the entrance of the pass from above, was distinctly in view, gloomy from the yet unre- 
treating shade, disclosing all the irregularities incident to the freshness of nature, and wild and 
grand beyond description. The mountains for the most part, on the western shore, were clothed 
with wood to their summits. Low in the gulf at their base, in perfect repose, a cloud of milk- 
white vapor was yet sleeping upon the bosom of the river. In a half an hour, with a change in 



MONROE COUNTY. 



479 



the atmosphere, the vapor beg'an to ascend, and a gentle current of air wafted it, as by the sweet 
soft breathing of Morn herself, without breaking the sheet, to the western side of the river. There 
for a time it hung in angel whiteness, like a zone of silver belting the wild mountain. Below, to 
the bottom of the gulf, the mountains were yet clothed in solemn shadow, while, in bright and 
glorious contrast — the sun having begun to climb the sky in good earnest — their proud crests 
were glittering as with the radiant flame of molten gold. Climbing a hill at the west of the ho- 
tel, and looking into tlie chasm to the south, we had a picturesque view of the winding of the 
river to the second bend, where its deep narrow stream was apparently brought to a dead stop by 
the naked rocky buttress of the mountain on the Jersey shore. But the best position for survey, 
ing the entire pass, and enjoying its sublimity to the full, is from a small boat paddled leisurely 
through the whole pass, a distance of two miles. The maps furnish no just idea of the course 
of the river thrftugh the gap ; the actual course resembling the sharp curvatures of an angry ser- 
pent — or rather, perhaps this section of the river would be best delineated by a line like the letter 
S. The general height of the mountains at this point is about 16U0 ft. They are all very ore- 
cipitous ; and while sailing along their bases in a skiff, their dreadful summits seem actually to 
liang beetling over the head. This is especially the case with the Jersey mountains — the sur- 
faces of which next the river are of bare rock, lying in regular blocks in long ranges, as even 
as though hewn, and laid in stratifications like stupendous masonry — " the masonry of God." 
Just below the gap, on the Pa. side, is a quarry of slate ; and a mile above, in the gorge of a glen, 
a slate manufactory is in operation. (See Northampton co.) Among the enoice natural produc- 
tions of these mountains, are rattle-snakes of a superior quality. A fellow passed along with a 
pair of these amiable playthings in a box, on his way to Philadelphia. Arriving at Easton in the 
evening, and having disregarded the principles of the temperance society, he heedlessly took 
them out of the box to show their docility. Not perhaps liking the familiarity of a tipsy keeper, 
one of them struck him in the hand, and his death was reported on the following day." 




Delaware Water-gap — distant view from the south. 

The annexed view of the Gap, taken from a point some two miles be- 
low, is copied from a larger engraving by Mr. A. B. Durand of New 
York. 

Geologists have conjectured that the deep chasm through which the 
waters here make their way, was formed by some mighty convulsion of 
nature ; and some analogy has been apparently traced between the late- 
ral disturbances of the strata at a number of these gaps — both in the 



480 MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 

Kittatinny and its parallel chains — and the subterranean faults encoun- 
tered by the coal miners in the anthracite region. Others have conjec- 
tured that some vast lake above had burst its barriers, and in the progress 
of ages had worn out the channel to its present dimensions. A combina- 
tion of both causes seems most probable ; yet the most learned geologists 
are still perplexed by this subject. Some of the old lumbermen had a 
tradition that there was no bottom to be found in the middle of the 
chasm, but there is no truth in this notion. Those living in the vicinity, 
say that the river is not more than thirty feet deep at the deepest part 
of the Gap. 

" That g^reat disturbances of tlie earth marked the period which closed the formation of the 
slate, and accompanied the production of the overlying conglomerates and sandstones, is appa- 
rent from the coarseness of the ingredients in the latter rocks, the promiscuous manner in whiicli 
they have been swept together, and especially from the suddenness of the transition between the 
fine-grained slate, the sediment of very tranquil waters, and the extremely coarse conglomerate 
directly in contact with it — the whole aspect of which implies that an enormous mass of sand 
and gravel, derived from strata just broken up, was suddenly strewed into the waters where the 
slate was forming. But if evidence still more unexceptionable be required of an upheave of the 
bed of the ancient ocean at the epoch immediately preceding the formation of these rocks, we 
have it strikingly exhibited at the northeastern end of the formation, where these conglomerates 
and sandstones occur on the Delaware and Hudson canal near the end of the Shawangunk 
mountain. They are here displayed near Rondout, resting unconformably, and with a gentle in- 
clination, upon the steeply uptilted, contorted, and disrupted strata of the immediately adjacent 
slate."— Pro/. Rogers' Geol. Rep. 1838. 

Perhaps, until the further developments of science shall have thrown 
clearer light upon the mystery, the following theory of some traveller 
among similar chasms in New Hampshire, may satisfy most minds ; al- 
though it will still be a very proper inquiry by what secondary means, or 
in what manner, this stupendous result of God's power has been effected. 

The narrow pass from which you now emerge is rightly named the Notch, and was evidently 
cut through on purpose for the main branch of the Saco, which rises in a small lake about a hun- 
dred and fifty rods further north. See Job xxviii. 9, 10 : " He putteth forth his hand upon the 
rock, he overtumeth the mountains by the roots. He cutteth out rivers among the rocks, and his 
eye seeth every precious thing." This is my geology ; for while I have no doubt that immense 
and accumulating masses of water have sometimes broken through barriers of loose rocks, and 
afterwards worn away the solid basis for some distance, I have no more doubt that in most cases 
God made the defiles for the rivers and streams among the mountains, than that he made the 
mountains themselves. How few of all the hundred little streams that have their rise in Alpine 
regions, where the mountains are thrown together in the wildest apparent confusion, meet with 
any serious obstruction on their way to the great lakes and rivers, however remote ! We look at 
them as they spring out of the ground and murmur along at our feet, and then look at the mighty 
ramparts by which they are hemmed in, and it seems impossible that they should ever escape ; 
but they flow rejoicing on, in the secret channels which He who " poured them from his hand" 
hath made for them, without ever having to stop, day or night, except it be to rest awhile in some 
eddy or pool, where they may reflect the bright heavens till they reach the ocean. 



MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 

Montgomery county, originally a part of Philadelphia county, was es- 
tablished by the act of 10th Sept., 1784. Length 30 miles, breadth 15 ; 
area 450 sq. miles. Population in 1790, 22,929 ; in 1800, 24,150 ; in 1810, 
29,683; in 1820, 35,793; in 1830, 39,406 ; in 1840, 47,241. 

There are no mountains in this county. The lands are agreeably di- 



MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 481 

versified by undulating hills and valleys. Few valleys in any country 
can boast of more picturesque scenery than that of the Schuylkill. Form- 
ing the S. W. boundary for some distance, it meanders through broad cul- 
tivated fields, furnished with substantial stone houses and barns, with here 
and there an elegant country seat : again it sweeps past bold bluffs of rocks, 
grudging a passage to the railroad, and then past some bright and busy 
manufacturing town, to which its own sparkling waters impart the move- 
ment. The other streams are the Perkiomen and its branches, and the 
upper branches of the Wisahiccon, Pcnnepack, Tocony, and Neshaminy. 
The primary rocks, gneiss, and talcose slate, form a narrow belt across 
the S. E. end of the county. The yery valuable primitive limestone 
of the Great Valley, lies in a narrow belt, from one to two miles 
wide, from near Willow Grove to Reesville, crossing the Schuylkill at 
Swedes Ford and Conshohocken. The limestone and marble of this 
deposit constitute a source of great wealth. The greater portion of the 
county is occupied by the red shales and sandstones of the '* middle sec- 
ondary" formation. The red shale makes an excellent soil, especially 
when treated with lime. The co. is traversed in every direction by stone 
turnpikes and good common roads. Several of these turnpikes were 
made between 1800 and 1810. In bridges the co. may vie with any in 
the state. Across the Schuylkill there are bridges at Norristown, Paw- 
ling's, and Pottstown ; and a splendid railroad bridge of stone above Phenix- 
ville. The Perkiomen bridge, on the Reading turnpike, is a noble monu- 
ment of the enterprise of the co. forty years since. It is built entirely 
of stone, consists of six arches, and cost $60,000. It was founded in 
1798, finished in '99. Frederick Conrad, Samuel Mauldsby, Conrad Boyer, 
James Bean, and Henry Scheetz, were then county commissioners. A 
similar but smaller bridge was erected soon after in 1803 over the Mana- 
tawny at Pottstown ; and all the creeks in the county are now bridged 
with stone at the principal crossings. The other internal improvements 
are the Schuylkill Navigation Company's canals and pools ; the Reading 
railroad, following down the Schuylkill on the left bank as far as Phe- 
nixville, and below there on the right bank ; and the Norristown and 
Philadelphia railroad, passing on the left bank of the river, through Ma- 
nyunk. Copper mines are said to have been opened many years since 
near Perkiomen creek, and more recently at another place ; Scott's old 
Geography speaks of a silver mine, and a lead mine in Providence town- 
ship discovered about the year 1800 ; but it is not known that any one has 
grown rich by working either. The streams, large and small, together 
with the dams on the Schuylkill, create an immense amount of water- 
power, which is well improved for manufacturing purposes. It was esti- 
mated that in 1830 there were in the county 17 merchant-mills, 99 grist- 
mills, 76 saw-mills, 3 marble saw-mills, 15 paper-mills, 30 oil-mills, 10 
clover-mills, 11 powder-mills, 5 iron works of various kinds, 9 cotton- 
factories, 3 woollen-factories, 1 1 fulling-mills, and 27 tanneries. There 
are also in the co. two incorporated academies, besides a number of ex- 
cellent private seminaries, and five public libraries. The co. was origin- 
ally settled in the S. E. end by Welsh and Swedes ; in the upper end by 
Germans ; and the descendants of these races, retaining many of their 
peculiarities, still occupy the soil. The Germans still retain their mother 

61 



482 MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 

tongue, but the original languages of the Swedes and the Welsh, for a 
long time preserved, have been eradicated by the English. 

The early settlement of Montgomery eo. followed close upon the arri- 
val of Wm. Penn. Robert Townsend, one of the early settlers about 
Germantown, says: — 

" In the year 1682, I found a concern on my mind to embark, with my wife and child, and went 
on board the ship Welcome, Robert Greenaway, commander, in company with my worthy friend 
Wm. Penn, whose good conversation was very advantageous to all the company." About a year 
after our arrival there came in about twenty families from high and low Germany, of religious 
good people, who settled about Germantown — the country continually increasing, people began to 
spread themselves further back. " Also a place called North Wales was settled by many of the 
ancient Britons, an honest-inclined people, although they had not then made a profession of the 
truth as held by us ; yet in a little time a large convincement was among them, and divers meet- 
ing-houses were built." 

Proud, in his History of Pennsylvania, states — 

" Among those adventurers and settlers who arrived about this time, were also many from 
Wales, of those who are called ancient Britons, and mostly Quakers ; divers of whom were of 
the original or early stock of that society there. They had early purchased of the proprietary in 
England, 40,000 acres of land. Tliose who came at present, took up so much of it on the west side 
of Schuylkill river as made the three townships of Merion, Haverford, and Radnor ; and in a 
few years afterwards their number was so much augmented as to settle the three other townships 
of Newtown, Goshen, and Uwchland. After this they continued still increasing, and became a, 
numerous and flourishing people. 

" Divers of these early Welsh settlers were persons of excellent and 
worthy character, and several of good education, family, and estate — 
chiefly Quakers ; and many of them either eminent preachers in that so- 
ciety, or otherwise well qualified and disposed to do good. 

" John Thomas, Robert Owen, and Jane his wife, from Merionethshire, 
were pious and of good family, education, and abilities, and had suffered 
much persecution for their religion, being Quakers ; but they died soon 
after their arrival. There was also another Robert Owen, who removed 
from Wales into Pennsylvania in 1690 — an eminent preacher among the 
Quakers — a skilful peacemaker, and of much service and utility. He 
died in the year 1697. 

" Rowland Ellis was a man of note among the Welsh settlers, from a 
place called Brin-Maur, near Dolgelly, in the county of Merioneth. In 
1682, he sent over Thomas Owen and his family to make a settlement. 
This was the custom of divers others of the Welsh, at first, to send per- 
sons over to take up land for them, and to prepare it against their com- 
ing. 

" Rowland Ellis first came over in 1686, bringing with him his eldest son, Rowland, then a boy. 
About 100 Welsh passengers came at the same time. They had a long passage — suffered n'juch 
for want of provisions — touched at Barbadoes, &.c. Many died. R. Ellis, after remaining about 
nine months here, returned to Wales, leaving his son with his uncle, John Humphrey. He re- 
turned to Pennsylvania in 1697, with his family, and about 100 other passengers, all from North 
Wales. He was then in his 45th year. He was a preacher among the Quakers, and an accep- 
table man in every station. He lived long to do good, and died in his 8Dth year, at his son-jn- 
law's, John Evans' house, in North Wales, Pa. 

" Hugh Roberts \vas an eminent Quaker preacher ; he removed from Wajes to Pennsylvania 
about the year 1683, where he lived near 18 years, to an advanced age. He had suffered mv^oh 
for his religion in his native country prior to his removal. 

" On his return from a religious visit to his native country, in the service 
of preaching the gospel, in the year 1698, a number of the inhabitants 
of North Wales removed to Pennsylvania in company with him, where 
he arrived on the 7th of the 5th month, many of the passengers having: 
(died at sea of the bjoody flux duying the passage, 



MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 483 

"In the latter end of this year, (1698,) William Jones, Thomas Evans, 
Robert Evans, Owen Evans, Cadwallader Evans, Hugh Griffith, John 
Hugh, Edward Foulke, John Humphrey, Robert Jones, and others, hav- 
ing purchased of Robert Tfurner 10,000 acres of land, began, in the fol- 
lowing year, to improve and settle the same, and called the township 
Guinedd — in English, North Wales. Some of the last mentioned passen- 
gers settled here, who, in general, did not, at first, profess with the Qua- 
kers ; but afterwards they, with many others, as the neighborhood in- 
creased, joined in religious society with them, and were an industrious 
and worthy people. 

"Elllis Pugh, one of the early Welsh settlers who arrived in the province 
in the year 1687, lived much of his time, and died here, 1718. Me was 
convinced of the Quakers' principles in Wales about the year 1674. He 
became a minister among them in 1680 ; in which capacity he continued 
till his death." 

This tract of 40,000 acres, extending across the lower end of Montgomery 
into Chester and Delaware counties, was known formerly as the Welsh 
line. The names of the townships are derived from favorite places in 
Wales. Oldmixon, who wrote in 1708, says: — 

" This tract is thick of townships ; as Radnor before-mentioned, Haverford, West Merioneth, 
and others. 'Tis very populous, and the people are very industrious ; by which means this coun- 
try is better cleared than any other part of the county. The inhabitants have many fine planta- 
tions of corn, and breed abundance of cattle, insomuch that they are looked upon to be as thriving 
and wealthy as any in the province — and this must always be said of the Welsh, that wherever 
they come, 'tis not their fault if they do not live, and live well too ; for they seldom spare for 
labor, which seldom fails of success. 

Many of the Welsh who first came over, as mentioned by Proud, were 
devout members of the Church of England. Of the early settlers of 
Gwinned township, only John Hughes and John Humphrey were Qua- 
kers, originally. The others, who were Episcopalians, were in the habit 
of meeting at Robert Evans', where Cadwallader Evans read the Bible to 
those assembled. But, says Mr. Watson, in his Olden Time- 
One time, as Cadwallader Evans was accustomed to relate to the late venerable Jesse Foulke, 
he was going as usual to his brother Robert's ; when passing near the road leading to Friends 
meeting, held at John Hughes' and John Humphrey's, it seemed as if he was impressed " to go 
down and see how the Quakers did." This he mentioned to his friends at the close of his own 
meeting, and they all agreed to go to the Friends meeting the next time, — where they were all 
so well satisfied that they never met again in their own worship. In 1700, the Friends built their 
log meeting-house, on the site where now stands their present stone house, built in 1823. An 
intermediate stOne house was built there in 1712. 

Mrs. S. Nancarro, the kinswoman of the above-mentioned Jesse Foulke, who lived to be 80 
years of age, used to tell the story a little variant, saying that the brothers Evans used to read 
the public services of their church, in a summer-house, constructed of boughs of trees ; and that 
when one of the brothers was proceeding to his meeting, having to pass by where William Peiin 
was speaking, he became so convinced, that he succeeded in bringing over all his brethren to the 
same profession. 

The same Mrs. N. had often seen and conversed with her grandfather, Hugh Evans, who lived 
to be ninety years of age. When he was a boy of twelve years of age, he remembered that Wil- 
liam Penn, with his daughter LaBtitia, and a servant, (in the year 1699 or 1700,) came out on 
horseback to visit his father, Thomas Evans. Their house was then superior, in that it was of 
barked and hewn logs, a refinement surpassing the common rank. At that house, William Penn 
ascended steps on the outside to go to his bed-chamber ; and the lad of twelve, curious to see so 
distinguished a guest, went up afterwards to peep through the apertures, and saw him on his 
knees at prayer, giving audible " thanks to God for such a peaceful arid excel'ient shelter in the 
wilderness !" The same facts I heard also from another ancient person. 

Some of these, either returned to their ancient faith, or others came in 



484 MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 

who adhered to it, for there are still standing at Evansburg, Oxford sind 
at Radnor, in Delaware co., several very ancient Episcopal churches 
founded by the Welsh. To these, and to the conversions mentioned 
above, the Rev. Evan Evans alludes in a letter to the Bishop of London 
in 1707. 

" But Montgomery and Radnor, next to my own beloved Philadelphia, had the most considera- 
ble share in my labors, where I prcaclied in Welsh once a fortnight for four years, till the arrival 
of Mr. Nicholas, minister of Chester, in 1704. 

" The Welsh at Radnor and Merioneth, in the province of Pennsylvania, had addressed my lord 
of liOndon, having a hundred hands to their petition, fftr a minister to be settled among them that 
understands the English language, there being many ancient people among those inhabitants that 
do not understand the English ; and could a sober and discreet man be procured to undertake 
that mission, he might be capable, by the blessing of God, to bring in a plentiful harvest of Welsh 
Quakers, that were originally bred in the Church of England, but were unhappily perverted before 
any minister in holy orders, that could preacii to them in their own languagfi, was sent into 
Pennsylvania ; but I behcve they are not irrecoverable had they an itinerant liiissionary who 
would use application and diligence to introduce them to the communion of the church. 

" There is another Welsh settlement called Montgomery, in the county of Philadelphia, twenty 
miles distant from the city, where there are considerable numbers of Welsh people, formerly in 
their native country of the communion of the Church of England ; but about the year 1698, two 
years before my arrival in that country, most of them joined with the Quakers, but by God's 
blessing some of them were induced to return, and I have baptized their children and preached 
often to them. 

" I visited them since, and prevailed upon them to meet every Lord's day, about forty in num- 
ber, where one that can understand the language well, and is a sober, discreet man, reads the 
prayers of the church, the proper psalms and lessons, omitting the absolution, &c., what pr'.perly 
belongs to thC prii'st's ollice, and then reads some portion in a book of devotion to the people. I 
met with several good books translated into the Welsh language among my country people, par- 
ticularly tlie Whole Duty of Man, in Welsh, and the Practice of Piety. As for the Christian 
Monitor, Dorrington's Family Guide to the Lord's Supper, the Advice of a Minister to his Parish- 
ioners — all in Welsh, what I received, were faithfully disposed, but were so few, that a greater 
number is still nmch wanting." 

A few years afterward, between 1708 and 1715, "Mr. Evans visited a new settlement called 
Parkeomen, situated on the river Schuylkill. Here many persons became attached to the Epis- 
copal church, were baptized and admitted to her conmluriidn." 

Smith, the historian, gives the dates of the establishment of Friends' 
meetings. 

In 1683 a f:rst-day meeting was established to be held at Takoncy or Oxford. Another was 
also established at Poetqucssing. And afterwards m the same year a monthly meeting was set 
up, to consist of those two meetings and that at Abington, to be held by turns among tliem. 

The 24th of the seventh month, 1716, the meeting at Horsham vi'as settled, at first only in the 
winter season; but Friends increasing, after some time a meeting-house was built, and it waS 
fixed there constantly and so continues. 

At North Wales a meeting-house was built in the year 1700, which was but two years aftef 
the arrival of the Welsh Friends to that place, and meetings were kept therein by the consent of 
Haverford monthly meeting, unto which they had at first joined themselves. Finding tiuth to 
prevail, and their numbers to increase, they found it necessary to build another meeting-house in 
1712; and on the 19th of the ninth month tliat year, the first meeting for worship was held 
therein. Their number afterwards still increasing, as well among themselves as by tile union of 
many adjacent settlers, Friends, belonging to North Wales or (iwynned ; and Plymouth meeting 
settled a monthly meeting of business among themselves, by the consent of Haverford meeting 
aforesaid and the quarterly meeting of Philadelphia. The said monthly meeting was first held 
the 22d day of the twelfth month 1714 or '15, at Gwynned meeting-house, and called Gwynned 
monthly meeting. 

Plymouth meeting-house was built a considerable time before this, and a meeting for worship 
held there as at this day. The said meeting was in being the 4th of the first month, 1688-9, and 
how long before is not certain. 

One of the venerable meeting-houses, founded by the early Friends from 
Wales, is that in Lower Merion township, situated near the Columbia 
railroad, about two miles west of Manyunk. It was erected, as appears 
by a date on a tablet, in 1695 ; within a few years past, it has been ro- 



MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



488 




Ancient Friends Meeting-house at Lower Merion. 

paired and stuccoed, and is still in use. It is the oldest place of worship in 
the state. Among the early settlers in Merion were — the Roberts family, 
of whom Jonathan Roberts, of Upper Merion, is a descendant ; Edward 
Jones, " a man given to hospitality, and generally beloved by his acquain- 
tances," who died in Feb., 1737, at the age of 82 ; and Benjamin Hum- 
phrey, who came over in 1683, and died in Nov., 1737, aged 76 — he was 
also " remarked for his hospitality, and was a useful member among 
the Quakers." 

It does not distinctly appear at what time the Swedes first extended 
their settlement into the region of Swedes Ford ; but Major Holstein, an 
aged descendant of that race, says they came after the Welsh, and that 
his great-grandfather bought part of his farm of a Welshman. Mats 
Holstein and Peter Rambo, with their families, were the earliest Swedish 
settlers in Upper Merion. There is an old house still existing about a 
mile west of Norristown, where Major Holstein, his father, and grand- 
father, were all born. His grandfather helped to build the Swedish 
church at the Ford, which was erected about 1763, when Rev. Charles 
Magnus Wrangel had charge of the congregation. In the Annals of the 
Swedes, by Rev. J. C. Clay, are the following passages, which may throw 
some light on the date of the settlement here. 

" In 1705, the ' upper inhabitants' — meaning, I suppose, those at Upper Merion, or perhaps up 
the Delaware towards Bristol — made application for occasional services in their neighborhood in 
th.j winter season, because of their distance from the church. It was agreed that the rector should 
officiate there twice during the winter season." 

" 1720. A meeting was held on the 27th of March, for the transaction of business, at which 
four clergymen were present : the Rev. Provost Andrew Hesselius, the Rev. Mr. Lidenius, of 
Racoon and Penn's Neck, and the Rev. Messrs. Lidman and Samuel Hesselius. The provost 
proposed that the last named clergyman should take charge of those portions of the congregation 
residing at Kalkonhook and Ncshamani. This was objected to by the lay members present, upon 
the ground that the Swedes living in those places might thus become ' weaned' from the mother 
church at Wicaco. It being understood that one clergyman was compietent to the duties at Wi- 
caco, it was then proposed by Mr. Lidman, that as the people at Manating — supposed to be Mor- 
latton, four miles above Pottsgrove, on the Schuylkill — were at a great distance from the church, 
they, perhaps, would be glad of his services there, and that he would cheerfully relinquish to him 
80 much of the salary as was furnished by that part of the congregation. Marcus Hulings, and 



MONTGOMERY COUNfV. 

other ' respectable' inhabitants of that part of the country then present, earnestly seconded this 
proposition, promising to contribute, to the extent of their means, towards his support. It was 
accordingly eirranged that the Rev. Samuel Hesselius should Settle at Manating." 

In 1765, the Swedish churches of Upper Merion, Wicaco, and Kingsess- 
ing, were unitedly incorporated by John Penn, and this original charter 
was amended and confirmed by the commonwealth in 1787. 

The church Called Christ church, occupies a lovely and picturesque 
knoll, shaded with tall trees, and overlooking the beautiful Schuylkill, 
about a itiile below Norristown, on the right bank. A quiet hamlet sur- 
rounds it, inhabited by the descendants of the ancient Swedes. They 
still cling together, and although the Swedish and Episcopal clergy min- 
ister interchangeably, with the same ritual, yet the Swedish churches are 
governed by their own ancient laws, and the control of the property is 
held by those of Swedish descent, either in direct line or by marriage. 
The Swedes, like ducks, always had a predilection for the water, they 
never settled far in the interior, and in early days they made free use of 
their canoes for going to church, and in their ordinary intercourse with 
neighboring settlements. Major Holstein's grandmothef, who lived at 
Morlatton, above Pottstown, when married, came down to the church 
with her wedding party, all in their canoes. In later days^ during the 
revolution, the women travelled on horseback, and wore " safeguard pet- 
ticoats," which, when they alighted, they took off and hung along the 
fence. 

The Germans who came over to Germantown, as mentioned above by 
Robert Townsend, soon made known by letters throughout all Germany 
the pre-eminent advantages, both physical and moral, of Wm. Penn's 
province in the new world ; and many came over from the Palatinate, 
and other parts of Germany, early in the eighteenth century, between 
1700 and 1720 or '30. These extended their settlements beyond the 
Welsh line, into the townships of Hanover and Frederick, about the head- 
waters of Perkiomen creek. An extensive neighborhood back of Potts- 
town, comprising New Itanover, and parts of Frederick and Douglas 
townships, is still known as " the swamp ;" formerly as Faulkner's swamp, 
from one of the first settlers. Rev. Conrad Miller, in a letter to the com- 
piler, says : — 

" The inhabitants of this rfegion are nearly all members of the Lutheran and German Reformed 
Churches, and worship in twb separate edifices. The Lutheran congregation took its rise in the 
beginning of the 18th century ; for when Dr. Henry Melchior Muehlenberg came to this country, 
in 1741, he found (at New Hanover, or the Swamp) about 100 communicants, who then wor- 
shipped in a log church. In 1767 they built a new spacious church of stone, in which they con- 
vene at present, with about 500 communicant members. Their successive pastors have been 
Dr. Henry M. Muehlenberg, Streit, Henry Muehlenberg, jr., Vogt, Kiel, Weinland, Geissenhei- 
mer, Jacob Miller, and Conrad Miller, still living. [Mr. Miller also officiates at the new brick 
German Lutheran church in Frederick township, erected about the year 1833.] The German 
Reformed congregation originated about the year 1747. They also at first worshipped in a 
church of wood, but in 1790 erected a fine spacious brick church, and have now about 300 com- 
municants. Their pastors have been Rev. Messrs. Leidig, Pomps, Dallecker, Harmann, and 
Hoffman." 

There is quite an extensive circle of Lutheran congregations at Potts- 
town, at Trappe, and in the adjoining townships of Bucks co. About 
eight miles southeast from " the Swamp" is one of the earliest of these 
churches. 

Trappe, or the Trapp, is a small village inhabited principally by peo- 



MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 487 

pie of German descent, and who still speak that language. The singular 
name is said to have been derived from an old tavern, one of the first 
houses in the place, the door of which was formerly approached by a 
high fiight of steps, or Ireppe, as they are called in German. It took the 
name of the Trcppe tavern, or the Treppe. 




Ancient Lutheran Church at Trappe. 

The above is a view of the very quaint old church in the village, 
erected in 1743 by Rev. Henry Melchior Muhlenberg, the father of the 
Lutheran Church in the United States. The interior of the church is still 
preserved nearly in its original state, and is, if possible, more quaint and 
antique than the exterior. Not only every pew, but each seat in the pew, 
has its own number branded upon it with a hot iron. Over the door of 
the church, on a tablet, is the following inscription in Latin, which was 
deciphered with some difficulty : — 

" Sub REMiGio Christi has jeues societati AuGusTANiE Confess. Dedit^ ded- 

ICATAS EX IPSO FUNDAMENTO EXSTRUXIT HeNRICUS MbLCHIOR MuLENBERG UNA 

CUM cE>JS0RiBus I. N. Crossmano, F. Marstellero, H. a. Heilmano, I. MUL- 
LERO, H. Hasio, et G. Kebnero, ad, mdccxijh." 

In the burial-ground in the rear, and near the southeastern angle of 
the church, is the grave of Father Muhlenberg, and those of several 
others of his distinguished family, one of whom was eminent as a briga- 
dier-general in the revolutionary war. We copied the two following 
inscriptions : — 

Hoc monumentura sacrum esto njemoriae beat! ac venerabilis Henrici Melchior Muhlenberg, 
S. Theolog. Doctor et senioris ministerii, Lutheran Americani. Nati Sept. 6, 1711, defuncti Oct. 
7, 1787. Quails et quantus fuerit non ignorabunt sine lapide futura saBCula. 



Sacred to the memory of General Peter Muhlenberg — born Oct. 1, A. D., 1746, departed this 
life Oct. 1, 1807, aged 61 years. He was brave in the field, faithful in the cabinet, honorable in 
all his transactions, a sincere friend, and an honest man. 

Rev. Henry M. Muhlenberg was born at Eimbeck, in Hanover, Germany, Sept. 6, 1711, In 
November, 1742, he arrived in Philadelphia, having been sent by the parent churches in Ger- 
many, at the earnjest solicitation of the settlers here, to take charge of their infant churches. 
From the year 1720 down to the arriyal of Mr. Muhlenberg, great numbers of Germans bad eml 



48S MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 

grated to Pennsylvania and other provinces, with a view, among other inducements, of enjoying 
unmolested their religfious opinions. Unfortunately, the pustors or teachers who occasionally ad- 
ministered in the Lutheran churches in this country at that day were but ill qualified for their 
station. Many were not regularly ordained ; some were separatists and violent sectarians, and 
gome were denounced as impostors. In this unhappy state of things, they resolved to seek from 
the highest sources in Germany — from the professors in the University of Halle — a regularly 
ordained and commissioned pastor to take charge of their feeble flocks. Mr. Muhlenberg arrived 
for this purpose. He found but three organized Lutheran churches — one at Philadelphia, one at 
Providence, (the Trappe,) and one at New Hanover, (at " the Swamp," a few miles above Trappe.) 
The latter church then consisted of about 120 members, who worshipped in a log church : that 
at the Trappe of about 50 members, who worshipped in a barn. Mr. Muhlenberg passed fre- 
quently back and forth among these three churches, preaching, and residing some time in each 
place. During his labors the churches prospered abundantly, and new and commodious edifices 
were erected. In 1745 he received the assistance of several other bretliren who arrived as pas. 
tors and teachers from Germany. That same year he married, and moved to the Trappe. In 
1761 he was again recalled to Philadelphia, where he labored for 13 years. Leaving liis son 
Henry, who had previously been appointed his colleague, in charge of the congregation in Phila- 
delphia, he returned to Providence or the Trappe in 1774, where he continued to reside until his 
death, in October, 1787. The memory of his piety and uselulness will be long cherished by the 
numerous Lutheran churches which have suice sprung frorji the three to which he ministered. 

The Mennonists, or German Baptists, also have several congregations 
in this vicinity, one of which is opposite Pottstown. They came to this 
country first about the years 1706 to '17. (See page 393.) 

In the northern corner of the county, about New Goshenhoppen, on 
the head-waters of Perkiomen creek, is a settlement of Germans, called 
Schwenckfelders :— 

Caspar de Schwenckfeldt was a Silesian nobleman, born in 1490, at the castle of Ossig, in the 
duchy of Lignitz. He was for some years counsellor to the duke, but afterwards turning his 
attention to the study of the Scriptures and the writings of the fathers, he joined the Protestants. 
Subsequently he adopted peculiar opinions for himself, and began to propagate them in Silesia, 
and in Strasburg, Augsburg, and other imperial cities. Everywhere he encountered the enmity 
of the zealots of other sects. His morals were pure, his piety fervent, and his sincerity unques- 
tionable. He believed that he received his doctrines from immediate divine inspiration. He 
differed from Luther in three principal points. 1. With regard to the Eucharist, he inverted the 
words, " this is my body," and would have them understood thus : " my body is this ;" that is, 
such as this bread which is broken and consumed, a true and real food which nourishes and sat- 
isfies the soul. " My blood is this" — such in its effects as the wine, which strengthens and 
refreshes the heart. 2. With respect to the efficacy of the divine word, he denied that the exter- 
nal word which is committed to writing in the Scriptures possesses the power of healing, illumi- 
nating, and renewing the mind ; and he ascribed this power to the internal word, which, accord- 
ing to his notion, was Christ himself. 3. He would not allow Christ's human nature in its 
exalted state to be called a creature, or a created substance, which denomination appeared to him 
infinitely beneath its dignity. He passed his life in wandering through Germany to propagate 
his doctrines, and, in spite of severe persecution, by his eloquence and zeal he obtained a great 
number of followers. He died at Ulm in 1651. He had written a number of theological works, 
which have been frequently reprinted. 

The church founded by Schwenckfeldt suffered persecution from the 
Romish church for nearly a century, in common with the Moravians, an I 
Waldenses, and other Protestant sects. They found protection for eight 
years in the dominions of Count Zinzendorf ; but persecution followed 
them again, and about the same time with the Moravians, they determin- 
ed to seek an asylum in Pennsylvania. They arrived here. Proud says, 
in 1733-34, and others say in 1739. A few years after their departure, 
Frederick of Prussia issued an edict,* dated Selowitz, 8th March, 1742, 
denouncing the intolerance which had banished them — inviting them to 
return to Silesia — offering to restore their estates where they had been 
confiscated, and to remunerate them for their loss — to grant them farms 

r — - — — 

* This edict may be seen at length in Proud's History, ii. 349, or in Hazard's Register, iv. 127. 



MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 489 

and lots for building, gratis — " besides several ordinary free years." Such 
was the high character they had sustained at home. The Philadelphia 
Monthly Magazine says : — 

The emigrants here referred to were originally inhabitants of Silesia, and, as we learn from our 
correspondent, did not exceed 100 in number. They were distinguished at home for honesty, so- 
briety, and industry ; and had, by tlie many excellent traits in their character, attached to them 
the good wishes and kind offices of those with whom they associated. On hearing of the decree 
by which their opinions were denounced, they commenced their journey in the beginning of the 
year 17.'J9, with very little money, and travelled on foot to the Rhine. They were prevented from 
disposing of their property, chiefly, it is believed, in consequence of a prohibitory edict prevent- 
ing sale, or confiscating in case of emigration. Having determined to depart for America, they 
proceeded to Amsterdam, where, meeting with friends who commiserated their condition, and 
supplied them with what was necessary to render their voyage as comfortable as possible, they 
embarked for Philadelphia. It deserves to be mentioned, that a mercantile house in Amsterdam 
furnished, without charge, the ship that conveyed them hither. After a favorable voyage, they 
arrived safely in Philadelphia, and immediately settled in Montgomery, at that time a part of the 
county of Philadelphia. Industrious and economical, they soon enjoyed the respect of their 
neigiibors, and at an early period acquiring farms, in the vicinity of Skippach, Flour Town, 
Kusherhupper, and other places. There are, at this time, several churches belonging to these 
people in Montgomery county. 

The edict was issued about three years after their landing in this country ; and notwithstand- 
ing its promises of aid and protection, not one Sehwenckfeldian returned. 

It is worthy of being recorded, that when the house in Amsterdam, which generously furnished 
the ship, or their descendants, were reduced to difficult circumstances in the year 1790, the 
Schwenckfeldians in Pennsylvania, in remembrance of past kindness, promptly advanced a con- 
siderable sum, about $3,000, for their relief. 

Montgomery co. was thus peopled by the Welsh, Swedes, and Ger- 
mans, who, though of many different religious sects, agreed at last in one 
principle, to live peaceably with each other ; while they diligently im- 
proved and cultivated their possessions. The old French and Indian 
wars of 1755 and '63 only alarmed, without injuring, the inhabitants of 
Montgomery ; the scenes of the revolution were brought nearer to their 
doors. 

The battle of Brandywine took place on the 11th Sept. 1777. The de- 
tails will be found under Chester co. 

The day after the battle Washington retreated with the army, defeated 
but not dismayed, to Germantown, where he encamped. After allowing 
his men one day for rest and refreshment, he returned across the Schuyl- 
kill into Chester co., and advanced as far as the Warren tavern on the 
Lancaster road, " with the firm intent of giving the enemy battle where- 
ever he should meet them." The two armies were upon the point of 
coming to a general engagement, about a mile north of the Goshen 
meeting-house, but were prevented by a violent flood of rain, which con- 
tinued all day and the following night, and wet all their ammunition. 
Before a new supply could be obtained, the British left their position near 
the White Horse tavern, and moved down the road leading to the Swedes 
Ford. Washington crossed above them at Parker's Ford, and threw him- 
self in their front, hoping to meet them on their passage. The enemy 
then moved rapidly up on the right bank of the Schuylkill towards Read- 
ing, and Washington believing their design was either to turn the right 
of his army, or to get possession of the military stores at Reading, or 
both, moved his army up near to Pottsgrove. But Gen. Howe preferring 
Philadelphia to Reading, immediately returned down the river, crossed it, 
and pushed on to the city. Washington says : 

" The enemy, by a variety of perplexing manoeuvres through a coun- 

!52 



490 MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 

try from which I could not derive the least intelligence, (being to a man 
disaffected,) contrived to pass the Schuylkill last night at the Fatland and 
other fords in the neighborhood of it. They marched immediately to- 
wards Philadelphia. They had so far got the start before I received cer- 
tain mtelligence that any considerable number had crossed, that I found 
it in vain to think of overtaking their rear, with troops harassed as ours 
had been since the battle of Brandyvvine. * * * * Why I did not 
follow immediately I have mentioned ; but the strongest reason against 
being able to make a forced march, is the want of shoes. Messrs. Car- 
roll, Chase, and Penn, who were some days with the army, can inform Con- 
gress in how deplorable a situation the troops are for want of that ne- 
cessary article. At least one thousand men are barefooted, and have 
performed the marches in that condition." 

Gen. Howe had stationed a detachment of his troops on the Jersey side 
below Philadelphia to protect the movements of the British fleet ; a part 
were quartered in the city, and the larger part were at Germantown. 
The American army was then, about the end of September, encamped at 
Skippach creek, and Washington determined to avail himself of the di- 
vided state of the British army, to fall upon their encampment at Ger- 
mantown.* 

He took this resolution with the more confidence, as he was now reinforced by the junction of 
the troops from Peekskill and the Maryland militia. 

The British line of encampment crossed Germantown at right angles about the centre, the left 
wing extending on the west from the town to the Schuylkill. That wing was covered in front 
by the mounted and dismounted German chasseurs, who were stationed a little above towards the 
American camp ; a battalion of light infantry and the Queen's American rangers were in the 
front of the right. The centre, being posted within the town, was guarded by the 40th regiment, 
and another battalion of light infantry, stationed about three quarters of a mile above the head 
of the village. Washington resolved to attack the British by surprise, not doubting, that if he 
succeeded in breaking them, as they were not only distant, but totally separated from the fleet, his 
victory must be decisive. 

He so disposed his troops, that the divisions of Sullivan and Wayne, flanked by Conway's 
brigade, were to march down the main road, and entering the town by the way of Chestnut hill, 
to attack the English centre and the right flank of their left wing ; the divisions of Greene and Ste- 
phens, flanked by Macdougal's brigade, were to take a circuit towards the east, by the Limekiln 
road, and entering the town at the market-house, to attack the left flank of the right wing. The 
intention of the American general in seizing the village of Germantown by a double attack, was 
effectually to separate the right and left wings of the royal army, which must have given him a 
certain victory. In order that the left flank of the l<eft wing might not contract itself, and sup- 
port the right flank of the same wing, Gen. Armstrong, with the Pennsylvania militia, was or. 
dered to march down the bridge-road upon the banks of the Schuylkill, and endeavor to turn the 
English, if they should retire from that river. In like manner, to prevent the right flank of the 
right wing from going to the succor of the left flank, which rested upon Germantown, the militia 
of Maryland and Jersey, under Gens. Smallwood and Forman, were to march down the Old 
York road, and to fall upon the English on that extremity of their wing. The division of Lord 
Sterling, and the brigades of Gens. Nash and Maxwell, formed the reserve. These dispositions 
being made, Washington quitted his camp at Skippach creek, and moved towards the enemy on 
the 3d of Oct. about 7 in the evening. Parties of cavalry silently scoured all the roads, to seize 
any individual who might have given notice to the British general of the danger that threatened 
him. Washington in person accompanied the column of Sullivan and Wayne. The march was 
rapid and silent. 

At three o'clock in the morning, the British patroles discovered the approach of the Americans ; 
the troops were soon called to arms ; each took his post with the precipitation of surprise. About 
sunrise the Americans came up. Gen. Conway, having driven in the pickets, fell upon the 40th 
regiment and the battalion of light infantry. These corps, after a short resistance, being over- 

* The account of this battle belongs properly mider the head of Philadelphia co., but is placed 
here in consequence of its intimate connection with other events which oceurred in Montgomery 
county. 



MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 491 

powered by numbers, were pressed and pursued into the village. Fortune appeared already to have 
declared herself in favor of the Americans ; and certainly if they had gained complete posses- 
sion of Gerinantown, nothing could have frustrated them of the most signal victory. But in this 
conjuncture, Lieutenant. colonel Musgrave tln-ew himself, with six companies of the 40th regi- 
ment, into a large and strong stone house, situated near the head of the village, from which he 
poured upon the assailants so terrible a fire of musketry that they could advance no further. 
The Americans attempted to storm this unex])ectcd covert of the enemy, but those within con- 
tinued to defend themselves with resolution. They finally brought cannon up to the assault, but 
such was the intrepidity of the Englisii, and the violence of their fire, that it was found impossi- 
ble to dislodge them. During this time, Gen. Greene had approached the right wing, and routed, 
after a slight engagement, the light infantry and Queen's rangers. Afterwards, turning a little to 
his right, and towards Germantown, he fell upon the left flank of the enemy's right wing, and 
endeavored to enter the village. Meanwhile, he expected that the Pennsylvania militia, under 
Armstrong, upon the right, and the militia of Maryland and Jersey, commanded by Smallwood 
and Forman on the left, would have executed the orders of the commander-in-chief, by attacking 
and turning, the first the left, and the second the right, flank of the British army. But either 
because the obstacles they encountered had retarded them, or that they wanted ardor, the former 
arrived in sight of the German chasseurs, and did not attack them ; the latter appeared too late 
upon the field of battle. 

The consequence was, that Gen. Grey, finding his left flank secure, marched, with nearly the 
whole of the left wing, to the assistance of the centre, which notwithstanding the unexpected 
resistance of Col. Musgrave, was excessively hard pressed in Germantown, where the Americans 
gained ground incessantly. The battle was now very warm at that village, the attack and the 
defence being equally vigorous. The issue appeared for some time dubious. Gen. Agnew was 
mortally wounded, while charging with great bravery, at the head of the 4th brigade. The 
American Col. Matthews, of the column of Greene, assailed the English with so much fury that 
he drove them before him into the town. He had taken a large number of prisoners, and was 
about entering the village, when he perceived that a thick fog and the unevenness of the ground 
had caused him to lose sight of the rest of his division. Being soon enveloped by the extremity 
of the right wing, which fell back upon him when it had discovered that nothing was to be ap- 
prehended from the tardy approach of tlie militia of Maryland and Jersey, he was compelled to 
surrender with all his party : the English had already rescued their prisoners. This check was 
the cause that two regiments of the English right wing were enabled to throw themselves into 
Germantown, and to attack the Americans who had entered it in flank. Unable to sustain the 
shock, they retired precipitately, leaving a great number of killed and wounded. Lieutenant- 
colonel Musgrave, to whom belongs the principal honor of this affair, was then relieved from all 
peril. Gen. Grey, being absolute master of Germantown, flew to the succor of the right wing, 
which was engaged with the left of the column of Greene. The Americans then took to flight, 
abandoning to the English, throughout the line, a victory of which, in the commencement of the 
action, they had felt assured. 

The principal causes of the failure of this well-concerted enterprise, were the extreme haziness 
of the weather — which was so thick that the Americans could neither discover the situation nor 
movements of the British army, nor yet those of their own ; the inequality of the ground, which 
incessantly broke the ranks of their battalions ; an inconvenience more serious and difficult to 
be repaired for new and inexperienced troops, as were most of the Americans, than for the Eng- 
lish veterans ; and, finally, the unexpected resistance of Musgrave, who found means, in a criti- 
cal moment, to transform a mere house into an impregnable fortress. 

Thus fortune, who at first liad appeared disposed to favor one party, suddenly declared herself 
on the side of their adversaries. Lord Cornwallis, being at Philadelphia, upon intelligence of the 
attack upon the camp, ffew to its succor with a corps of cavalry and the grenadiers ; but when 
he reached the field of battle, the Americans had already left it. They had two hundred men 
killed in this action ; the number of wounded amounted to six Imndred ; and about four hundred 
were made prisoners. One of their most lamented losses was that of Gen. Nash, of North Car- 
olina. The loss of the British was little over five hundred in killed and wounded ; among the 
former were Brigadier-general Agnew, an officer of rare merit, and Col. Bird. The American 
army saved all its artillery, and retreated the same day about twenty miles, to Perkyomy creek. 

The Congress expressed in decided terms their approbation, both of the plan of this enterprise 
and the courage with which it was executed ; for which their thanks were given to the general 
and the army. Gen. Stephens, however, was cashiered for misconduct on the retreat. A few 
days after the battle, the royal army removed from Germantown to Philadelphia. — Botta's Ameri. 
can War. 

Annexed is a view of the house into which Col. Musgrave threw his 
detachment. It is still in possession of the Chew family. The marks of 
the American balls still remain in many parts of the house. 



49!^ 



MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 




Mr. Cheiv's house. 

The above is an account of the battle in the spirited, but general terms 
of the historian. Let us now follow Col. Timothy Pickering, one of 
Washington's aids, into the village, and hear the whistling of the bullets, 
listen to the councils of the officers, and observe the movements of the 
troops. Mr. Pickering is answering the inquiries of some historian : — 

Salem, Mass., Aug. 23d, 1826. 

Sir !— ^Nearly forty-nine years have elapsed since the battle of Germantovvn ; of course you 
may well suppose, tliat many facts respecting it are beyond my power of recollection, while a 
few are indelibly impressed on my memory. 

Gen. Washington, in Jiis kttcr to Congress of Oct. the 5th, the day after the battle, says, 
" that the arnly marched about seven o'clock in the evening of the 3d ; and (hat Gen. Sullivan's 
advanced party attacked the enemy's picket at Mount Airy, or Mr. Allen's house, about sunrise 
the next morning, which presently gave way; and his main body, consisting of the right wing, 
following soon, engaged the light infantry and other troops encamped near the picket, which they 
forced from their ground. Leaving their baggage, they retreated a considerable distance, having 
previously thrown a party into Mr. Chew's house." The term here applied to these advanced 
corps of the enemy, that thoy were " forced from the ground," shows that they were in arms, and 
resisted the assailants ; and the previous brush with the picket, a guard always posted in ad- 
vance on purpose to give notice of an enemy's approach, roused " the light infantry and othei 
troops," \Vho had time enough to take their arms and form for action. They retreated, of necessity, 
before the greatly superior force of the whole right wing of our army. But the " leaving of their 
baggage" authorizes the inference, that tlicy had no knowledge of the march of the American 
army, until the firing in the engagement with tlie picket guard gave the alarm. If then these 
advanced corps of the enemy were not, in the strict sense of the word surpiised, that is, " caught 
napping," unprepared for action, much less could the main body, posted in the centre of German- 
town, two miles further off, have been surprised. This distance gave them ample time to pre- 
pare for action, in any maimer which the attack of their enemy should require. 

You ask, " at what distance from Chew's house the attack commenced ?" At that time I was 
a stranger to that part of tiie country. From my subseqent acquaintance with it, dunng my 
residence in Pennsylvania, I should estimate the distance of Mount Airy to Philadelphia to be 
eight miles. Chew's house seven miles, and the centre of Germantown six miles. And these I 
think are the distances, as I have occasionally heard them mentioned. 

You ask, " how long a pause was made at Chew's house ; and what space of time probably 
intervened between the beginning of the action and the general engagement at the head of the 
village ?" The pause at Chew's house in the manner I shall presently mention, probably delayed 
the advance of the rear dhiision of our army into action for half an hour. And taking the at- 
tack of the picket at Mount Airy as the beginning of the action, it was probably near half an 
hour before it became general as to the whole of Sullivan's column; and this general engage- 
ment must have commenced after he had passed Chew''s house ; for T saw not one dead mar. 
until I had passed it, and then but one, lying in the xohA where I fell in with Gen. Sullivan. I 



MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 493 

presume tiiat, following close on the heels of the British battalion of light infa; try, and the 40th 
-egiment, which were retiring before him, Sullivan, with his column, had passed Chew's house 
without annoyance from it. For it must have taken some time for Col. Musgrave, who entered 
it with six companies of the 40th regiment, to barricade and secure the doors and windows of 
the lower story, before he would be ready to fire from the chamber windows ; and it was from 
them that the tiring I saw proceeded. 

In the march of the army. Gen. Washington, following Sullivan's column, kept in the road 
leading to and Ihrongh Germanto wn to Philadelphia. When he had entered the northern part of 
the village, we heard in advance of us, (I was riding by the general's side,) a very heavy fire of 
musketry. Gen. Sullivan's divisions, it was evident, were warmly engaged with the enemy ; but 
neither was in sight. This fire, brisk and heavy, continuing. Gen. Washington said to me, " I 
am afraid Gen. Sullivan is throwing away his ammunition ; ride forward and tell him to preserve 
it." I do not know what was the precise idea which at that moment struck the mind of the 
general. I can only conjecture that he was apprehensive that Sullivan, after meeting the enemy 
in the front, kept up his brisk and incessant fire, when the haziness of the air, and its increased 
obscurity, from the burning of so much powder, prevented his troops having such a distinct view 
of the enemy as would render their fire efficient. Be tliat as it may, the instant I received the 
general's orders, I rode forward, and in the road, three or four hundred yards beyond Chew's 
house, met Sullivan, and delivered to him the general's orders. 

At this time I had never heard of Chew's house ; and had no idea that an enemy was in my 
rear. The first notice I received of it was from the whizzing of the musket balls, across the 
road, before, behind, and above me, as I was returning, after delivering the orders to Sullivan. 
Instantly turning my eye to the right, I saw the blaze of the nmskets, whose shot were still 
aimed at me, from the windows of a large stone house, standing back about a hundred yards 
from the road. This was Chew's house. Passing on, I came to some of our artillery, who 
were firing very obliquely on the front of the house. I remarked to them that in that position 
their fire would be unavailing, and that the only chance of their sliot making any impression on 
the house, would be by moving down and firing directly on its front. Then immediately passing 
on, I rejoined Gen. Washington, who, with Gen. Knox and other officers, was in front of a stone 
house (nearly all the houses in Germantown were of stone) next northward of the open fields in 
which Chew's house stood. I found they were discussing in Washington's presence this ques- 
tion : Whether the whole of our troops then behind should immediately advance, regardless of 
the enemy in Chew's house, or first summon them to surrender ? Gen. Knox strenuously urged 
the sending of a summons. Among other things he said, " It would be unmilitary to leave a 
castle in our rear." I answered, " Doubtless that is a correct general maxim ; but it does not 
apply in this case. We know the extent of this castle (Chew's house :) and to guard against 
the danger from the enemy's sallying, and falling on the rear of our troops, a small regiment may 
be posted here to watch them ; and if they sally, such a regiment will take care of them. " But," 
I added, " to summon them to surrender will be useless. We are now in the midst of the bat- 
tle ; and its issue is unknown. In this state of uncertainty, and so well secured as the enemy 
find themselves, they will not regard a summons ; they will fire at your flas;" However, a flag 
was sent with a summons. Lieut. Smith of Virginia, my assistant in the office of adjutant- 
general, volunteered his service to carry it. As he was advancing, a shot from the house gave 
him a wound of which he died. 

Whatever delay in the advance of the division in our rear, was occasioned by the pause at 
Chew's house, I am satisfied that Sullivan's colunm did not halt there at all, as mentioned by 
Judge Johnson. The column was certainly not in sight when the general sent me with the or- 
ders already noticed ; and it is alike certain that it was then beyond Chew's house. Nor were 
the enemy forming under cover of the house, or I must have seen them. When the orders were 
sent to our troops in the rear to advance, I do not know ; but it must have been subsequent to 
the sending of the flag — and, I should think, twenty minutes, at least, after it was found that an 
enemy was in the house. The general did not pass it at all. I had remained near him until oiu- 
troops were retreating, when I rode off" to the right, to endeavor to stop and rally those I met re- 
tiring in companies and squads ; but it was impracticable ; their ammunition, I suppose, had 
generally been expended. 

In the aforementioned letter from Gen. Washington to Congress, he says, " the attack from our 
left column, under Gen. Greene, began about three quarters of an hour after that from the right." 
You ask the cause of this. The answer is obvious. The right column, under Gen. Sullivan, 
which Washington accompanied, marched on the direct road to Germantown ; Greene, with his 
column, was obliged to make a circuit to the left to gain the road which led to his point of attack. 
The columns being thus entirely separated, and at a distance from each other, no calculations 
of their commanders could have insured their arriving at the same time at their respective points 
of attack. 

Judge Johnson, in his " Life of Greene," has represented as " almost ludicrous" the " scene" 
exhibited by some writers, of the discussion near Chew's house, in the presence of Gen. Wash 
ington, ill which it is hinted that opinions were " obtruded ;" and that even field-oflicers may 



494 MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 

have expressed their opinions ; "but," he adds, " Gen. Washington was listening to the counsds 
of his own mind and of his general officers." I know, however, that he did listen to the dis. 
cussion ; and Lee, commanding a troop of horse, on that day on duty near the general's person, 
accounts for his determination to send the summons. " Knox," he says, " being always high 
in the general's confidence, his opinion prevailed." Further I must remark, that the general 
officers, whom the Judge supposes to have been present, and advising the commander-in-chief, 
were then in their proper places, with their divisions and brigades. Knox alone of the general 
officers was present. Commanding in the artillery department, and the field-pieces being distrib- 
uted among the brigades of the army, he was always at liberty, in time of action, to attend 
the commander-in-chief. Some two or three years since, I wrote to Judge Johnson, informing 
him of his mistakes in the matter noticed in this paragraph. Others of his details of this bat- 
tle, which are inconsistent with the statements I have here given to you, must be incorrect. 
The truth is, that Gen. Washington, not sanguine in his own opinions, and his diffidence being 
probably increased by a feeling sense of high responsibility as commander-in-chief, was ever 
disposed, when occasions occurred, to consult those officers who were near him, in whose dis- 
cernment and fidelity he placed a confidence, and certainly his decisions Were often influenced 
by their opinions. This is within my knowledge. 

I am, &c. T. PICKERING. 

Gen. Howe now turned his attention to the removal of the obstructions 
in the Delaware below Philadelphia ; and Washington having encamped 
again at Skippach, sent out Gens. Greene, Layfayette, and others, to 
annoy the enemy. Washington, being joined by the northern troops from 
the Hudson, took a strong position at White-marsh, about 14 miles from 
Philadelphia, with his right on Wisahiccon creek, and his front partly 
covered by Sandy run. While here the following incident occurred about 
the beginning of December. 

Gen. Howe's head-quarters were in Second st., fourth door below Spruce, in a house forrtierly oc- 
cupied by Gen. Cadwallader. Directly opposite resided William and Lydia Darrach, members of 
the society of Friends. A superior officer of the British army, believed to be the adjutant-general, 
fixed upon one of their chambers, a back room, for private conference, and two officers frequently 
met there, with fire and candles, in close consultation. About the 2d of December, the adjutant- 
general told Lydia that they would be in the room at 7 o'clock, and remain late, and that they 
wished the family to retire early to bed ; adding that when they were going away, they would call 
her to let them out, and extinguish their fire and candles. She accordingly sent all her family 
to bed, but as the officer had been so particular, her curiosity was excited. She took oft' her 
shoes, put her ear to the keyhole of the conclave, and overheard an order read for all the British 
troops to march out late in the evening of the 4th, and attack Gen. Washington's army, then 
encamped at White-marsh. On hearing this she returned to her chamber, and laid down. Soon 
after, the officer knocked at the door, but she rose only at the third summons, having feigned 
herself asleep. Her mind was so much agitated that she could neither eat or sleep ; supposing 
it in her power to save the lives of thousands of her fellow-countrymen, but not knowing how 
she was to convey the information to Gen. Washington, not daring to confide it to her husband. 
The time left, however, was short. She quickly determined to make her -v^^ay as soon as possible 
to the American outposts, where she had a son who was an officer in the American army. She 
informed her family that as she was in want of flour, .she would go to Frankford for some. Her 
husband insisted she should take her servant-maid with her, but to his surprise shfe positively 
refused. She got access to Gen. Howe and solicited, what he readily granted, a pass through 
the British troops on the lines. She encountered on her way an American lieutenant-colonel 
(Craig) of the light-horse, who knew her. To him she disclosed her secret, after having ob- 
tained from him a solemn promise never to betray her individually, as her life might be at stake 
with the British. He conducted her to a house near at hand, directed something for her to eat, 
and hastened to head-quarters, where he immediately acquainted Gen. Washington with what 
he had heard. Washington made, of course, all preparations for bafflirlg the meditated surprise. 
Lydia returned home with her flour ; sat up alone to watch the movemerits of the British troops, 
and heard their footsteps ; but when they returned in a few days after, did not dare to ask a 
question, though solicitous to learn the event. The next evening, the adjutant-general came in, 
and requested her to walk up to his room, as he wished to put some questions. She followed 
him in terror ; and when he locked the door and begged her, with an air of mystery, to be seated, 
she was sure that she was either suspected or betrayed. He inquired earnestly whether any of 
her family was up the last night when he and the other officer met : she told him they all retired 
at eight o'clock. He observed, " I know you were asleep, for I knocked at your door three times 
before you heard me. I am entirely at a loss to imagine who gave Geu. Washington informati <n 



MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 495 

of our intended attack, unless the walls of the house could speak. When we arrived near White, 
marsh, we found all their cannon mounted, and the troops prepared to receive us ; and we have 
marched back like a parcel of fools." 

On the west side of the Schuylkill, about 22 miles from Philadelphia, 
and 6 miles above Norristown, is a deep rugged hollow, at the mouth of 
\"alley cr. An ancient forge established by one of the Potts family of 
Pottsgrove, had given to the place the name of Valley Forge. Upon 
the mountainous flanks of this valley, v^^hich overlook all the adjacent 
country, Washington finally concluded to establish his army for the win- 
ter. 

His soldiers were too ill clothed to be exposed to the inclemency of 
that season under mere tents ; it was therefore decided that a sufficient 
number of huts or cabins should be erected of logs, filled in with mortar, 
in which the troops would find a comfortable shelter. The army reached 
the valley about the 18th Dec. They might have been tracked by the 
blood of their feet in marching barefooted, over the hard frozen ground 
between White-marsh and Valley Forge. They immediately set about 
constructing their habitations, which were disposed in the order of a 
military camp, but had really the appearance of a regular city. Each 
hut was 16 feet by 14. One was assigned to 12 privates, and one to a 
smaller number of officers, according to their rank. Each general occu- 
pied a hut by himself The whole encampment was surrounded on the 
land side by intrenchments, and several small redoubts were built at 
different points. Some of the intrenchments may still be seen about a 
mile from the Forge. A temporary bridge was thrown across the river, 
to facilitate communications with the surrounding country. The army 
remained at this place until the ensuing summer, when the British evacu- 
ated Philadelphia. 

This was the most gloomy epoch of the revolution. For many weeks 
the army, although sheltered from the wind, endured extreme sufferings 
from the want of provisions, blankets, and clothing. The commissary's 
department, through neglect in Congress, had been badly managed, and 
on one occasion the supplies of beef were actually exhausted, and no one 
knew whence to-morrow's supply would come. Gen. Washington says, 
" For some days there has been little less than a famine in camp. A part 
of the army have been a week without any kind of flesh, and the rest three 
or four days. Naked and starving as they are, we cannot enough admire 
the incomparable patience and fidelity of the soldiery, that they have not 
ere this been excited to mutiny and dispersion. Strong symptoms of dis- 
content, however, have appeared in particular instances." Such was the 
scarcity of blankets and straw that men were often obliged to sit up all 
night to keep themselves warm by the fire, and many were too ill clothed 
to leave their huts. The want of wagons, and horses too, was severely 
felt for procuring supplies, and almost every species of camp transporta- 
tion was performed by the men without a murmur, who yoked them- 
selves to little carriages of their own making, or loaded their wood and 
provisions on their backs. The small-pox threatened those who had not 
been inoculated. Provisions continued to grow more and more scarce ; 
the country had become exhausted by the constant and pressing demands 
of both armies, and no doubt many provisions were concealed from the 
Americans by the disaffected tories, who found a better market at Phila- 



MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 

delphia, and better pay in British gold than in continental money. Wash- 
ington stated that there were in camp on the 23d December not less than 
2,898 men unfit for duty by reason of their being barefoot and otherwise 
naked, besides many others detained in hospitals, and crowded into farm- 
ers' houses, for the same causes. 

" Happily for America, there was in the character of Washington 
something which enabled him, notwithstanding the discordant materials 
of which his army was composed, to attach both his officers and soldiers so 
strongly to his person, that no distress could weaken their allection, nor 
impair the respect and veneration in which he was held by them. To 
this is to be attributed the preservation of a respectable military force 
under circumstances but too well calcidated for its dissolution." 

In the midst of these trying scenes, a strong combination was formed 
against Washington, in which several members of congress, and a very 
few officers of the army were engaged. Gen. Gates, exulting in his lau- 
rels recently gained at Saratoga, Gen. Lee, and Gen. Conw^ay, neither of 
them native Americans, were believed to be at the head of this move- 
ment. Attempts were made in vain to seduce Lafayette to the interest 
of this faction. He openly and promptly avowed his attachment to 
Washington, with whom he shared for some months the hardships of 
Valley Forge. The failure of this conspiracy is well known. Mrs. 
Washington also came to Valley Forge to share with her husband the 
trials of the winter. The general's head-quarters were at the stone house 
belonging to Isaac Potts, proprietor of the forge. Annexed is a view of 




Gen. Washington's Head- Quarters at Valley Forge. 

it, as seen from the Reading railroad, near which it stands, just below the 
mouth of the creek. The wing is of modern structure, but it occupies 
the site of a smaller wing that was erected for the accommodation of 
Mrs. Washington. Mrs. W. wrote to a friend — " The general's apart- 
ment is very small : he has had a log cabin built to dine in, which has 
made our quarters much more tolerable than they were at first." The 



MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



497 



house is now occupied by Mr. Jones. On the hill near the general's 
head-quarters, were stationed his body-guard ; and still further up the 
hill, and more to the right, near the road seen in the general sketch, were 
the brigades of Generals Conway, Huntington, Maxwell, and Mcintosh. 
Gen. Varnun was on the top of the hill, near a redoubt. The artificers 
were on the upper side of the creek, opposite the general's quarters. The 
forge was near where the cotton fiictory is ; and on the corner, diagonally 
opposite the cotton factory, was the old army bake-house. The main 
body of the army were back about a mile or two. In the annexed view 




Valley Forge, as seen from the west. 

the hill above the general's head-quarters is seen nearly in the centre, 
beyond the valley of the creek — the Schuylkill is seen to the left of it, 
and the roads leading towards the position of the main army on the right, 
beyond the cotton factory, which is on the creek. 

The limits of this work will not admit of a full detail of the scenes of 
that memorable winter. They belong more properly to the history of the 
revolution. 

Immediately opposite Isaac Potts' house there are still the ruins of an 
ancient flour-mill, which was in operation until a few months since. 
Previous to the encampment of the army here, and immediately after the 
battle of Brandywine, the Americans had a considerable deposit of flour 
and other stores at this mill. The British sent a detachment to seize 
these stores. Washington, anticipating this attempt, had previously sent 
out Lieut. Col. Hamilton, (afterwards Gen. H.,) attended by Capt. Lee, 
with a small party of his troop of horse, for the purpose of destroying the 
stores before the British should reach them. 

" The mill, or mills, stood on the banks of the Schuylkill. Approaching, you descend a long 
hill, leading to a bridge over the mill-race. On the summit of this hill two videttes were posted ; 
and soon after the party reached the mills, Hamilton took jwsscssion of a flat-bottomed boat, for 
the purpose of transporting himself and comrad<^s across the river in ease of a sudden approach 
of the enemy. In a little time this precaution manifested his sagacity. The fire of the videttes 
announced the enemy's appearance. The dragoons were ordered instantly to embark. Of the 
small party, four jumped into the boat with Hamilton. The van of tlie enemy's horse being in 
full view and pressing down the hill in pursuit of the two videttes, Lee, with the remaining two, 
took the decision to gain the bridge rather than detain the boat. The attention of the enemy be- 

63 



498 MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 

ing engaged by Lee's push for the bridge, delayed the attack upon the boat for a few minutes, 
and thus afforded Hamilton the chance of escape. The two vldettes preceded Lee as he reached 
the bridge, and himself and four dragoons safely passed It, although the enemy's front section 
emptied their carbines and pistols at the distance of ten or twelve paces. Lee's apprehension for 
the safety of Hamilton continued to Increase, as he heard volleys of carbines discharged upon the 
boat, which were returned by guns singly and occasionally. He trembled for the probable issue, 
and as soon as the pursuit ended dispatched a dragoon to the commander-in-chief, describing with 
feelings of anxiety what had passed, and his sad presage. His letter was scarcely perused by 
Washington before Hamilton himself appeared, and, ignorant of the contents of the paper in the 
general's hand, renewed his attention to the ill-boding separation, with the probability that his 
friend Lee had been cut off. Washington relieved his fears by handing him Capt. Lee's letter." 
(See page 400.) 

In June, 1778, the British evacuated Philadelphia, — when Gen. Wash- 
ington immediately broke up the encampment at Valley Forge, hurried 
across the Delaware, and met the enemy on the plains of Monmouth, in 
New Jersey. 

NoRRisTowN, the seat of justice, is a flourishing borough, occupying an 
elevated site on the left bank of the Schuylkill, 16 miles from Philadel- 
phia. From the hills behind the town an extensive view is obtained of 
the fine scenery of the Schuylkill valley. The town is well built, and 
many of the houses being stuccoed, it presents a bright and lively ap- 
pearance from the opposite shore. The dam across the river creates an 
immense water-power, and has made the place famous for its large man- 
ufactories. It contains 3 large cotton factories, 1 power-loom weaving 
factory, a rolling and nail mill, 3 steam saw-mills, 1 water saw-mill, a 
foundry, a locomotive shop, a saw-mill for marble, grist-mills, oil-mill, 
&c. Besides the usual county buildings, there are Presbyterian, Episco- 
pal, Baptist, Methodist, and Catholic churches, an academy, a bank, a 
public library, and a private seminary for boys. The bridge across the 
Schuylkill is 800 ft. long, was built in 1830, and cost $32,000. The Nor- 
ristown and Philadelphia railroad, constructed about the year 1835, passes 
along the left bank of the river, through Conshohocken and Manayunk. 
It was originally intended to continue this road to Pottsville, but the de- 
sign has been forestalled by the Reading railroad, which passes along the 
opposite bank of the river. The canals and locks of the Sch. Navigation 
Co. are also on the west side of the river. A small village has grown 
up at the west end of the bridge around the locks and the depot of the 
Reading railroad. Population of Norristown in 1830, 1,116; in 1840, 
2,937. It was incorporated as a borough 31st March, 1812. 

Within 3 miles west of Norristown are the extensive marble quarries 
of Mr. Henderson, from which a part of the material was obtained for 
the Girard College. Some ten years since, in sawing a huge block which 
had been taken from between 60 and 70 ft. below the surface, a singular 
lusus naturcB, or freak of nature, w^as displayed, which is thus described 
by Peter A. Browne, Esq., into whose possession it afterwards came : 

A slab two inches In thickness was taken off, and displayed to view, nearly in the centre, an 
indentation 1 1-2 inch long by 5-8 of an inch wide, handsomely arched above and rectangular 
below. In this cavity was a black powder, which being removed, two characters were ob- 
served. These are raised, and are at equal distances from the top, bottom, and sides of the in- 
dentation from each other. That the letters have not been put there since the block was cut, is 
proved by several gentlemen of Norristown of the highest respectability, who saw it soon after 
the sawing ; and moreover, it is apparent to any person accustomed to examine mineral sub- 
stances, that no tool whatever has been used. The surface of the indentation, as well as that of 
the letters, has a vitrified or seml-crystalUzed appearance. Mr. Strickland and Mr. Peale, both 
of whom have eramined the slab carefully with a magnifying glass, agree with me in this par 



MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 499 

ticular. The marble belongs to the primitive limestone formation. Unfortunai'ely the black 
powder was not preserved. 

It is not the least remarkable circumstance attending this curiosity, that had the saw passed 
the sixteenth part of an inch on one side, it would have injured the letters — or on the other, they 
would not have appeared. No fissure or fracture was to be seen in the block. 

Various conjectures have been made as to the characters. One gentleman insists that they 
are Hebrew, and stand for "Jehovah;" another says that they are the Roman "IN," and corres- 
pond to " Jesus of Nazareth." Both these persons of course believe that they have at some an- 
cient period of time been put there by the hand of man ; but by whom, or how they could after- 
wards have become buried in the solid rock, especially as it is primitive, they cannot explain. 
Others, among which number I confess myself, believe it to be a lusus natura. All agree that 
it is a great curiosity, and well deserving examination. 

Norristown has grown up entirely since the revolution. It is included 
within the limits of the manor of Norriton, which belonged to William 
Penn, Jr., and which he sold, when in this country, to enable him to settle 
the extravagant debts incurred by his youthful follies. William Trent 
and Isaac Norris purchased it, for £850, It included the present town- 
ship of Norriton. The town took its name from Isaac Norris. The 
ground upon which it stands was a farm in the time of the revolution, 
belonging to Mr. John Bull, who, in spite of his name, was a stanch 
whig, and the British burnt his barn for him as they passed on towards 
Philadelphia. Along the bank of the river, below the town, are still to be 
seen the remains of the intrenchments, or breastworks, thrown up by 
Gen. Du Portail, by order of Washington, when he expected the British 
would cross at that place. 

Norristown was laid out in 1784. It then belonged to some academy 
in Philadelphia, which had purchased it from John Bull, to whom it had 
been sold by Isaac Norris. The academy sold it to William Moore Smith, 
who laid out the town ; but as he sold the lots rather grudgingly, it did 
not increase much until it passed into the hands of John Markly, under 
whom it went forward more vigorously. The principal increase has 
been during the last fifteen years, in which period the larger manufacto- 
ries have been erected. The first house, which is still standing, and oc- 
cupied by Mr. Strahley, was framed at Valley Forge, and floated down 
the river. 

It was on the river bank at Norristown, that the spade was set to excavate the first public ca- 
nal in the U. S. This was the old Schuylkill and Delaware canal, intended to connect the two 
rivers, and also to supply water to the citizens of Philadelphia. For this latter purpose, the canal 
was to be taken to Philadelphia on the same level, without a lock. The company was incorpo- 
rated 10th April, 1792. After completing some 15 miles of the heaviest sections, andtheeipen. 
diture of about $400,000, the undertaking was abandoned ; the prmcipal stockholders being them- 
selves involved in commercial difficulties. The company was afterwards merged in the Union 
Canal Co. and the Schuylkill Navigation Co. (See page 418.) The ancient excavation still re- 
mains, below Norristown. 

About a half mile below Norristown, on the opposite side, is standing the old Swedes' Ford 
tavern, famous in the annals of the revolution. A tall and solitary pine, a remnant of the an- 
cient forest, still stands beside it, like some faithful old sentinel : some years since it had a com- 
panion, and the two formed a beautiful head. The house is now no longer a public house. Maj. 
Holstein, who formerly kept it, and built an addition to it, thinks a part of it over 100 years old, 
Maj. Holstein is a descendant of Mats Holstein, a primitive settler in Upper Merion, where he 
took up 1000 acres of land. Mauntz Rambo, another Lwede, was a famous hunter, and has told 
Maj. H. of his killing deer and panthers in the neighborhood. At one time he grappled a 
wounded deer, who made oflT with him on its back ; but he succeeded in cutting its throat. 

The oldest Presbyterian church in the county is the Norriton church, on the Reading turnpike, 
about four miles east of Norristown. It is about 100 years old. The next in antiquity is the 
Providence church, on the turnpike. The Presbyterian church in town, of which Rev. Samuel 
M. Gould is pastor, is of more recent origin, having been estabhshed in 1819, under Rev. Joseph 
Barr, who was at the same time pastor of the I^videnoe church. 



500 



MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



About a mile northwest of Norristown is a farm-house, now occupied by Mi. Knox, and for- 
merly the residence of Gen. Andrew Porter. He was a captain and colonel during the revolution, 
and served with great gallantry at Trenton, Princeton, Brandywine, and in other campaigns. 
Mr. Madison offered him the commission of brigadier-general in the American army, and also 
the office of secretary of war ; both of which he declined. He was appointed surveyor-general 
of Pennsylvania, by Gov. Snyder, in 1812, and died at the age of 7U, while in that office, at 
Harrisburg. His sons, who were born near Norristown, have been very distinguished. George 
B. Porter died in July, 1834, at the age of 44, being at that time governor of Michigan territory. 
Gen. David R. Porter is now about closing his second term as governor of Pennsylvania ; and 
Gen. James M. Porter has recently been appointed secretary of war, by President Tyler. An- 
other brother, recently deceased, was a judge of one of the western districts of the state. 

David Rittenhouse, the distinguished astronomer, was horn near Germantown, but spent a part 
of his early years at a farm about four miles east of Norristown. 

PoTTSTowN is prettily situated, in a handsome undulating country, on 
the left bank of the Schuylkill, 20 miles above Norristown. The houses 
are built principally upon one broad street, amidst gardens and shade- 
trees. The scenery of the surrounding hills is very fine, especially in 
autumn. The Manatawny, at the west end of the village, turns several 
excellent flouring-miils. The Schuylkill Navigation works passes on the 
opposite bank of the river. The Reading railroad passes very prettily 
along one of the back streets, crossing the Manatawny on a lattice-bridge 
of 1,071 feet in length. The town contains Methodist, German Lutheran, 
and Episcopal churches, and an academy. The annexed view was taken 




Pottstown. 

from the opposite side of the Schuylkill. The most prominent buildings, 
in the centre of the view, are the large hotels and other edifices about 
the railroad depot. Population in 1840, 721. 

Pottstown, formerly known as Pottsgrove, derives its name from John 
Potts, who had a large grant of land in this region. He owned a part 
of Sprogel's rhanor, and the land adjoining it to the north. West of the 
town, beyond the Manatawny, is a stately but antique mansion, overlook- 
ing the town, erected by him long before the revolution. It was then 
the marvel of the whole country, and people came from 40 miles round 
merely to see it. Mr. Potts was an enterprising speculator in iron-works, 
in Chester and Berks counties. He was a descendant of old Thomas 




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MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 501 

Potts, who settled at Burlington in William Penn's time ; and was the 
father of Isaac Potts, who settled at Valley Forge. That was one of his 
iron-works. His son Samuel was once the owner of the lands where 
Pottsville now is, but sold it long before it was known for its coal ; and 
it came afterwards into the hands of one Pott, a German, from whom 
Pottsville is named. 

There are several small but pleasant villages in this county, on the 
main roads leading out of Philadelphia. Shoemakertown is on the Wil- 
low Grove turnpike, eight miles north of Philadelphia. The following 
incident, related in the Saturday Bulletin, in 1829, occurred near this 
place during the revolution : — 

Col. Allan McLane, who died at Wilmington, Del., in 1829, at the patriarchal age of 83, wag 
distinguished for personal courage and for his activity as a partisan officer. He was long at- 
tached to Major Lee's famous legion of horse. While the British occupied Philadelphia, McLane 
was constantly scouring the upper end of Bucks and Montgomery counties, to cut off scouting 
parties of the enemy, and intercept their supplies of provisions. Having agreed, for sonic purpose, 
to rendezvous near Shoemakertown, Col. McLane ordered his little band of troopers to follow at 
some distance, and commanded two of them to precede the main body, but also to keep in hig 
rear ; and if they discovered an enemy, to ride up to his side and inform him of it, without speak- 
ing aloud. While leisurely approaching the place of rendezvous in this order, in the early gray 
of the morning, the two men directly in his rear, forgetting their orders, suddenly called out, 
" Colonel, the British I" faced about, and putting spurs to their horses, were soon out of sight. 
The colonel, looking around, discovered that he was in the centre of a powerful ambuscade, into 
which the enemy had silently allowed him to pass, without his observing them. They lined both 
sides of the road, and had been stationed there to pick up any straggling party of the Americang 
that might chance to pass. Immediately on finding they were discovered, a file of soldiers rose 
from the side of the highway, and fired at the colonel, but without effect ; and as he put spurs to 
his horse, and mounted the road-side into the woods, the other part of the detachment also fired. 
The colonel miraculously escaped ; but a shot striking his horse upon the flank, he dashed through 
the woods, and in a few minutes reached a parallel road upon the opposite side of the forest. 
Being familiar with the country, he feared to turn to the left, as that course led to the city, and 
he might be intercepted by another ambuscade. Turning, therefore, to the right, his frighted 
horse carried him swiftly beyond the reach of those who had fired upon him. All at once, how- 
ever, on emerging from a piece of woods, he observed several British troopers stationed near the 
road-side, and directly in sight ahead, a farm-house, around which he observed a whole troop of 
the enemy's cavalry drawn up. He dashed by the troopers near him without being molested, 
they believing he was on his way to the main body to surrender himself. The farm-house was 
situated at the intersection of two roads, presenting but few avenues by which he could escape. 
Nothing daunted by the formidable array before him, he galloped up to the cross-roads, on reach- 
ing which, he spurred his active horse, turned suddenly to the right, and was soon fairly out of 
reach of their pistols, though as he turned he heard them call loudly to surrender or die ! A 
dozen were instantly in pursuit ; but in a short time they all gave up the chase except two. Col. 
McLane's horse, scared by the first wound he had ever received, and being a chosen animal, kept 
ahead for several miles, while his two pursuers followed with unwearied eagerness. The pursuit 
at length waxed so hot, that, as the colonel's horse stepped out of a small brook which crossed 
the road, his pursuers entered it at the opposite margin. In ascending a little hill, the horses of 
the three were greatly exhausted, so much so that neither could be urged faster than a walk. 
Occasionally, as one of the troopers pursued on a little in advance of his companion, the colonel 
slackened his pace, anxious to be attacked by one of the two ; but no sooner was his willingnesa 
discovered, than the other fell back to his station. They at length approached so near, that a 
conversation took place between them ; the troopers calling out, " Surrender, you damn'd rebel, 
or we'll cut you in pieces !" Suddenly one of them rode up on the right side of the colonel, and, 
without drawing his sword, laid hold of the colonel's collar. The latter, to use his own words, 
" had pistols which he knew he could depend upon." Drawing one from the holster, he placed 
it to the heart of his antagonist, fired, and tumbled him dead on the ground. Instantly the other 
came up on his left, with his sword drawn, and also seized the colonel by the collar of his coat. 
A fierce and deadly struggle here ensued, in the tourse of which Col. McLane was desperately 
wounded in the back of his left hand, the sword of his antagonist cutting asunder the veins and 
tendons of that member. Seizing a favorable opportunity, he drew his other pistol, and with a 
steadiness of purpose which appeared even in his recital of the incident, placed it directly between 
the eyes of his adversary, pulled the trigger, and scattered his brains on every side of the road I 
Fearing that others were in pursuit, he abandoned his horse in the highway : euid apprehensive, 



302 MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 

from his extreme weakness, that he might die from loss of blood, he crawled into an adjj cent 
mill-pond, entirely naked, and at length succeeded in stopping the profuse flow of blood occa- 
sioned by his wound. We have seen a painting of this desperate encounter, very acurately rep- 
resenting the contest. It used to be common in our auction-rooms, but of late years has become 
scarce. 

Jenkintown is a pleasant village on the Willow Grove turnpike, 10 
miles north of Philadelphia. It contains some 30 or 40 dwellings, a 
lyceum, library, stores, &c. The Abingdon Friends' meeting-house is at 
a short distance from the village. 

Abingdon is another pleasant village four miles north of Jenkintown, 
containing some 30 or 40 dwellings, a Presbyterian church, and a female 
seminary. The Presbyterian church in this place, now under the charge 
of Rev. Robert Steele, was originally organized in 1714, by Rev. Malachi 
Jones, a Welshman, who died 26th March, 1729. He was succeeded by 
Rev. Richard Treat, who died Nov. 29, 1779, after a ministry of nearly 
60 years. Rev. Wm. Tennent succeeded. He died Dec, 1810. He 
was a grandson of the celebrated Wm. Tennent of the log college. Rev. 
Wm. Dunlap succeeded him, who died Dec. 17, 1818. Rev. Rob't. Steele 
succeeded in Nov., 1819. The first edifice was built in 1714, and rebuilt 
of stone in 1793. A part of the second edifice is incorporated with the 
present one, which was erected in 1833. The old graveyard near this 
church contains many ancient stones. Within its walls, the night after 
the battle of Germantown, Capt. Webb, of the American army, and his 
company had bivouacked. In the morning it was exceedingly foggy, 
and the company, who could see nothing beyond the walls of the yard, 
were suddenly surprised and overpowered by a detachment of the British. 
Capt. Webb was afterwards a distinguished citizen of Kentucky. 

Hatborough is 14 miles from Philadelphia, on the Willow Grove turn- 
pike. It is a quiet and pleasant village, surrounded by a fertile district. 
It contains some 40 or 50 dwellings, Baptist and Methodist churches, a 
public library, and the Loller Academy, founded in 1811, and very hand- 
somely endowed by the estate of Robert Loller, Esq. During the revo- 
lution, Gen. Lacey was surprised by the British in a wood just above the 
Baptist church. 

North Wales is a small hamlet in Gwinned township, about three 
miles from Montgomery Suuare, on the road between Norristown and 
Doylestown. North Wales is celebrated as the site of one of the oldest 
Friends' meetings in the county. The venerable building is situated in 
a retired spot, shaded with tall trees. There are many hallowed associa- 
tions connected with this place. The history of the early settlement of 
the Welsh in this region has been given above. Gwinned township was 
taken up in 1698, the original purchasers being Wm., John, and Thomas 
Evans, who distributed portions among their associates, viz. : Wm., John, 
Thomas, Robert, Owen, and Cadwallader Evans ; Hugh Griffiths, Edward 
Foulke, Robert Jones, John Hughes, and John Humphrey. All these, 
except the last two, were originally Episcopalians, but were afterwards 
converted to the faith of the Friends. 

EvANSBURG, a small village on the Germantown turnpike, near Perkio- 
men cr., six miles N. W. of Norristown, was originally settled by Welsh 
Episcopalians — the Beans, Shannons, Lanes, Pawlings, &c. The vener- 
able Episcopal church, which is very similar to that of Radnor, (see page 
306,) bears the date of " 1721— church wardens, I. S. and I. P. ;" that is. 



NORTHAMPTON COUNTY. 503 

James Shannon and Isaac Pawlings. The church stands in a graveyard, 
shaded with the cedars and other trees of the ancient forest, and contain- 
ing the time-worn monuments of the early settlers. Jesse Bean, Esq., 
who is still living in the village, at the age of about 80 years, was a boy 
at the time of the Germantown battle. He well remembers the dismay 
that prevailed the night after the battle, when the wounded fugitives 
were quartered in every house. The old gentleman is one of the most 
active men in the place, and in 1841 was performing the arduous duty 
of a superintendent of the turnpike. Near Evansburg is the splendid 
stone bridge of six arches over the Perkiomen, founded in 1798, and fin- 
ished in 1799. 

CoNSHOHocKEN is a Hvcly manufacturing village, which has recently 
grown up in connection with the water-power of the Schuylkill Naviga- 
tion Company, on the left bank of the Schuylkill, four miles below Nor- 
ristown, and 12 miles from Philadelphia. There is also a large business 
done near here, in burning lime for the Philadelphia market. 

SuMANYTOWN is ou the head-waters of Perkiomen cr., 15 miles north of 
Norristown, and contains some 30 or 40 dwellings, stores, &c. There 
are three powder-mills in this vicinity. The townships in this part of the 
county are chiefly settled by Germans. Goshenhoppen, the town of the 
Schwenckfelders, is four miles N. W. of Sumanytown. 

There are several other pleasant villages in the county, situated gen- 
erally at the intersection of the principal roads. Among these are Wil- 
low Grove, Horsham Square, Montgomery Square, Line Lexington, (on 
the county line, partly in Bucks co.,) Reesville, Flourtown, Klingletown, 
&c., &c. 



NORTHAMPTON COUNTY. 

Northampton county was separated from Bucks, and established by the 
act of March 11, 1752. It originally included Wayne, Pike, Monroe, Le- 
high, and Carbon counties, the latter having been established the present 
year, (1843.) Still, like the farm of the old Roman, which, as each suc- 
cessive son took from it his portion, was more productive the smaller it 
grew; so probably Northampton, within its present circumscribed limits, 
can boast more aggregate wealth than when it included all the wild re- 
gion beyond the mountain. Its present area is 370 sq. miles. Popula- 
tion in 1790, 24,250 ; in 1800, 30,062 ; in 1810, 38,145 ; in 1820, (Pike and 
Lehigh off,) 31,765; in 1830, 39,482; and in 1840, (without Monroe, but 
including Carbon co.) 40,996. 

The county at present lies almost entirely within the luxuriant Kitta- 
tinny valley, bounded by the Blue or Kittatinny mountain on the N. W., 
by the South mountain or Lehigh hills on the S. E., with the Delaware 
river flowing along the eastern, and the Lehigh along the western boun- 
dary. The more important creeks are Martin's, the Bushkill, Manockasy, 
and Hockendock. These creeks, together with the dams on the Lehigh, 
furnish an abundant water-power. The northwestern side of the valley 



604 NORTHAMPTON COUNTY. 

is composed of slate lands, the southeastern of limestone. A travelirir 
comiiif? into the co. throiij^h th(^ Tiehijj^li ^hj), tlius very correctly describes 
both the physical and moral aspect of the co. 

In passing tlirough the Gap, the broad expansive valley of highly cultivated fif^lds and sloping 
woodlands, below (he nionntiiins, opens a new world, in striking contrast with the nionntainous 
region above. The beauty and rii-lnicss ol' the country, however, is stdl niort^ nicreased towards 
Euston. From C'ht^rryvdle to that |ilact'. it is an (elevated jihiin, witli hert^ iind tliere a gentle de- 
pression for the small streams that make, their way to the l.chigh and Delaware rivers. As far 
as the eye can reach may be st^en rich farms, neat stone dwellings, connnudious, ami well-lillcd 
barns, and beautiful orchards, richly laden with fruit, atVording a spiicimen of the indepemlenco 
characteristic of the German farmers of I'l^nnsylvania. ln<let^d, tlie g(;neral appearance of pros- 
perity indicates that the inhabitants are — what they are generally acknowledged to be — as hon- 
est, industrious, ami frugal a set <d' |)itipl(: as an: to be luinnl in any part ol the I'liimi. 'J'he 
German language is very generally s|ioken among lluMn, tbnngh we arc infornwd that I'higlisli 
Bchools are becoming more frecpa'Mtly establisluHl and generally patronized for the ediU'ation of 
the young in the prevailing language of our country. Many of tin; farmers send tiieir daughterii 
to the Moravian Seminary at llelhlebem, whicli is so justly celebrated for the acijnirement of a 
good English education. 

In the southern part of the co. along the base of the South mountain, 
is a rich deposit of iron, supplying material for (J luritaces and 4 I'orges. 
Recent experiments by a ji'cnlU'man skilled in the art, are said to have 
proved that the iron ores of this region are well adapted for the manufac- 
ture of steel — a quality valuable because very rare. 

The agricultural population is chieHy of German descent. In the 
towns the races are more mixed, including many from Jersey, New Eng- 
land, Pennsylvania, and a very few of the descendants of the Scotch-Irish 
who originally settled the county above Easton. Although agriculture 
Is the main business (►f the citizens, yet there is considerable capital in- 
vested in manufactures, particularly near I'iaston ; and also in the coal 
and lumber trade. Good roads pass in all directions : the most intportant 
are, the turnpike to Wilkesbarre, and those to Reading and rhiladel})hia. 
The streams, both large and small, are crossed by substantial bridges. 

The three prominent gorges in the Kittatinny mountain, the Lehigh 
and Delaware Water-gaps, and the Wind-gap, arrest the attention of 
every traveller. Prof Silliman thus describes the Lehigh gap : — 

" Many mountain scenes engaged our attention, particularly as we approached the gap in the 
Blue Ridge, through which the Lehigh passes. This mountain range stretches for nniny miles, 
in a straight line to the right and left, presenting a regular barrier, fringed with forest trees, and 
wooded on the entire slope, which was as steep as it coubl be, and sustain the wood upon its 
sides. As we a]»proached the ga|>, the view becanni vtTy beautifid, and as we cnttM-ed it by the 
Bide of the Lehigh and of the line canal upon the left of its bank, the mountain ridge, here cleft 
from to|) to bottom, and rising apparently a thousand leet, presented on either hand a promontory 
of rocks and forests, rising very abruptly, and forming a combination both grand ami beautiful. 
The passes of rivers through moimtains are almost invariably picturesque, and it is always in- 
teresting to observe how faithfully the rivers explore the clefts in mountain barriers, and, impelled 
by the power of gravity, wind their way through rocky defiles, and pursue their untiring course 
to the ocean. It is connnon to speak of sneli passes as being formed by the rivtTS, whicli are 
often supposed to have burst their barriers, ami thus to have shaped their own chaimel. This 
may have happened in sonu^ peculiar cases, and tbert! are doulitless many instanct^s where the 
lakes, of which many must have been left at the retiring both of the primeval ami of the diluvial 
ocean, have worn or burst away their barriers, especially when com|)osed, as they nnist often 
have been, of loose materials. Hut with respect to most rocky passes of rivers through moun- 
tains, there appears no reason what(!ver to believe that the waters have torn asunder the solid 
strata ; a more resistless energy must have been requisite for such an effect ; and we nmst there- 
fore conclude that the rivers imve, in most instances, merely flowed on through the lowest and 
least obstructed passages ; their chaimels they have tloubtUiss deepemHl and modified, often to 
ftn astonishing degree, but Uiey have rarely formed Uiein tlm>ugh solid rocks," 



NORTHAMPTON COUNTY. 605 

" The Forks of the Delaware" is the ancient name by which not only 
the site of the present town of Easton, but the whole territory included 
between the Lehigh and Delaware rivers, and bounded on the northwest 
by the Kittatinny or Blue mountain, was originally designated. This 
beautiful tract was occupied by a part of the Delaware nation. Above 
the Kittatinny, along the Delaware river, were the Monsey or Minsi 
tribes, who gave the name of the Minisinks to that region ; and it also 
appears, by the early records of Bucks co., that a clan of the Shawanees 
had a village and hunting grounds on the river east of where Stroudsburg 
now is. 

The Indian title to the lands in the Forks was extinguished, or was al- 
leged to have been extinguished, by what is known as the walking pur- 
chase, or the Indian walk — a transaction which reflected no credit upon 
the proprietary government, and which stood prominent in the catalogue 
of wrongs that led the Delawares, Shawanees, and Monseys to join the 
French in 1755. William Penn and his agents, ignorant of the topogra- 
phy of the wilderness in the interior, had, in their early purchases, been 
in the habit of defining the boundaries of land by well-known streams or 
highlands, as far as their knowledge extended, while for the interior 
boundaries of the tracts such vague terms were used as these : " to run 
two days' journey with an horse up into the country as the said river doth go'' 
— " northwesterly back into the woods to make up two full days' journey as far 
as a man can go in two days from the said station" <^c. 

One tract after another had thus been purchased by Penn and his 
agents, until all of what is now Bucks, Chester, Montgomery, Delaware, 
and Philadelphia counties had been included. Some of the tracts were 
accurately defined by natural boundaries — of many others, they were left 
to be determined by riding or walking at some future time. Such, how- 
ever, was the benevolent policy of Penn, that he preferred to purchase 
land three times over, and pay for it to as many different claimants, than 
to fight for it, or to expose his colony to the tomahawk and scalping-knife, 
by encouraging settlements on lands not clearly and indisputably relin- 
quished by all Indians whatsoever. There is no evidence that any of 
these boundaries had ever been rode or walked out : if they had been, 
the boundaries of some would have extended far beyond the Lehigh hills 
or the South mountain, or even the Kittatinny ; but such evidently was 
not the expectation of the Indians, and accordingly, after the great natu- 
ral features of the interior had become better known, as well as the ideas 
and wishes of the Indians, — 

" On the 17th of September, 1718, a deed of release was given by sundry Delaware Indian 
chiefs — viz., Sassoonah, Meetashechay, Ghettypeneeman, Pokehais, Ayamackan, Opekasset, and 
Pepawmamam — for all the lands situate between the two rivers, Delaware and Susquehanna, 
from Duck creek to the mountains on this side Lechay, with an acknowledgment that they had 
seen and heard divers deeds of sale read mito them, under the hands and seals of former kings 
and chiefs of the Delaware Indians, their ancestors and predecessors, who were owners of said 
lands, by which they had granted the said lands to William Penn, for which they were satisfied 
and content — which, for a further consideration of goods delivered them, they then confirmed. 
This deed is recorded. May 13th, 1728, in book A. vol. 6, p. 59. 

" It is therefore to be observed, that the undefined limits of all the preceding deeds, (westward, 
two days' journey with a horse, «fcc.,) which would have extended far beyond the Lehigh hills, 
are here restricted to those hills, which, so far as related to the purchasers from the Delawares, 
were the boundaries of the purchased lands. The settlers, notwithstanding, encroached on the 
Indian lands beyond this boundary, which occasioned great anxiety and uneasiness among the 
Delawares. The complaints of tne aged Sassoonan were eloquent and pathetic. Violenco ha4 

64 



606 NORTHAMPTON COUNTY. 

ensued, and blood had flowed. Preparations had been made, and alliances were forming for war ; 
but by prudence and skill the danger was turned aside." — Smith's Laws. 

On the Delaware the Lehiojh hills were well known, but on the Schuyl- 
kill the settlers had conlbunded them with the Kittatinny mountain, and 
had built their cabins at Tulpehocken and Oley. Sassoonan complained 
of this in 1728 ; and in 1732 Thomas Penn purchased the Tulpehocken 
lands, now forming Berks co. Now, if it was necessary to purchase 
these lands on account of the treaty of 1718, it was equally necessary to 
purchase those at the forks ; for there was as good a d(^ed for including 
the Tulpehocken lauds by a " ride of two days on a horse," as those of 
the forks by a walk of one day and a half. The " Enquiry into the 
causes of the alienation of the Delaware and Shawanese Indians," pub- 
lished at London in 1 759, says : 

" While they [the Dclawarcs] were paid for their lands on Tulpehocken, they were very unjustly, 
and in a manner forcibly, dispossessed of tlieir lands in the Forks of the Delaware. At this very 
time, [1733,] Williain Alle!i, one of the principal {jentlcnien in Pennsylvania, and a great deal- 
er in lands purciiased of the jjroprictaries, was selling the land in the Miiiisinks, which had 
never been purchased of \hc Iiulians : nay, was near 40 miles above the Lehigh hills, which was 
so solemnly agreed upon, [by the treaty of 1718,] to bo the boundary between the English and 
the Indians. Gov. Penn, the founder, had devised to his grandson William, and his heirs, 10,000 
acres of land, to be set out in proper and beneficial places, in this province, by iiis trustees. 
These 10,000 acres Mr. Allen purchased of William Penn the grandson, and by virtue of a war- 
rant or order of the trustees to Jacob Taylor, surveyor-general, to survey the said 10,000 acres, 
he had ])art of that land located or laid out in tlie Minisinks, because it was good land, though it 
was not yet purchased of the Indians. Had he contented himself with securing the right, and 
Buttered the lands to remain in the possession of the Indians till it had been duly purchased and 
paid for, no ill consequences would have ensued. But, (probably supposing the matter might be 
easily acconmiodated with them in some future treaty,) no sooner had he the land surveyed to 
him than he began to sell it to those who wouUl innnediately settle it. By iiis deeds to N. De- 
puis, 1733, and recorded in the rolls ottice of Bucks, it appears that one of the tracts he granted 
included a Shawanee town, and that another was an island belonging to the same tribe of Indians, 
and from them called the Shavvanee island. 

"About this time the proprietor published proposals for a lottery of 100,000 acres — to be laid 
out anywhere within the province, except on manors, lands already settled, &lc. Tliere was no 
exception of lands impurchased of the Indians, but rather an express provision for those who had 
unjustly seated themselves there, since by drawing prizes they might lay them on the lands on 
•which they were already seated. By virtue of many of these tickets, tracts laid out in the Forks 
were quickly taken up and settled. These transactions provoked the Indians." 

Among the old deeds which were, or ought to have been, rendered ob- 
solete, by the general deed of 1718, was one made to Thomas Holme. 
Penn's agent and surveyor-general, by several Delaware chiefs, in 1686, 
for a tract of land, (hereafter described,) of which one of the boundaries 
was to be ascertained by walking. The original, however, of this deed 
never could be found, and a musty copi/, of which it was very difficult to 
prove the authenticity, was therefore produced from among the proprie- 
taries' papers in England ; and this copy, fifty years after it was made — 
after William Penn, Thomas Holme, and the signing chiefs were dead — • 
after all the great natural features of the country had become well- 
known, and no necessity existed any longer for walking out boundaries — 
and after it was known that these vague boundaries had all been con- 
cluded by the treaty of 1718, in which the Lehigh hills were made the 
extreme boundary of the white settlements — this copy was produced, and 
made the basis of a confirmatory deed, described in Smith's Laws as fol- 
lows : — 

Aug. 25, 1737. We, Teshakomen, alias Tishekunk, and Nootamis, alias Nutimus, two of the 
eachemas or chiefs of the Delaware Indians, having almost three years ago, at Durham, begun 



NORTHAMPTON COUNTY. 507 

a treaty with our honorable brethren, John and Thomas Penn, and from thence another meeting 
was appointed to be at Pennsbury the next spring following, to which we repaired, with Lappa- 
winzoe, and several others of the Delaware Indians, at which treaty several deeds were produced 
and showed to us by our said brethren, concerning several tracts of land, which our forefathers 
had, more than fifty years ago, bargained and sold unto our good friend and brother William Penn, 
the father of the said John and Thomas Peini, and in particular one deed from Maykeerickkisho, 
iSayhoppy, and Taughhaughsey, the chiels or kings of tin; northern Indians on Di^laware, who 
for, &-C., did grant, »!tc., ail those lands lying and being in the province of Pennsylvania, begin- 
ning upon a line formerly laid out from a corner spruce-tree by the river Delaware, (Makeerikkit- 
ton,) and from thence running along the ledge or foot of the mountains west-northwest to a cor- 
ner white-oak, marked with the letter P., standing liy the Indian path that h^adeth to an Indian 
town called Playwickey, and from thence extending westward to Nesliamony cr. ; from which 
said line, the said tract or tracts thereby granted doth extend itself back into the woods, as far 
as a man can go in one day and a half, and bounded on the westerly side with the creek called 

Ncshamony, or the most westerly branch thereof, and from thence by a line to the 

utmost extent of the said one day and a half's journey, and from thence . 

to the aforesaid river Delaware, and from thence down the several courses of the said river to 
the first-mentioned spruce-tree, &c. Hut, some of our old men being absent, we requested more 
time to consult with our people ; which request being granted, we have, after more than twO 
years from the treaty at Pennsbury, now come to Philadelphia, together with our chief sachem, 
Monockykichan, and several of our old men. They then acknowledge that they were satisfied 
that the above-described tract was granted by the persons above-mentioned, and agree to release 
to the proprietors all right to that tract, and desire it may be walked, travelled, or gone orer, by 
persons appointed for that purpose. 

[Signed] — Monockykichan, Lappawinzoe, Teshakomen, Nootamis ; and witnessed by twelve 
other Indians, in token of full and free consent, besides other witnesses. 

Recorded May 8, 1741, in book G., vol. i., p. 282. 

The proprietors immediately advertised for the most expert walkers in 
the province, and the walk was perlbrmed near the end of Sept. 1737, 
in presence of Mr. Eastburn, surveyor-general, and Timothy Smith, sheriff 
of Bucks CO. The following account of the walk, given by an eye-wit- 
ness, is contained in the " Enquiry into the Causes," &c. : — 

" At the time of the walk I was a dweller at Newtown, and a near neighbor to James Yeates. 
My situation gave him an easy opportunity of acquainting me with the time of setting out, as 
it did me of hearing the different sentiments of the neighborhood concerning the roalk ; some al- 
leging it was to be made by the river, others that it was to be gone upon a straight line from 
Bomewhere in Wrightstown, opposite to a spruce-tree on the river's bank, said to be a boundary 
to a former purchase. When the walkers started I was a little behind, but was informed they 
proceeded from a chestnut-tree near the turning out of the road from Durham road to John Chap, 
man's; and, being on horseback, overtook them before they reached Buckingham, and kept com- 
pany for some distance beyond the Blue mountains, though not quite to the end of the journey. 
Two Indians attended, whom I considered as deputies appointed by the Delaware nation, to see 
the walk honestly performed. One of them repeatedly expressed his dissatisfaction therewith. 
The first day of the walk, before we reached Durham cr., where we dined in the meadows of one 
Wilson, an Indian trader, the Indian said the walk was to have been made up the river, and com- 
plaining of the unfitness of his shoe-packs for travelling, said he cxijccted Thomas Peim would 
have made him a present of some shoes. After this, some of us that had horses walked, and let 
the Indians ride by turns ; ytit in the afternoon of the sums day, and some hours before sunset, 
the Indians left us, having often calh^d to Marshall that afternoon, and forbid him to run. At 
parting they appeared dissatisfied, and said they would go no further with ns ; for as they saw the 
walkers would pass all the good land, they did not care how far or where we went to. It was 
said we travelled twelve hours the first day, and it being in the latter end of Sept., or beginning 
of Oct., to complete the time were obliged to walk in the twilight. Timothy Smith, then sheriff 
of Bucks, held his watch for some minutes before we stoi)pe(l, and the walkers having a piece of 
rising ground to ascend, he called out to them, telling the minutes behind, and bid them pull up; 
which they did so briskly, that immediately upon his saying the time was out, Marshall clasped 
his arms about a sapling to support himself. Thereufwn, the sherifT asking him what was the 
matter, he said he was almost gone, and that, if he had proceeded a few poles further, he must 
have fallen. We lodged in the woods that night, and heard the shouting of the Indians at a 
cantico, which they were said to hold that evening, in a town hard by. Next morning the In- 
dians were sent to, to know if they would accompany us any further; but they declined it, al- 
though I believe some of them came to us before we started, and drank a dram in the company, 
and then straggled off about their hunting, or some other amusement. In our return we came 
through this Indian town or plantation, Timothy Smith and myself riding forty yards, mure or 



508 NORTHAMPTON COUNTY. 

less, before the company ; and as we approached within about 150 paces of the town, the woods 
being open, we saw an Indian take a gun in his hand, and advancing towards us some distance, 
placed himself behind a log that laid by our way. Timotliy observing his motions, and being 
somewhat surprised, as I apprehended, looked at me, and asked what I thought that Indian 
meant. I said I hoped no harm, and that I thought it best to keep on ; which the Indian seeing, 
he arose and walked before us to the settlement. I think Smith was surprised, as I well rwmem. 
her I was, through a consciousness that the Indians were dissatisfied with the walk — a thing the 
whole company seemed to be sensible of, and upon the way, in our return home, frequently ex- 
pressed themselves to that purpose. And indeed, the unfairness practised in the walk, both in 
regard to the way where, and the manner how it was performed, and the dissatisfaction of the In- 
dians concerning it, were the common subjects of conversation in ourneighborJiood, for some con- 
siderable time alter it was done. When the walk was performed I was a young man, in the 
prime of life. The novelty of the thing inclined me to be a spectator, and as I had been brought 
up most of my time in Burlington, the whole transaction to me was a series of occurrences al- 
most enti' ' ; new ; and which, therefore, I apprehend, made the more strong and lasting impres- 
sion on n J memory. Thomas Furniss." 

Moses Marshall, the son of Edward, who performed the walk, gave to 
Mr. John Watson the following account of it, as he had often received it 
from his father : — 

That in the year 1733 notice was given in the public papers, that the remaining day and a 
half's walk was to be made, and ofi'ering 500 acres of land, anywhere in the purchase, and £5 
in money, to the person who should attend, and walk the farthest in the given time. By previous 
agreement the governor was to select three white persons, and the Indians a like number of their 
own nation. The persons employed by the governor were Edward Marshall, James Yeates, and 
Solomon Jennings. One of the Indians was called Combush, but he has forgotten the names 
of the other two. 

That about the 20th of Sept., (or when the days and nights are equal,) in the year aforesaid, 
they met before sunrise, at the old chestnut-tree below Wrightstown meeting-house, together with 
a great number of persons as spectators. The walkers all stood with one hand against the tree, 
until the sun rose, and then started. In two hours and a half tliey arrived at Red hill, in Bed- 
minster, where Jennings and two of tlie Indians gave out. The other Indian (Combush) con- 
tinued with them to near where the road forks, at Easton, where he laid down a short time to 
rest ; but on getting up was unable to proceed further. Marshall and Yeates proceeded on, and 
arrived, at sundown, on the north side of the Blue mountain. They started again next morning, at 
sunrise. While crossing a stream of water, at the foot of tlie mountain, Yeates became faint, 
and fell. Marshall turned back, and supported him until others came to his relief; and then 
continued the walk alone, and arrived at noon on a spur of the Second or Broad mountain, esti- 
Inated to be 86 miles* from the place of starting, at the chestnut-tree below Wrightstown meet- 
ing-house. 

He says they walked from sunrise to sunset without stopping, provisions and refreshments 
having been previously provided, at different places along the road and line that had been run 
and marked for them io walk by, to the top of tlie Blue mountain ; and persons also attended 
on horseback, by relays, with liquors of several kinds. When tiiey arrived at the Blue mountain 
they found a great number of Indians collected, expecting the walk would there end ; but when they 
found it was to go half a day further, they were very angry, and said they were cheated — Penn 
had got all their good land — but that in the spring every Indian was to bring him a buckskin, 
and they would have their land again, and Penn might go to the devil with his poor land. An 
6ld Indian said, " No sit down to smoke — no shoot a squirrel ; but lun, lun, lun all day long !" 

He says his father never received any reward for the walk, although the governor frequently 
promised to have the 500 acres of land run out for him, and to which he was justly entitled. 

The extreme anxiety of the proprietaries, as well as their motives, for 
extending the walk as far as possible, may be best appreciated by a glance 
at the map, and the peculiar course of the Delaware above the Kittatinny 
mountain. If the walk had terminated at the Kittatinny, the line from 
the end of the walk, to intersect the Delaware, if drawn at right angles, 
(as the surveyor Eastburn and the land speculators claimed that it should 
be,) would have intersected the Delaware at the Water-gap, and would 
not have included the Minisink lands — a prominent object of the specula- 

* It is only about 60 or 65 miles to the Pokono or Broad mountain, fixjm Wrig-htstown meeting 
hbtiao. 



NORTHAMPTON COUNTY. 509 

tors. The line, as actually drawn by Mr. Eastburn, intersected the Dela- 
ware somewhere near Shoholo or., in Pike co. Overreaching, both in its 
literal and figurative sense, is the term most applicable to the whole 
transaction. Nevertheless, in Dec. 1756, a committee of councils, ap- 
pointed to inquire into the facts, presented an elaborate report to Gov. 
Denny, drawn up by Lynford Lardner, Esq., in which they make out, to 
their own satisfaction, that the " Indian walk" was a fair and honorable 
transaction.* It must be conceded, hovv^ever, that one ground of complaint 
on the part of the Indians — viz.: that the walk should have been along 
the course of the river — was not well founded ; since the deed (if of any 
validity) evidently required the walk to be in the interior. 

When the settlers began to move upon the lands at the Forks, which 
they did soon after the walk, Nutimus and others, who signed the release 
of 1737, were neither willing to quit the lands, nor to permit the new set- 
tlers to remain in quiet possession. They remonstrated freely, and de- 
clared their intention to maintain possession by force of arms. In the 
year 1741, therefore, a message was sent to the Six Nations, who, it was 
well known, held the Delawares under a species of vassalage, to request 
them to come down and force the Delawares to quit the Forks. They 
accordingly came to Philadelphia in the summer of 1742, to the number 
of 230. 

" The governor informed the deputies of the conduct of their cousins, a branch of the Dela- 
wares, who gave the province some disturbance about the lands the proprietors purchased of 
them, and for which their ancestors had received a valuable consideration about fifty-five years 
ago, (alluding to the deed of 1686, confirmed by the deed of 1737.) That they continued their 
former disturbances, and had the insolence to write letters to some of the magistrates of this 
government, wherein they had abused the worthy proprietaries, and treated them with the utmost 
rudeness and ill manners ; that being loth, out of regard to the Six Nations, to punish the Dela- 
wares as they deserved, he had sent two messages to inform them the Six Nation deputies were 
expected here, and should be acquainted with their behavior. That as the Six Nations, on all 
occasions, apply to this government to remove all white people that are settled on lands before 
they are purchased from them, and as the government use their endeavors to turn such people off, 
so now he expects from them that they will cause these Indians to remove from the lands in the 
forks of Delaware, and not give any further disturbance to the persons who are now in posses- 
sion. 

" The deeds and letters were then read, and the draught exhibited. 

" Canassatego, in the name of the deputies, told the governor, " That they saw the Delawares 
had been an unruly people, and were altogether in the wrong ; that they had concluded to remove 
them, and oblige them to go over the river Delaware, and quit all claim to any lands on this side 
for the future, since they had received pay for them, and it is gone through their guts long ago." 
Then addressing himself to the Delawares in a violent and singular strain of invective, he said, 
they deserved to be taken by the hair of the head, and shaked severely, till they recovered their 
senses, and became sober : and he had seen with his eyes a deed signed by nine of their ancea> 
tors about fifty years ago, for this very land, (1686,) and a release signed not many years since, 
(1737,) by some of themselves, and chiefs, yet living, (Sassoonan and Nutimus were present,) to 
the number of fifteen and upwards. " But how came you," continued he to the Delawares, " to 
take upon you to sell lands at all ? We conquered you ; we made women of you. You know 
you are women, and can no more sell land than women ; nor is it fit you should have the power 
of selling lands, since you would abuse it. This land that you claim is gone through your guts : 
you have been furnished with clothes, meat, and drink, by the goods paid you for it, and now you 
want it again like children as you are. But what makes you sell lands in the dark ? Did you 
ever tell us that you had sold this land ? Did we ever receive any part, even the value of a pipe 
shank, from you for it ? You have told us a blind story, that you sent a messenger to us, to in- 
form us of the sale ; but he never came among us, nor we ever heard any thing about it. This 
li acting in the dark, and very different from the conduct our Six Nations observe in the sales 
of land. On such occasion they give public notice, and invite all the Indians of their united na- 

* See Hazard's Register, vol. vi., p. 337. Also, in vol. v., p. 339, see Nicolas Sctill's account 
of the walk 



510 NORTHAMPTON COUNTY. 

tions, and give them all a share of the present they receive for their lands. This is the behavior 
of the wise united nations. But we find you are none of our blood : you act a dishonest part not 
only in this, but in other matters ; your ears are ever open to slanderous reports about your breth- 
ren. For all these reasons, we charge you to remove instantly ; we don't give you liberty to 
think about it. You are women. Take the advice of a wise man, and remove instantly. You 
may return to the other side of Delaware, where you came from ; but We do not know whether, 
considering how you have demeaned yourselves, you will be permitted to live there, — or whether 
you have not swallowed that land down your throats, as well as the land on this side. We there- 
fore assign you two places to go to, either to Wyonien or Shamokin. You may go to either of 
these places, and then we shall have you more under our eye, and shall see how you behave. 
Don't deliberate, but remove away, and take this belt of wampum." He then forbid them ever 
to intermeddle in land affairs, or ever hereafter pretend to sell any land, and commanded them, 
as he had something to transact with the English, immediately to depart the council. 

" The Delawares dared not disobey this peremptory command. They immediately left th» 
council, and soon after removed from the forks. Some, it is said, went to Wyoming and Shamo- 
kin, and some to the Ohio. Thus strangely was terminated the purchase of 168G — admitting 
the deed to have once existed. But even at this treaty with the Six Nations, it was not admitted 
that the proprietary right extended beyond the Kittochtinny hills ; and the deputies complained 
that they were not well used with respect to the land still unsold by them. ' Your people,' they 
said, ' daily settle on these lands, and spoil our hunting. We must insist on your removing them, 
as you know they have no right to settle to the northward of the Kittochtinny hills. In particu- 
lar we renew our complaints against some people who are settled on Juniata, a branch of Sus- 
quehanna, and all along the banks of that river as far as Mahaniay, and desire they may forth- 
with be made to go off the land, for they do great damage to our cousins the Delawares.' " 

The earlier settlers of this county were emigrants from the north of 
Ireland ; they generally avoided the limestone lands, (there known as the 
dry lands, and little esteemed,) preferring the slaty hills of Mount Bethel 
and Allen townships, where they found pure springs of water near the 
surface. They were generally Presbyterians, and churches of this de- 
nomination were among the earliest in the county. Allen township was 
then known as Craig's settlement, and Mount Bethel as Hunter's settle- 
ment. It is difficult to fix the precise date of the origin of these settle- 
ments. Some have placed it as early as 1728-30 ; yet this would seem 
rather too early. The Tulpehocken lands had been intruded upon by the 
whites in 1722, and Sassoonan had complained of them in 1728; but we hear 
little of any complaints of encroachments on lands in the Forks, until the 
collisions which ensued with Nutimus after the Indian walk. In the re- 
cords of the Phil. Presbytery it is said that Rev. Mr. Wales resigned his 
pastoral charge of Allentown congregation as early as 1734. The In- 
quiry into the Causes of the Alienation of the Indians, &c., says : — 

In 1722 a settlement is made at Tulpehocken ; in 1728 the Indians complain of it. The 
matter rested thus till the proprietor, in 1732, purchased this tract. But though the purchases 
which the proprietaries had made of the Indians were still (except at Tulpehocken) bounded by 
the Lechay hills, one gentleman having purchased a right to 10,000 acres of unlocated lands, 
found means to have a part of these located in the Forks above, 30 miles above the boundaries, 
in the Indian country. Encouraged by his example, many others soon after entered, and pos- 
sessed themselves of the adjacent country. Of this the Indians complained ; but instead of pay- 
ing any regard to their complaints, a lottery of land was set on foot by the proprietor, in 1734, 
whereby the greatest part of the Fork lands, then full of Indian settlements, were offered to sale. 
In the mean time, to amuse the Indians, several conferences were held with the Indians, one at 
Durham, one at Pennsbury, and one at Philadelphia. (See the deed above, on page 506.) The 
people during these conferences were settling thick at the Forks. 

Rev. Mr. Whitfield commenced an establishment at Nazareth about 
the year 1738-40; but soon after relinquished it, and sold out to the 
Moravians, who came in 1740, and established themselves both at Beth- 
lem and Nazareth. David Brainerd spent a number of years of his holy 
and useful life in labors among the Indians at the Forks, and in occasional 
services among the Irish settlers, during the years 1744-'46. He built a 



NORTHAMPTON COUNTY. 51j: 

cabin at Mount Bethel. The Lutheran Germans came in at a later date. 
After the revolution the Irish settlers began to seek homes in other re- 
gions, following the frontier as it receded towards the west ; and their 
families have nearly all disappeared from the county, their places be- 
ing supplied by Germans. It is remarkable that the same change has 
taken place throughout the whole of the Kittatinny valley, from Easton 
to Mercersburg. The aged Mr. Stroud of Monroe co. remembers well 
when there was not a German family, except Moravians, in all the slate 
lands of the county. 

It will be more convenient to notice the details of the early history of 
the CO. under the head of the prominent towns. For an account of the 
insurrection in several townships, in 1799, the reader is referred to Le- 
high CO. 

Easton, the seat of justice, is situated at the confluence of the Delaware 
and Lehigh rivers. In the advantages of its position, and the beauty of 
its surrounding scenery, it can vie with any inland town in the state. 
The society here is excellent ; the citizens are a moral, intelligent, and 
industrious people. The dwellings are well built ; generally of brick or 
limestone, and the churches are spacious and costly. The borough con- 
tains, in addition to the usual county buildings, German Reformed, Lu- 
theran, Presbyterian, Episcopal, and Methodist churches, an academy, a 
classical school, a public library, founded in 1811, and containing about 
3,000 volumes, an excellent mineralogical cabinet, a mutual insurance 
company, and two banks. This place is the centre of an immense grain 
trade from the Kittatinny valley, and within three miles of the courthouse 
there are 18 flouring-mills. several of which are in the borough; besides 
four oil-mills and a number of saw-mills. The Bushkill cr., which enters 
north of the town, has heretofore furnished the principal water-power, 
but recently a vast amount has been added by the works of the Lehigh 
Navigation Co., who, by means of their dam and canal, have 21 feet fall 
at South Easton. The splendid bridge across the Delaware cost about 
$65,000 ; there was a chain bridge across the Lehigh, which was de- 
stroyed by the great flood of 8th Jan., 1841, and it has been replaced by 
a superstructure of wood on the usual plan. Lafayette college occupies 
a commanding site on a high hill north of the town, from which a mag- 
nificent view is enjoyed of the fine scenery of this vicinity. 

Lafayette college had its origin in the public-spirited exertions of Hon. James M. Porter, (now 
secretary of war,) and a number of other intelligent citizens of Easton. A charter had been 
granted in 1826, and a board of trustees organized, but attempts to procure funds were for several 
years unsuccessful. It was originally designed for a military school, after the model of Capt. 
Partridge's academy; but this plan not meeting with general approbation, it was changed in 1832 
for that of a collegiate institution, on the manual labor system. The Itcv. Dr. George Junkin 
was appointed president, assisted by several professors. The legislature having failed to make 
an appropriation in aid of the college, an appeal was made to the public spirit of the citizens of 
Easton and Philadelphia for funds to erect the present edifice, temporary accommodations hav- 
ing been rented for the first year. This appeal was successful ; and on the 4th July, 1833, the 
corner-stone was laid by Hon. J. M. Porter, president of the board of trustees, with appropriate 
ceremonies. The edifice is 112 feet by 44, containing in all sixty rooms, and has received the 
name of Brainerd Hall, in memory of the pious labors of that devoted missionary in this region. 
The first term was opened in the new building in May, 1834, when Rev. Dr. Junkin and three 
other professors were duly inaugurated. 

The institution has continued to flourish. In 1840 or '41 the Rev. Dr. Junkin resigned and 
took charge of an institution in Ohio ; when he was succeeded by the Rev. Mr. Yeomans, a 
graduate of Williams college, Mass. The course of studies is generally that of the other college* 



512 NORTHAMPTON COUNTY. 

of the state, with slight variations. The faculty is composed of men of talent and learning, and 
the institution is assuming an honorable rank among her elder competitors. 

A considerable increase of business has been caused here by the com- 
pletion of the Lehigh Navigation Co.'s improvements to Mauch Chunk, 
in 1829; of the Delaware division of the Penn. canal in 1831 ; and of the 
Morris canal through N. Jersey to N. York. The distance to N. York by 
land is 60 miles ; by Morris canal more than 110; to Philadelphia by land 
56 miles ; to Bristol by canal 60, and thence to Philadelphia 20 more. 
Population in 1810, 1,650; in 1820, 2,450; in 1830, 3,700; and in 1840, 
exclusive of tSouth Easton, 4,865. South Easton is on the right bank of 
the Lehigh, a mile above Easton. It was established by the Lehigh 
Navigation Co. as a manufacturing village, and contains, in operation, 
a large cotton factory, a rolling and nail mill, several grist-mills, saw- 
mills, &c. A rifle factory, foundry, and furnace, were also established, 
but in 1842 were not in operation. It is in contemplation to establish 
here a manufactory of steel, which shall use the iron of this vicinity. 

It is said by those who have investigated the early records of the co., 
that Easton was laid out by Hugh Wilson, of Allen township, and Col. 
Martin, of Mount Bethel, commissioners, and William Parsons, surveyor, 
about the year 1737 or '38, or soon after the Indian walk. It does not 
appear, however, to have been settled for some years afterward, and not 
very extensively until the county was established in 1752; the earlier 
settlements having been made further in the interior, as mentioned above. 
The Moravian brethren had a Brothers' house here at an early day — a 
large edifice of stone. It is now one of the oldest buildings in the place, 
forming a part of Mr. Bauchman's hotel. In the early days of the 
town, all the limestone lands between it and Bethlehem, back from the 
streams, were termed the dry lands, and the barrens ; and as there w^ere no 
springs to be found upon them they were considered unfit for residence, 
and were left in a wild unsettled state. Before Lehigh co. was set off 
(1812) it was a subject of complaint by the Bethlehem and AUentown 
people, in their petitions for a nev^r county, " that they had to travel so far 
through this desolate region, entirely destitute of water or sustenance for 
man or beast, to reach the county seat." This statement would hardly be 
believed by one now passing through the fertile limestone farms between 
Bethlehem and Easton. 

We are indebted to the research of Mr. Sebring, of Easton, for the fol- 
lowing document, illustrating the peculiar sectarian prejudices of that 
day, and also showing the names of a number of the early settlers of the 
town. 

To the Worshipful the justices of the Court of General Quarter Sessions of the Peace, held at 
Easton, for the county of Northampton, the l8iA June, 1755. 

The petition of divers inhabitants of said town and others, humbly showeth : 
That your petitioners are very apprehensive your worships have been greatly imposed upon, in 
granting recommendations to his honor the governor for sundry Roman Catholics, out of legiance 
of his present majesty, our most gracious sovereign, for keeping public houses in this town, 
when those who profess the Protestant religion have been rejected : that your petitioners humbly 
conceive this practice may have pernicious consequences at this time, when an open rupture is 
now daily expected between a Roman Catholic powerful and perfidious prince and the crown of 
Great Britain ; as the Romans have thereby a better opportunity of becoming acquainted with 
our designs against them, and are thereby the better enabled to discover those designs and render 
them abortive. 

Your petitioners therefore pray that your honors will make proper inquiry into this matter, and 



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NORTHAMPTON COUNTY. 513 

wrant such 'redress as the circumstances of things may require ; and your petitioners will ever 
jjray, &c. 

Jasper Scull, Henry Rintker, Stophel Wagoner, Philip Mann, John Wagle, Jacob Miner, Na- 
thaniel Vernon, Lodwick Connong, William Hoffman, Robert Latimore, David Jones, James 
Percy, Robert McCracken, Robert Coungelton, John Latimore, Thomas Sillyman, Thomas 
Wilson, William Hays, Thomas Patton, Conrad Hesse, Isaac Miller, Joseph Brader, William 
Mack, John Jones, Ballscr Hesse, Jacob Bachman. 

The petition is endorsed, " John Fricker is not allowed a recommendation, &c., being a Roman 
Cathohc." 

Easton was a favorite place for holding councils with the Indian chiefs 
between the years 1754 and 1761, while the French were endeavoring to 
seduce the tribes on the Susquehanna and the Ohio frona their allegiance 
to the English, It was not uncommon to see from 200 to 500 Indians 
present on these occasions, and many of the dignitaries of the province 
and of other colonies. It was during the course of these negotiations 
that Teedyuscung, the Delaware chief, succeeded — by his eloquence, by 
the weight of his personal character, and by the firmness and cunning 
of his diplomacy — in redeeming his nation, in a great degree, from their 
degrading subserviency to the Six Nations ; and also in securing from 
the proprietary government, in substance if not in form, some acknow- 
ledgment and reparation for the wrongs done to his nation by the subtle- 
ties of the Indian walk, and by calling in the aid of the Six Nations to 
drive them from the forks. He would scarcely have succeeded in secur- 
ing these advantages, had he not been assisted and advised at every step 
by the Quakers and members of the Friendly Association, who were de- 
sirous of preserving peace and of seeing justice done to the Indians. 
They suggested to Teedyuscung the propriety of having a secretary of 
his own, (Charles Thompson, Esq.,) to take minutes of what was said and 
done in council. This was to prevent that convenient forgetfulness 
which often seized the proprietary secretaries whenever the proprietary 
interest required it. This measure was strenuously resisted both by the 
governor and George Croghan, but firmly insisted upon by Teedyuscung. 
The first council was held in July, 1756 ; but as the parties were not 
fully prepared, and the attendance was small, the more important busi- 
ness was deferred until autumn. On the 8th Nov. 1756, the Indian tribes, 
Delawares, Shawanees, Mohicans, and Six Nations, represented by their 
principal chiefs and warriors, met Gov. Denny, with his council, commis- 
sioners, and secretary, and a great number of citizens of Philadelphia, 
chiefly Quakers. Great pomp was observed on these occasions. " At 
three o'clock," says the record, " the governor marched from his lodgings 
to the place of conference, guarded by a party of the Royal Americans 
in front and on the flanks, and a detachment of Col. Weiser's provincials 
in subdivisions in the rear, with colors flying, drums beating, and music 
playing — which order was always observed in going to the place of con- 
ference. Teedyuscung, who represented four tribes, was the chief 
speaker on the occasion. 

" When the governor requested of him to explain the cause of the dissatisfaction and hostility 
of the Indians, he mentioned several, — among which were, the instigations of the French, and 
the ill usage or grievances they had suffered both in Penns3'lvania and New Jersey. 

" When the governor desired to be informed what these grievances were, Teedyuscung replied, 
' I have not far to go for an instance : this very ground that is under me (striking it with his foot) 
was my land and inheritance, and is taken from me hy fraud. When I say this ground, I mean 
all the land lying between Tohiccon creek and Wioming, on the river Susquehanna. I have not 
only been served so in this government, but the same tiung has been done to me as to several 

65 



514 NORTHAMPTON COUNTY. 

tracts in New Jersey, over tlie river.' The governor asked him whd he meant by fraud ? 
Teedyuscung answered, ' When one man had formerly liberty to purchase lands, and he took the 
deed from the Indians for it, and then dies — after his death his children forge a deed like the true 
one, with the same Indian names to it, and thereby take lands from the Indians which they never 
sold, — this is fraud ; also, when one king has land beyond the river and another king has land 
on this side — both bounded by rivers, mountains, and springs, which cannot be moved — and the 
proprietaries, greedy to purchase lands, buy of one king what belongs to another, — this likewise 
IS fraud' 

" Then the governor asked Teedyuscung whether he had been served so ? He answered, 
' Yes — I have been served so in this province : all the land extending from Tohiccon, over the 
great mountain, to Wioming, has been taken from me hy fraud ; for when I had agreed to sell 
land to the old proprietary by the course of the river, the young proprietaries came, and got it 
run by a strait course by the compass, and by that means took in double the quantity intended 
to be sold ; and because they had been unwilling to give up the land to the English as far as the 
walk extended, the governor sent for their cousins the Six Nations, who had always been hard 
masters to them, to come down and drive them from the land. The English made so many pre- 
sents to the Sis Nations, tliat they would hear no explanation from the Delawares ; and the 
chief (Conassatego) abused them, and called them women. The Six Nations had, however, given 
to them and the Shavvanees the country on the Juniata for a hunting ground, and had so informed 
the governor ; but notwithstanding this, the latter permitted the whites to go and settle upon 
those lands. That two years before, the governor had been to Albany to buy more of the lands 
of the Six Nations, and had described their purchase by points of compass, which they did not 
understand — including not only the Juniata, but also the West branch of the Susquehanna, 
which the Indians did not intend to sell ; and when all these things were known, they declared 
they would no longer be friends to the English, who were trying to get all their country from 
them.' 

He assured the council that they were glad to meet their old friends the English, to smoke the 
pipe of peace with them, and hoped that justice would be done to them for all the injuries which 
they had received." 

This conference continued nine days, and at the close a treaty of peace 
was concluded between the Shawanees and Delawares and the Eng- 
lish. The governor also offered to satisfy them for the land in the Forks 
and the Minisinks, but as many of those concerned in the land were not 
present, that question, at the suggestion of Teedyuscung, was adjourned, 
and was fully discussed at a subsequent council held at Easton in July, 
1757. The old deeds were called for, but could not all be produced. 
Teedyuscung was well plied with liquor; and it was with great difficulty 
that the Quakers could keep him in a proper state to see clearly his own 
interest, and to resist the powerful intrigues of Col. Croghan with the 
Six Nations to weaken his influence. It was at length agreed to refer 
the deeds to the adjudication of the king and council in England, and the 
question was quieted for a time. 

Another council was held here in the autumn of 1758, having for its 
object more especially the adjustment of all differences with the Six Na- 
tions, as well as with the other tribes. All the Six Nations, most of the 
Delaware tribes, the Shawanees, the Miamis, the Mohicans, Monseys, 
Nanticokes, Conoys, &c., were represented : in all, about 500 Indians 
were present. The governors of Pa. and New Jersey, Sir Wm. Johnson, 
Col. Croghan, Mr. Chew, Mr. Norris, and other dignitaries, with a great 
number of Quakers, also attended. Teedyuscung, who had been very in- 
fluential in forming the council, acted as principal speaker for many of the 
tribes ; but the Six Nations took great umbrage at the importance which he 
assumed, and endeavored to destroy his influence. Teedyuscung, however, 
notwithstanding he was well plied with liquor, bore himself with dignity 
and firmness, refused to succumb to the Six Nations, and was proof 
against the wiles of Col. Croghan and the governor. The council corv 
t;inued eighteen days. The land questions were discussed — especially the 



NORTHAMPTON COUNTY. 



515 



purchase of 1754, by which the line was run from near Penn's cr., N. W. 
by W., " to the western boundary of the state." (See page 25.) All the 
land under that purchase beyond the Allegheny mountain was restored, 
the deed being confirmed for the remainder, except for lands on the West 
Branch. All causes of misunderstanding between the English and the In- 
dians being removed, a general peace was concluded on the 26th Oct. 
An additional compensation for lands was given ; and at the close of the 
treaty stores of rum were opened to the Indians, who soon exhibited a 
scene of brutal intoxication. There M^as also another council held at 
Easton in 1761, concerning the Delaware settlement at Wyoming, in 
which Teedyuscung took an active and eloquent part. 

Bethlehem, the principal town of the United Brethren or Moravians 
in the U. States, occupies an elevated site on the left bank of the Lehigh, 
at the mouth of Manockisy cr. The scenery in the vicinity is said " not 
to be surpassed by the finest park and forest scenes in England, to which 
it bears a great resemblance." The town has always elicited the admi- 
ration of travellers by its substantial, neat, and orderly appearance, cor- 
responding with the character of the excellent people that founded it. 
The principal buildings and other objects of interest in the town are, the 
spacious church, capable of containing about 2,000 persons — the only 
one in the place ; the Brothers' house, and Sisters' house, where those 
who choose to live in a state of single-blessedness, and still earn an inde- 
pendent support, can do so : the corpse-house and cemetery ; the museum 




Church and Female Seminary, 

of the Young Men's Missionary Society, containing a cabinet of minerals 
and a collection of curiosities sent in by the missionary brethren from all 
parts of the world ; the very celebrated seminary for young ladies ; the 



516 NORTHAMPTON COUNTY. 

water- works on the Manockisy, said to have been in operation more tliani 
90 years, and which furnished the model for those in Philadelphia. 

All the property at Bethlehem belongs to the society, who lease out the 
lots only to members of their own communion. Each individual when 
of age becomes a voluntary subscriber to the rules of the society, with 
the right of withdrawing himself at pleasure ; in which case, however^ 
he is required to dispose of his property, if a householder, and remove from 
the town. Each member pursues his occupation on his ow^n private ac- 
count ; but if any particular trade should suffer by too great competition, 
the society will not permit a new competitor in the same trade, although 
a member of the society, to locate himself in the place. This secures to 
all a competence. The society takes charge of its own poor, of which, 
however, there are very few. The Moravian system is probably the 
most successful attempt that has been made in the U. States to maintain 
a community on the common property plan, having been in operation for 
more than a hundred years. It is remarkable that there is not a single 
lawyer in the place, nor is one needed. There are only two hotels in the 
place — both good ones. Although the place has its full share of travel 
and of strangers, yet the society has never found it " necessary for the 
convenience of the public" to license six or eight tippling taverns. The 
Lehigh canal passes the town along the river. There is a bridge over the 
Lehigh. Population in 1840, 1,622. 

" The Moravians are fond of music, and in the church, besides a fine-toned organ, they have 
a full band of instruments. When a member of the comftiunity dies, they have a peculiar cere- 
mony : four musicians ascend to the tower of the church with trumpets, and announce the event 
by performing the death dirge. The body is immediately removed to the house appointed for the 
dead — ' the corpse-house' — where the remains are deposited for three days. Tlie weeping wil- 
lows, whose branches overhang this resting-place for the dead, convey an impression of the soi. 
lemnity and silence which reigns in the narrow-house prepared for all mankind. It stands de- 
tached from all other buildings ; excluded from all communication with the stir and bustle of 
business, and appears in character with the purpose to which it is devoted. On the third day the 
funeral service is performed at the church. The corpse is brought from the dead-house to the 
lawn in front, and after several strains of solemn music, tlic procession moves towards the grave, 
with the band still playing, which is continued some time after the coffin is deposited. The 
graveyard is kept with perfect neatness. The graves are in rows, on each of which is placed a 
plain white stone, about twelve inches square, on which is engraved the name of the deceased, 
and the date of his birth and death — nothing more is allowed by the regulations of the society. 
A stone, rude as it may be, is sufficient to tell where we lie, and it matters little to him on whose 
pulseless bosom it reposes. The ground is divided into various apartments, for males, females, 
adults, children, and strangers. Among the many graves that we looked at was that of the pious 
Heckewelder, born 174.*3, died in lbi23." 

" We were shown the house where Lafayette lay during his recovery from the wound received 
at the battle of Brandy wine, and were told that the woman who acted as a nurse had an ir.ter 
view with the old general when he last visited the country, and that she was now living in the 
' Sister House.' "^Travellers' Notes. 



In the ninth century a sister of the King of Bulgaria being carried a prisoner to Constantino, 
pie, became a Christian, and, through her means, on her return to her native land, a Christian 
church was established in her country, of which the King of Moravia and the Duke of Bohemia 
were members. A part of these churches were afterwards forced into tiie Roman church, but a 
select few still refused to bow the knee to Rome. This little remnant, adhering to the pure and 
simple doctrines of the primitive church, suffered a variety of persecutions for several centuries, 
and at last were permitted to live in a wasted province on the borders of Moravia. Here they 
established a church in 1457, on what they deemed " the Rule and Law of Christ," calling them, 
selves at first Fratres legis Christi, Brethren of the Law of Christ, and finally, Unitas Fra- 
trum, or United Brethren. They were a regular, sound, and evangelical church a^ century befor« 
the reformation of Luther j and were in intimate communion with the Waldeiises, who had been 



NORTHAMPTON COUNTY. 



517 



preserved uncorrupted from the days of the Apostles. Count Zinzendorf was not the founder of 
the Moravian church, as imagined by many, but merely tlie protector of its members, when driven 
from their native land. They were allowed to settle in his village of Bcthelsdorf. He assisted 
them to reorganize their church, and after fruitless attempts to induce them to join the Lutheran 
church, he became himself one of them, and their leader and guardian, especially in temporal 
matters. When in 1734 the Elector of Saxony expelled the United Brethren and the followers 
of Schwenckfcld from his dominions, such of them as resided in the count's village of Bcthelsdorf, 
[in Upper Lusatia] since ll'J^, resolved to go to Georgia, and the count undertook to procure a 
free passage for them from the trustees of the Georgia colony residing in London. They estab- 
lished missions in Georgia, but refusing to take up arms in defence of the colony, were obliged 
to leave, and sought an asylum in the peaceable domain of Win, Penn, about the year 1739 and 
'40. Rev. George Whitfield, who had labored in conjunction with them in Georgia, had begun 
to erect a large building in the " Forks of the Delaware" as a school for negro children, to which 
he gave the name of Nazareth. At his request the brethren undertook to finish the building, 
though attended with great danger, the Indians refusing to quit the country, and threatening to 
murder them : they were compelled to leave it in 1740." 

The following historical sketch of the principal events at Bethlehem, and its vicinity, is con- 
densed from lioskiel's History of the Missions of the United Brethren in America : — 

Bishop Nischman, arriving in 1740, with a company of brethren and sisters, from Europe, they 
made purchase of the present site of Bethlehem. " It was wild and Woody, at a distance of 80 
miles from the nearest town, and only two European houses stood in the neighborhood, about two 
miles up the river. No other dwellings were to be seen in the whole country, except the scat- 
tered huts or cottages of the Indians. Rev. Chr. Hy. Ranch assisted Bishop Nischman in his 
labors here." 

[Here is a view of the first house erected in Bethlehem. It stood on the brow of the hill, 
where the road now winds down to the flouring-mill on the Manoekosy,] 




First House built in Bethlehem. 

Some time after, the Brethren purchased " the manor of Nazareth," from Mr. Whitfield, finished 
the house, and " Nazareth became by degrees a very pleasant settlement." The Indians were 
reconciled, and permission was obtained of the Six Nations for the establishment of the mission, 

At the close of the year 1741, Count Zinzendorf arrived in America ; and in the ensuing sum- 
mer of 1742 visited Bethlehem. While here he made a missionary tour among the villages of 
the red-men in the neighborhood, accompanied by his daughter Benigna, and several brethren and 
sisters — learning their manners, securing their affections, and preaching to those ferocious war- 
riors the gospel of peace. " His first visit was to the Indian Patemi, [Tademy ?] who lived not 
far from Nazareth. He (Patemi) was a man of remarkably quiet and modest deportment, spoke 
English wdl, and regulated his housekeeping much in the European style." They also visited 
Clistowacka, and another Indian town, chiefly inhabited by Delawares ; and then proceeded over 
the Blue mountain to Pochapuchkung and Meniolagomekah. The couni also extended his tour 
to Tulpehocken, the residence of Conrad Weiser, and to the Shawanees and Delawares of Wyo- 
ming and Shamokin. He returned to Europe in 1743. 

Bethlehem and Nazareth continued to increase and prosper : new Brethren came from other 
stations to labor here ; and many believing Indians were baptized. Bethlehem became a central 



019 NORTHAMPTON COUNTY. 

and controlling station, from which the Brethren took their instructions from the elders, on their 
departure, from time to time, for the different outposts of the mission, on the upper Lehigh, 
the Susquehanna, and eventually in the distant wilds of the Allegheny and Ohio rivers. Little 
villages of Christian Indians, Huts of Grace, Huts of Peace, Huts of Mercy, were organized at 
various points, under the Society's regulations, where the converts might grow in grace, unmo- 
lested by the heathenish rites and revels of their untamed brethren. Rauch, Buettner, Senseman, 
Mack, Christian Frederick Post, Heckewelder, Zeisberger, Bishop Nischman, Bishop Cammcr- 
hoff. Bishop Spangenberg, and others, were the laborers in this self-denying enterprise. So fre. 
quent were the visits of the missionaries and Christian Indians to the Susquehanna, that a 
beaten path was worn across the Nescopeck mountains, between Gnadenhutten and Wyoming. 

A formal embassy was sent by the Brethren to the grand council at Onondaga, from whom 
they received express permission to establish their mission stations in the Indian domain ; aud 
two of the brethren were also permitted to reside among the Six Nations, to learn their language. 

"Among those baptized in 1750," says Loskiel, "was one Tadeuscund, called Honest John 
by the English. His baptism was delayed some time because of his wavering disposition ; but 
having once been present at a baptism, he said to one of the Brethren, ' I am distressed that the 
time is not yet come tliat I shall be baptized and cleansed in the blood of Christ. O that I 
were baptized and cleansed in his blood !' He received this favor soon after, and was named 
Gideon. The missionaries hesitated also about baptizing another Indian, living in Meniolagome- 
kah, called Big Jacob ;" but he was, after close examination, baptized, and named Paul. " He 
remained faithful unto the end." Not so, however, with Tadeuscund. Four years afterwards, 
when the Susquehanna Indians were secretly plottinij to join the French, and commence hostili- 
ties against the English, it was part of the scheme to persuade the Christian Indians of Gnaden- 
hutten to remove to Wyoming, that the others might fall upon the white people, below the moun. 
tains. " Abraham, a Mohican, and Gideon Tadeuscund were the most active in promoting this 
affair. The latter soon proved, by his whole behavior, that the doubts of the missionaries con- 
cerning his steadiness were but too well founded. He was like a reed shaken with the wind." 
(See page 186.) 

The defeat of Braddock, the following year, brought a desolating storm of savage warfare up- 
on the whole frontier. Many white settlements near the Blue mountain were cut off, and even 
the poor Brethren and Indians at Gnadenhutten did not escape. The Moravians, and their In- 
dian converts, were in danger between two fires. .The hostile Indians were burning and ravaging 
their villages on the Lehigh. On the other hand, the Irish of the Kittatinny valley viewed with jeal- 
ousy, not without some reason, the asylum afforded to hostile parties of Indians at the Christian 
Indian villages, as they passed back and forth through the country : it was charged too against 
the Brethren that they would not take up arms in defence of the colony ; and falsely charged, 
moreover, that they were actually in league with the French. It was difficult to convince men, 
excited and exasperated by the murder of their families, that these charges were without foun- 
dation. They openly threatened to exterminate the Indian converts, and it was dangerous for 
the friendly Indians even to hunt in the woods. The missionaries themselves were insulted and 
abused. Under these circumstances, the affrighted Indians, whose towns had been burnt, took 
refuge at Bethlehem. 

The Moravian establishments were a great obstacle to the designs of the hostile Indians, since 
they could not persuade the friendly Indians to destroy the missionary towns. " Sonietimes well- 
disposed Indians, hearing of a plot against them by the warriors, would travel all night to warn 
the Brethren ; and thus their schemes were defeated." Great numbers of the distressed white 
settlers took refuge in the Moravian settlements. Hundreds of women and children came even 
from distant places, crying and begging for shelter ; some almost destitute, having left their all, 
and fled in the night. Some Brethren, going with wagons to fetch corn from the mill, beyond tho 
Blue mountain, were met by a great number of white people in distress, the savages havmg at- 
tacked their towns, murdered many, and set fire to their dwellings. The Brethren loaded their 
wagons with these people. Bethlehem, Nazareth, Friedensthal, Christiansbrunn, and the Rose, 
were at this time considered asylums for all, as long as there was room ; and the empty school- 
houses and mills were allotted them for residence. 

In Jan. 1757, public service began to be performed at Bethlehem, in the Indian language, the 
liturgy being translated into Mohican, by the missionary Jacob Schmich. Several parts of the 
Scriptures, and many hymns, were also translated into the Delaware language, for the use of the 
church and schools. The children frequently came together and sang praises in German, Mohi- 
can, and Delaware hymns. 

June 10, 1757, the first house was built at Nain, for the accommodation of the Indian Brethren, 
who would not remove to Wyoming ; but the war retarded the progress of the buildings. In the 
autumn of 1758 Nain was completed, and the Indians removed thither. The chapel was conse- 
crated on the 18th Oct. The settlement increased so fast that, in 1760, it became necessary for 
the hive to swarm ; and a new station was established at Wequetank, beyond the Blue mountam. 
Col. Croghan desired to have the treaties held at Bethlehem, but the Brethren uniformly refused. 
Wheo Tadeu8Cim4 was coming to one of these treaties, he was accompanied by the chief of tho 



NORTHAMPTON COUNTY. 519 

savages who burnt the village of the Brethren, on the Mahony. Tadeuscund quarrelled with him 
and killed him on the road. . j. . . 

After the treaty at Easton, in 1758, it was determined to hold a grand council m Philadelphia, 
for the purpose of making a general peace with all the Indian nations ; and it became necessary 
to despatch a messenger to the hostile tribes on the Ohio. This was a dangerous errand; but 
Christian Frederick Post, one of the brethren, agreed to undertake it. He went twice to the 
Ohio, and was successful in his mission. On the 1st July, 1758, he arrived in Betlilehem, with 
the Indian deputies ; and thence proceeded with them to Philadelphia. 

The journal of Post, a most interesting narrative, is published in the Appendix to Proud's His- 
tory of Pennsylvania : 

" In Aug. 1760, the affecting news of the death of Count Zinzendorf arrived at Bethkhem, 
and made a deep impression upon the Indian congregations, ' who wept over his loss, and thanked 
the Lord for the blessings imparted unto them by means of his labors.' " 

In 1763, the frontiers were again overrun by the scalping parties of the western Indians, 
during what was called Pontiac's war. Some of these parties occasionally skulked about the 
Moravian Indian towns, and this circumstance, together with the simultaneous massacre of the 
Stinton family and several other Irish settlements, revived the old jealousies between the Irish 
settlers of the Kittalinny valley and the Moravian brethren. The events of that day which oc- 
curred in the neighborhood of Bethlehem have an intimate relation to the causes of the massacre 
of the Conestoga Indians at Lancaster by " the Paxton men" on the 14th and 27th of Decern- 
her. 

" The Irish declared that no Indians should dare to show themselves in the woods, or they 
should be shot dead immediately ; and that if only one more white man should be murdered in 
this neighborhood, the whole Irish settlement would rise in arms and kill all the inhabitants of 
Wequetank, without waiting for an order from government, or an order from a justice of the 
peace. The Indians at Wequetank were obliged to quit the place and take refuge at Nazareth. 
The same threatening messages were sent to Nain. The day after the murder of the Stinton 
family, 9th Oct. 1763, about 5U white men assembled on the opposite side of the Lehigh with a 
view to surprise Nain in the night, and murder all the inhabitants. But a neighboring friend 
representing the danger and difficulty of such an attempt in strong terms, the enemy forsook 
their intentions and returned home ; and the Brethren praised God for this very merciful preser- 
vation. Still the congregation at Nain was blockaded on all sides. The murders of the New 
England people at Wyoming increased the fury of the white people. The inhabitants of Nain 
ventured no longer to go to Bethlehem on business. No Indian ventured to fetch wood, or to 
look after his cattle, without a white brother to accompany him, or a passport in his pocket." 

The Moravian Indians were soon afterwards, about 8th Nov. 1763, ordered by the gorem- 
ment to repair for protection to Philadelphia, where they were lodged in the barracks. The In- 
dians from the mission at Wyalusing also went to Philadelphia for the same reasons. 

" Wequetank was burnt by the white people, and in the night of the 18th Nov. some incendi- 
aries endeavored to set fire to Bethlehem. The oil-mill was consumed, and the fury of the flame« 
was such, that the adjoining water-works were with difficulty saved." 

Peace was concluded with the hostile Indians in 1764, when the Moravian Indians returned 
in safety to Bethlehem, Nain, and Wyalusing. 

" In the year 1787, the Brethren in North America established a society called The Society 
of the United Brethren for Propagating the Gospel among the Heathen, in imitation of the soci- 
ety for the furtherance of the gospel, established by the Brethren in England 46 years before. 
This society consists of all the elders and minister© of the congregations of the United Brethren 
in N. America, and many other members chosen at their request, and with the consent of the so- 
ciety. They held their first meeting 21st Sept. 1757, at Bethlehem. On the 27th Feb. 1788, 
the society was incorporated by the legislature of Pennsylvania." 

Naz.\reth is another very pretty village of the Moravians, 10 miles 
north of Bethlehem, and 7 miles northwest of Easton, on the turnpike to 
Wilkesbarre. This place, in its orderly character and neat appearance, 
resembles the other towns of the same fraternity. It contains a church, 
a tavern, a Sisters' house, a large and flourishing seminary for boys, un- 
der the charge of Rev. Mr. Kluge, having about 80 scholars, and the 
usual dead-house and cemetery peculiar to the sect. Rev. Mr. Reincke 
is now the pastor. The annexed view shows the new church built in 
1840 ; behind it Mr. Kluge's residence ; in front the boys' seminary, and 
on the right of it the Sisters' house. " There is still standing on the east- 
ern border of the village, the original house commenced by Rev. George 
Whitfield, the eloquent preacher, about the year 1738-40, intended as a 



520 



NORTHAMPTON COUNTY. 




Church, Se7ninary, and Sistei's' House. 

school for African children. Before he had finished it he sold out to 
Count Zinzendorf, who completed the building. It is a large antique edi- 
fice, built of limestone, with a hij)-roof, and has in front between the sto- 
ries a brick band with crank-shaped ends, similar to those in many an- 
cient houses in Philadelphia. This band marks the limits of Whitfield's 
labor. 

Gnadenthal, Schoentck, and Christian Spring, are small Moravian set- 
tlements about a mile from Nazareth. Gnadenthal is the site of the coun- 
ty poorhouse. 

Nazareth is situated exactly at the junction of the slate and limestone 
lands. A slate quarry has been opened in the neighborhood, yielding 
only flag-stones and roofing-slate. A medicinal spring gushes out from 
the slate rock about a mile from the village, in a deep shady glen — a de- 
lightful summer resort. The population of Nazareth in 1830 was 408 — 
in 1840, about 450. 

Between Bethlehem and Nazareth are the villages of Newberg and 
Hectown. Besides the towns already mentioned, there are on the west- 
ern side of the co., a few miles back from the Lehigh, Bath, Howart- 
TowN, Kreidersville, Cherryville, iCernsville, and Berlinville, all pleas- 
ant villages, supplying each its own circle of farmers. Near Cherryville 
is an ancient Lutheran church, " St. Paulus Kirck," originally founded in 
1772. This place was formerly known as " Indian Land." This region 
on the Lehigh was originally known as Craig's settlement, and after- 
wards as Allen township. Bath was laid out by the Irish some years 
before the revolution. For the following notes on the early history of 
Allen township we are indebted to the diligent researches of Rev. Mr. 
Webster of Mauch Chunk : 

" This settlement was made from the north of Ireland about the years 1728-30. That was 
the period at which the tide of Presbyterian emigration began to take place : at this date the 
Irish settlements in Londonderry, N. H., Colerain, Mass., aud Orange co., N. Y., began. Says 
Rev. Mr. Andrews of Philadelphia, in April 8, 1730, to a friend, 'Such multitudes of people 
coming in from Ireland of late years, our Presbyterian congregations are multiplied in the prov- 
ince to 15 or 16, all supplied with ministers but two or three.' 

" Wm. Craig, Esq., and Thomas Craig, Esq., appear to have been the principal lettlers. Their 



NORTHAMPTON COUNTY. 521 

residence was not far from where the Presbyterian church in Allen township now stands. Oth- 
ers — men of property, influence, and religious character — were, John Ralston, Robert Walker, 
John Walker, John McNair, John Hays, James King, Gabriel King, his only son, eminent for 
his piety, Arthur Lattimore, Hugh Wilson, Wm. Young, George Gibson, Robert Gibson, An- 
drew Mann, James Riddle, John Boyd, Widow Mary Dobbin, Nigel Gray, and Thomas Arm- 
strong, who afterwards removed to Fogg's manor. 

" Thomas Craig was the first justice of the peace ; Hugh Wilson the next. James Craig 
lived to an advanced age, and though palsied, was always carried on the sabbath to the sanctu- 
ary by his sons Wm. and Robert. Dr. Franklin mentions stopping at Hays' on his way to 
Gnadenhutten, and being joined by Hays' company of 30 men, and Martin's from Martin's or., 
Mount Bethel. The Irish settlement extended from the dry lands up to Biery's bridge. Mr. 
Gregg, an early settler and a valuable man, lived where the Crane iron works now stand. The 
most distant settlers often came in and sheltered their families in the fort. A number of fami- 
lies were massacred above the bridge, about the year 1755-56. Mrs. Lattimore, now living, re- 
members the terrors of that day. Mr. Burke, lately deceased at Easton, says that his mother 
fled at one time as far as Wilkesbarre. 

" By the records of Philadelphia Presbytery, it appears that Rev. Eleazer Wales resigned the 
pastoral charge of Alien town congregation in 1734. He was probably their minister from the 
first. The congregation probably remained vacant till the visit of Brainerd, who often preached 
at the settlement near where the church now stands. Mr. Burke's grandfather built a lean-to 
beside his own house, for Braincrd's accommodation. Mr. Wilson's mother told him how often 
after he had preached Brainerd went round conversing with the people who were weeping under 
the trees. The earliest record I can find is inscribed " the Count Book of the Congregation of 
the West Branch of the Delaware on the Forks, Jan. 8-9, 1749-50." jE40 per annum was the 
salary. The successive ministers were Rev. Daniel Lawrence, a graduate from the Log College, 
from 1748 to '5:2 ; Rev. John Clark, from 1759 to 1768. Rev. John Rosbrugh, who came in 
1769 and preached also at Mount Bethel — an able preacher, and zealous patriot, and chaplain of 
the revolution ; he was murdered by the Hessians at Trenton, 2d Jan. 1777. During the division 
which existed from 1741 to 1758, this congregation was coimected with the New York Synod, 
or the '• New side." Probably at this time, and out of this, grew up a Seceder congregation 
which had a meeting-house towards Biery's bridge. They had no minister, but were occasion- 
ally supplied. The congregation has long been extinct. 

" The Presbyterian congregation, between 1783 and '90, erected a large stone academy on Ma- 
nockasy creek, a mile from Bath, and Rev. Thomas Picton was the instructor. It is now used 
by the congregation for divine worship. 

" Since the revolution the settlement began to decline ; men grew tired of farming, or wasted 
their property, and sold out and moved away. The Hays family of Pittsburg, Wilsons of Buf- 
falo township, Union co., Ralstons of Chester, and Culbertsons of the West, removed from here. 
The land-oSice was at Bath. George Palmer was surveyor-general many years ; he lies buried 
in Allen township graveyard." 

Among the murders and ravages of the Indians in 1 763 were the fol- 
lowing, related in Gordon's Hi.st. of Penn. : 

Early in Oct., the house of John Stinton, about eight miles from Bethlehem, was assailed by 
the Indians, at which was Capt. Witherholt, with a party belonging to Fort Allen. The Capt., 
designing early in the morning to proceed for the fort, ordered a servant out to get his horse 
ready, who was immediately shot down by the enemy ; upon which the captain going to the 
door was also mortally wounded, and a sergeant, who attempted to draw the captain in, was also 
dangerously hurt. The lieutenant then advanced, when an Indian jumping on the bodies of the 
two others, presented a pistol to his breast, which he, putting aside, it went oS"over his shoulder, 
whereby he got the Indian out of the house and shut the door. The Indians then went round to 
a window, and as Stinton was getting out of bed, shot him ; but, rushing from the house, he was 
able to run a mile before he dropped dead. His wife and two children ran into the cellar ; they 
were fired upon three times, but escaped uninjured. Capt. Witherholt, notwithstanding his 
wound, crawled to a window, whence he killed one of the Indians who were setting fire to the 
house ; the others then ran ofi", bearing with them their dead companion. Capt. Witherholt died 
soon after. 

On the 8th of Oct., a party of 15 or 20 Indians attacked the house of Capt. Nicholas Marks, 
of Whitehall township, [now in Lehigh co.] Marks, his wife, and an apprentice boy, made their 
escape, though twice fired upon by the Indians, and proceeded to the house of one Adam Fashler, 
where there were 20 men under arms. These immediately went in pursuit of the enemy. In 
their progress, they visited the farms of Jacob Meekly, where they found a boy and girl lying 
dead, the girl scalped ; of Hance Sneider, where they discovered the owner, his wife, and three 
children dead, in the field, and three girls, one dead, the other two wounded, and one of them 
kCdIped. On their return to Ashler's, they found the wife of Jacob Aliening, with a child, lying 
dead in the road, amj scalped. The houses pf Meirks and Sneider were both burned. 

66 



522 NORTHAMPTON COUNTY. 

Above Easton, on the high slate lands a short distance back from the 
Delaware, and along the road to Stroudsburg, are the following villages 
Mt. Bethel, a small hamlet, the site of one of the earliest settlements in 
the county ; Richmgnu, an ancient village inhabited chiefly by Germans 
Centreville, two miles beyond, a pleasant and flourishing village recent 
ly started ; and Williamsburg, about two miles from the Delaware, a 
small village settled some years since. This section of the county was 
settled at a very early date by emigrants from the north of Ireland, and 
was known as Hunter's settlement, and since as Mt. Bethel township. 
Martin's creek took its name from Col. Martin, an early settler. One mile 
above this creek, and about seven miles from Easton, is the site of the 
ancient Bethel Presbyterian church. In the old graveyard are recorded 
the names of a number of the early settlers, among whom Robert Lyle, 
who died in 1765, aged 67, appears to have been conspicuous. This was 
the scene of the holy and self-denying labors of Rev. David Brainerd. 
He also labored with eminent success among the Indians at Crossweek- 
sung in New Jersey, and at Shamokin and Juniata island on the Susque- 
hanna. He kept a diary and journal of his travels — but so absorbed 
was he in the spiritual duties of his mission, that he has recorded but few 
names of persons and places, and few facts of general interest that throw 
light upon the early history of this region : 

Leaving New England, he crossed the Hudson, and went to Goshen in the Highlands ; and 
so travelled across the woods, from the Hudson to the Delaware, about a hundred miles, through 
a desolate and hideous country, above New Jersey, where were very few settlements — in which 
journey he suffered much fatigue and hardship. He visited some Indians in the way, at a place 
called Minnissinks, and discoursed with them concerning Christianity. Was considerably mel- 
ancholy and disconsolate, being alone in a strange wilderness. On Saturday, May 12, he came 
to a settlement of Irish and Dutch people, and proceeding about 12 miles further, arrived at Sak- 
hauwotung, an Indian settlement within the Forks of the Delaware. 

Lord's day, May 13. — Rose early ; felt very poorly after my long journey, and after being wet 
and fatigued. Was very melancholy ; have scarcely ever seen such a gloomy morning in my 
life ; there appeared to be no Sabbath ; the children were all at play ; I, a stranger in the wil- 
derness, and knew not where to go ; and all circumstances seemed to conspire to render my af- 
fairs dark and discouraging. Was disappointed respecting an interpreter, and heard that the 
Indians were much scattered. O, I mourned after the presence of God, and seemed like a creature 
banished from his sight ! yet he was pleased to support my sinking soul amidst all my sorrows ; 
so that I never entertained any thought of quitting my business among the poor Indians ; bu* 
was comforted to think that death would ere long set me free from these distresses. Rode about 
three or four miles to the Irish people, where I found some that appeared sober and concerned 
about religion. My heart then began to be a little encouraged : went and preached first to the 
Irish and then to the Indians ; and in the evening was a little comforted : my soul seemed to 
rest on God, and take courage. — EdiHards' Life of Brainerd. 

He went to New Jersey to be ordained, and again returned to his la- 
bors at the Forks : but his body was too feeble for the fervent spirit that 
dwelt within it, and it seemed at every moment as though he would sink 
under the hardships of the wilderness. With the aid of a poor interpre- 
ter, he translated prayers into the language of the Delawares. He speaks 
of the Indians in this region as being excessively addicted to idolatry — 
as having contracted strong prejudices against Christianity on account 
of the wicked lives of the whites with whom they had intercourse — and 
as being extremely attached to customs and fabulous notions of their 
fathers ; one of which was, " that it was not the same God made them who 
made the white people, but another, who commanded them to live by 
hunting, &c., and not to conform to the customs of the white people ;" 
and furthermore, they were " much awed by their powaws, who were sup- 



NORTHAMPTON COUNTY. 523 

posed to have the power of enchanting or poisoning them in a very dis- 
tressing manner." Nevertheless, some converts were gathered in as the 
reward of his labors, among whom were his interpreter, Moses Finda 
Fautaury, and his wife. Brainerd built himself a cabin with his own hands, 
not far from Bethel church ; and on moving into it, having, as he says, 
*' a happy opportunity of being retired in a house of his own," he set 
apart the day for secret prayer and fasting. This cabin was still stand- 
ing within the memory of Mr. John Wilson. Brainerd speaks frequently 
of his labors among the white people in the Forks, the Irish, the " High 
Dutch," the " Low Dutch," &c. — of preaching to them in the wilder^ 
ness on the sunny side of a hill, where he " had a considerable assem- 
bly, consisting of people who lived, at least many of them, not less than 
thirty miles asunder ; some of them came near twenty miles." He 
speaks of preaching " to an assembly of Irish people nearly fifteen miles 
distant from the Indians ;" and at another time, after he and " dear 
brother Byram" had been out to Wapwallopen on the Susquehanna, on 
their return they came to an Irish settlement with which Brainerd was 
acquainted, and lodged there, and the next day they both preached to the 
people. This was doubtless at Craig's settlement. He spent but about 
three years in Pennsylvania, when his feeble frame sunk under the fa- 
tigues and exposures of the wilderness ; he returned home sick from the 
Susquehanna, and died in New England, Oct. 9, 1747. He was employ- 
ed by a missionary society in Scotland, and many interesting details may 
be found in his public " Journal of the Rise and Progress of a remarkable 
work of Grace among the Indians in New Jersey and Pennsylvania."* 

About two miles south of the Delaware Water-gap is the celebrated 
slate-quarry of the Pennsylvania Slate Co. This company was incorpo- 
rated in 1811, and at that time opened the quarry, and wrought it for 
some time ; but for want of skill, and knowledge of the business, -were 
obliged to cease operations. Under the auspices of Hon. James M. Por- 
ter and others the company was revived, some six or eight years since, 
and operations were renewed. A great number both of school and roof- 
ing slates have been made. The workmen are generally Welsh. 

It was probably in this vicinity that the following incidents occurred, 
related by Moses Marshall, son of Edward Marshall, of the Indian walk, 
to John Watson, Esq.: — 

In 1754, his father lived about 18 miles above Easton. In the next year 200 Indians, headed 
by their chief or king, Teedyuscung, made an attack on the white inhabitants. They fired on A 
company attending a funeral, but killed none. These fled and gave the alarm, and they all got 
off. We went back in the year 1756, but lived till the fall of the next year on the Jersey side of 
the river, when we returned to the farm. Soon after, about 16 Indians attacked the house, in the 
absence of my father, of whom they always appeared afraid. One of them threw his match- 
coat on a beehive, by the side of the garden. The bees came out and stung them, by which 
means five small children, tliat wore playing in the garden, got away. They shot one of my sis- 
ters as she was running ; the ball entered her right shoulder, and came out below the left breast. 
Yet she got away, and recovered. They took my mother, who was not in a condition to escape 
them, some miles, and then killed her. There were five guns in the house, all loaded, which they 
never touched ; and took nothing away except a coat, with .£3 in money in the pocket, belonging 
to Matthew Hughs, who boarded with us. 

In 1748, the people having forted together, the Indians came and turned the creatures into the 
wheat-field. Five young men went out of the fort to turn them out again. The Indians way- 
laid them, and shot two, one of whom was my brother. 

* See Brainerd's Life, pubUshed by the Am. Tract Society ; also p. 275 of this work. 



f94 NORTHUMBERLAND COUNTY. 



Ni 



NORTHUMBERLAND COUNTY. 

NoRTHUMBEHLAND COUNTY was Separated from Berks and Bedford, by the 
act of 21st March, 1772. At the time of its establishment, it extended 
to the north and west boundaries of the province ; and its limits have 
been reduced by the successive establishment of Luzerne, Mifflin, Lyco- 
ming, Centre, Columbia, and Union counties. Area 457 sq. m. Popula- 
tion in 1790, 17,161 ; in 1800, (Lvcoming off,) 27,796: in 1810, (part of 
Centre off,) 36,327; in 1820, (Columbia and Union oft;) 15,424; in 1830, 
18,133; in 1840, 20,027. 

The western boundary of the county is washed by the West branch 
and main stream of the Susquehanna for a distance of 40 miles ; the 
North branch flows about ten miles across the centre, joining the West 
branch at Northumberland. The other important streams are Warrior's 
run, Limestone run, and Chillisquaque cr., tributaries of the West branch ; 
Roaring cr. and Gravel run, tributaries of the North branch ; and Sham- 
okin, Mahanoy, and Mahantango creeks, tributaries of the Susquehanna. 
The general surface of the county is mountainous. Above the forks, 
Limestone ridge and Montour's ridge cross between the North and West 
branches. Below the forks lie the higher ridges connected \vith the coat 
formation — the Shamokin hills, and Mahanoy, Line, and Mahantango 
mountains. Notwithstanding the ruggedness of these mountains, there 
is a great amount of fertile land dispersed through the county, along the 
valleys ; especially on the bottoms of the Susquehanna, and in the lime- 
stone region above Montour's ridge. 

The Mahanoy and Shamokin coal-basin extends from about eight miles 
east of the Susquehanna northeasterly, through the IMahanoy and upper 
Shamokin valleys, into Schuylkill co. The coal of this basin is said to 
be of excellent quality ; the thickness of the beds varies from five to more 
than forty feet. Iron-ore is also found in this vicinity ; and in great abun- 
dance, and of excellent quality, of the hard kind, in Montour's ridge. 
Limestone also exists in the hills, about ten miles from Sunbury ; and a 
vein of lead-ore was discovered, in 1840, in this limestone, at the quarry 
of Messrs. Shesholtz and Bergstresser. The vein was said to be about 
two feet in thickness, and to yield about 70 per cent. The internal im- 
provements of the county are the Pennsylvania canal, along both branches 
of the Susquehanna, uniting at Northumberland, and passing down on 
the right bank of the main stream, in Union co. ; the '"Danville and Potts- 
ville railroad," or rather the Sunbury and Shamokin railroad, completed 
about 20 miles, to the coal-mines, and intended to be completed to Potts- 
ville ; and the turnpike from Sunbury to Pottsville, with a branch to Dan- 
ville. Water-power is abundant on the small streams ; and a company 
has it in contemplation to derive an immense power from the Susquehan- 
na, above Sunbury, passing the water through a race, emptying below 
the Shamokin dam. With all these great elements of wealth — rich lime- 
stone lands and river-bottoms, for agriculture ; mines of iron, coal, and 
lead, for manufactures ; mountains abounding with timber, and streams 
with water-power, and every facility for reaching the great market.*?- - 



NORTHUMBERLAND COUNTY. 525 

this county possesses the meani of sustaining with comfort a dense popu- 
lation. 

The original settlers of the county were English and Scotch-Irish ; but 
the Germans, who began to come in about the beginning of this century, 
now predominate, especially in the district below the North branch. 

It is well known that the valley of the Susquehanna, in the early days 
of the province, had been assigned by the Six Nations to the Delavvares, 
Shawanees, Conoys, Nanticokes, Monseys, and Mohicans, for a hunting- 
ground. Several of their villages are mentioned by the Moravian mis- 
sionaries, as being in this vicinity, and on the West branch. They speak 
of Shamokin (now Sunbury) as " a populous Indian town, belonging to 
the Iroquois," or Six Nations. This was the residence of Shikellimus, or 
Shikellamy, a celebrated Cayuga chief, who, as we learn from the Minutes 
of Council, Aug. 12, 1731, had been "sent by the Five Nations to preside 
over ye Shawanees." He was a man of great dignity, sobriety, and pru- 
dence, and was noted for his kindness to the whites and to the missiona- 
aries. He was an intimate friend of Conrad Weiser. On several impor- 
tant occasions we hear of his attending in council at Philadelphia, and 
of performing embassies between the government of Pennsylvania and 
the Six Nations. He was the father of " Logan, the Mingo chief." (See 
page 466.) On the 28th Sept. 1742, as we learn from Loskiel — 

Count Zinzendorf, accompanied by Conrad Weiser, Esq., Br. Martin I\Iack and his wife, and 
the two Indians, Joshua and David, after a tedious journey through the wilderness, arrived at 
Shamokin. ShikelUmus stepped out and gave them a hearty welcome. " A savage presented 
the Count with a fine melon, for which the latter gave him his fur cap." The Count announced 
himself as a messenger of the living God, come to preach grace and mercy. Shikellimus said 
he was glad to receive such a messenger, and promised to forward his designs. One day, when 
the Brethren were about going to prayers, and the Indians, then at a feast, were making a pro- 
digious noise, with drums and singing, the Count sent word to Shikellimus, who ordered silence 
immediately. 

The Count, with a part of his company, forded the Susquehanna, and went to Ostonwackin, 
on the West branch. This place was then inhabited, not only by Indians of different tribes, 
but by Europeans, who had adopted the Indian manner of life. Among the latter was a French- 
woman, Madame Montour, who had married an Indian warrior, [Carondowana, alias Robert 
Hunter ;] but lost him in a war against the Catawbas. She kindly entertained the Count for 
two days. The Count went soon after to Wyoming. 

Rev. David Brainerd visited Shamokin in 1745, and again in 1746. 
The following extracts are from his Life and Public Journal : — 

Sept. 13, 1745. — After having lodged out three nights, I arrived at the Indian town I aimed at, 
on the Susquehanna, called Shaumoking ; one of the places, and the largest of them, which I vis- 
ited in May last. I was kindly received and entertained by the Indians ; but had little satisfac- 
tion, by reason of the heathenish dance and revel they then held in the house where I was obliged 
to lodge — which I could not suppress, though I often entreated them to desist, for the sake of one 
of their own friends, who was then sick in the house, and whose disorder was much aggravated 
by the noise. Alas ! how destitute of natural affection are these poor uncultivated pagans ! 
although they seem somewhat kind in their own way. Of a truth, the dark corners of the earth 
are full of the habitations of cruelty. This town, as I observed in my Diary of May last, lies 
partly on the east side of the river, partly on the west, and partly on a large island in it, and 
contains upwards of 50 houses, and nearly 300 persons ; though I never saw much more than 
half that number in it. They are of three different tribes of Indians, speaking three languages, 
wholly unintelligible to each other. About one half of its inhabitants are Delawares ; the others 
called Senekas and Tutelas. The Indians of this place are accounted the most drunken, mis- 
chievous, and rufSan-hke fellows, of any in these parts ; and Satan seems to have his seat in this 
town, in an eminent manner. 

After preaching the word faithfully to the " Delaware king," who had 
been very sick, and to the Indians, he went down to Juniata island, (see 



526 NORTHUMBERLAND COUNTY. 

page 275,) and thence home. In Aug. 1746, he returned oO Shamokin 
again on his holy errand. He says — 

Sept. 1. — Set out on a journey towards a place called the Great Island, about 50 milea from 
Shaumoking, on the northwestern branch of the Susquehanna. At night lodged in the woods. 

Sept. 2. — Rode forward, but no faster than my people went on foot. Was very weak, on this 
as well as the preceding days. I was so feeble and faint that I feared it would kill me to lie 
Out in the open air ; and some of our company being parted from us, so that we had now no axe 
with us, I had no way but to climb into a young pine-tree, and with my knife to lop the branches, 
and so make a shelter from the dew. But the evening being cloudy, with a prospect of rain, I 
was still under fears of being extremely exposed : sweat much, so that my linen was almost 
wringing wet all night. I scarcely ever was more weak and weary than this evening, when I 
was able to sit up at all. This was a melancholy situation : but I endeavored to quiet myself 
with considerations of the possibility of my being in much worse circumstances amongst ene- 
mies, &c. 

Sept. 3. — Rode to the Delaware town ; found many drinking and drunken. Discoursed with 
some of the Indians about Christianity ; observed my interpreter much engaged, and assisted in 
his work. A few persons seemed to hear with great earnestness and engagement of soul. About 
noon, rode to a small town of Shauwaunoes, about eight miles distant ; spent an hour or two 
there, and returned to the Delaware town, and lodged there. Was scarce ever more confounded 
with a sense of my own unfruitfulness and unfitness for my work than now. O what a dead, 
heartless, barren, unprofitable wretch did I now see myself to be ! 

Sept. 5. — Got to Shaumoking towards night : felt somewhat of a spirit of thankfulness that 
God had so far returned me. 

Sept. 8. — Left Shaumoking, and returned down the river a few miles. Had proposed to tarry 
a considerable time longer among the Indians upon the Susquehanna, but was hindered from pur- 
suing my purpose by the sickness that prevailed there, the feeble state of my own people that 
were with me, and especially my own extraordinary weakness, having been exercised with great 
nocturnal sweats, and a coughing up of blood, almost the whole of the journey. I was a great 
part of the time so feeble and faint, that it seemed as though I never should be able to reach 
home ; and at the same time very destitute of the comforts, and even the necessaries of life. 

The Six Nations used Shamokin as a convenient tarrying-place for 
their war-parties against the Catawbas, at the south ; and they were 
very desirous of having a blacksmith there, to save them the trouble of 
long journeys to Tulpehocken, or to Philadelphia. The governor of Penn- 
sylvania granted the request, on condition that he should remain no longer 
than while the Indians continued friendly to the English. The black- 
smith, Anthony Schmidt, was from the Moravian mission at Bethlehem ; 
and this opened the way for the establishment of a mission at Shamokin, 
which was done in the spring of 1747, by Br. Mack, who, with his wife, 
had previously visited the place. John Hagin and Joseph Powel, of the 
mission, had built a house there. Bishop Camerhoff, and the pious Zeis- 
berger, visited there in 1748. The brethren speak of going to "Long 
island and Great island, on the West branch, above Ostonwackin ;" and 
in 1755 "Brother Grube went to West branch, and to Quenishachshachki, 
where some baptized Indians lived." 

Shikellimus died in 1749. Loskiel thus describes his character : — 

Being the first magistrate and head chief of all the Iroquois Indians living on the banks of the 
Susquehanna, as far as Onondaga, he thought it incumbent upon him to be very circumspect in 
his dealings with the white people. He mistrusted the Brethren at first, but upon discovering their 
sincerity became their firm and real friend. Being much engaged in political affairs, he had 
learned the art of concealing his sentiments ; and therefore never contradicted those who endeav- 
ored to prejudice his mind against the missionaries, though he always suspected their motives. 
In the last years of his life he became less reserved, and received those brethren who came to 
Shamokin into his house. He assisted them in building, and defended them against the insults 
of the drunken Indians ; being himself never addicted to drinking, because, as he expressed it, 
he never wished to become a fool. He had built his house upon pillars for safety, in which he 
always shut himself up when any drunken frolic was going on in the village. In this house 
Bishop Johannes Von Watteville and his company visited and preached the gospel to him. It 
was then that the Lord opened his heart : he listened with great attention ; and at last, with 



NORTHUMBERLAND COUNTY. 527 

tears, respected the doctrine of a crucified Jesus, and received it in faith. During his visit in 
Bethlehem, a remarkable change took place in his heart, which he could not conceal. He found 
comfort, peace, and joy, by faith in his Redeemer, and the Brethren considered him as a candi- 
date for baptism ; but hearing that he had been already baptized, by a Roman Catholic priest, in 
Canada, they only endeavored to impress his mind with a proper idea of this sacramental ordi- 
nance, upon which he destroyed a small idol, which he wore about his neck. After his return to 
Shamokin, the grace of God bestowed upon him was truly manifest, and his behavior was re- 
markably peaceable and contented. In this state of mind he was taken ill, was attended by Br. 
David Zeisberger, and in his presence fell happily asleep in the Lord, in full assurance of ob- 
taining eternal life through the merits of Jesus Christ. 

After the defeat of Braddock, in 1755, the whole wilderness from Ju- 
niata to Shamokin was filled with parties of hostile Indians, murdering, 
scalping, and burning. These alarms broke up the mission at Shamokin, 
and the Brethren fled to Bethlehem. In Oct. of that year fourteen persons 
were killed by the savages in the Penn's creek settlement, and their bod- 
ies were horribly mangled. A party of 46 persons, led by John Harris, 
came up to bury the dead, and afterwards came to Shamokin, where they 
were received civilly but coldly, and remained all night. Andrew Mon- 
tour, the Indian interpreter, warned them against returning b}"^ a certain 
road. They disregarded his advice, and were attacked by a party of 
Delawares in ambush at Mahanoy cr. Four of Harris's party were kill- 
ed, four were drowned in crossing the Susquehanna, and the others barely 
escaped. Previous to this, on the 18th Oct., a party of Indians had at- 
tacked the inhabitants at Mahanoy cr., carried off 25 persons, and burnt 
and destroyed their buildings and improvements. There were rumors 
that the French intended to build a fort at Shamokin ; but in Jan. 1756, 
the Indians had entirely abandoned their village and gone up the Susque- 
hanna and to the Ohio. The provincial government in April erected 
Fort Augusta at Shamokin. This was one of the line of provincial forts, 
which consisted of Henshaw's fort on Delaware, Fort Hamilton at 
Stroudsburg, Fort Norris, Fort Allen on Lehigh, Fort Franklin, Fort Leb- 
anon, Fort Wm. Henry, Fort Halifax on Susquehanna, Fort Augusta, 
Fort Granville on Juniata, Fort Shirley, Fort Littleton, and Shippensburg 
fort, besides smaller stockades, garrisoned by provincial troops. 

In 1757 the governor learned that a party of 800 French and Indians 
were coming down the W. Branch to attack the fort. An aged pioneer, 
still living, says there is a tradition that this party came down to the high 
cliff overhanging the river opposite the fort ; where the French engineers 
took such observations as satisfied them that no effective attack on the 
fort could be made without cannon, which they could not bring through 
the wilderness. The Indians, however, remained some days there, amus- 
ing themselves by attempting to fire poisoned arrows across the river, with 
their immense cross-bows ; and occasionally expressing their contempt for 
the garrison, by insulting gestures and attitudes. There was a cannon at 
the fort, and one day, after the piece had been carefully adjusted for the 
proper range, a ball was fired, which happened to cut off a large limb 
of a tree, that fell directly upon the heads of a party of Indians. They 
jumped up, whooped, and scampered off into the wilderness. During the 
same year, peace having been concluded with the Delawares and Shaw- 
anees, they were invited by the governor to reside at Shamokin and 
Wyoming. The settlement at Shamokin was to be made under the charge 
of Thomas McKee, the Indian trader. He writes, June 23d, 1757, that he 
had arrived with the Indians, ♦' who had drunk much on the road ; and 



528 NORTHUMBERLAND COUNTY. 

had mostly gone on, but few staying." Conrad Weiser afterwards rec- 
ommended a trading-house here, but it does not appear whether it was 
established. 

The territory now forming Northumberland co. was included in two dis- 
tinct purchases from the Indians. That part below the Mahanoy mountain 
was included in the deed of 22d Aug. 1749, which ceded all the land be- 
tween the Delaware and Susquehanna, bounded on the N. W. by a line from 
Mahanoy mountain at the Susquehanna, to the mouth of Lackawaxsen, on 
the Delaware, and on the S. E. by the Kittatinny mountain. The other 
part of the county was included in what was then called " the new pur- 
chase" of 1768, the boundaries of which will be found under the head of 
Lycoming co. Immediately after the new purchase many settlers came 
in, principall}^ from the Scotch-Irish settlements of the Kittatinny valley, 
and a few Quakers from the lower counties. They had scarcely got 
well settled in their new homes, before the revolution broke out. None 
responded more readily to the call " to arms !" than the pioneers of North- 
umberland. Fort Augusta was garrisoned by a detachment under the 
command of Col. Samuel Hunter ; and several other forts were erected 
along both branches of the Susquehanna. (See Lycoming, Clinton, and 
Columbia counties.) In the possession of Mr. Joseph G.Wallace of Lew- 
isburg. Union co., there is an old book of records given him by his grand- 
father, Capt. Gray, of the revolutionary army. It contains the records 
of the Committee of Safety of Northumberland co. during the revolu- 
tion. This committee was subordinate to, and in correspondence with, 
the Central Committee at Philadelphia. The following abstracts were 
made from these records by the compiler : 

On the 8th Feb. 1776, the following' gentlemen being previously nominated by the respective 
townships to serve in the committee for the county of Northumberland for the space of six 
months, met at the house of Richard Malone, (at the mouth of Chillisquaque,) viz. — for Au- 
gusta township, John Weitzel, Esq., Alexander Hunter, Esq., Thomond Ball ; Mahoning town- 
ship, William Cook, Esq., Benj. Alison, Esq., Mr. Thos. Hewet ; Turbut township, Capt. John 
Hambright, Wm. McKnight, William Shaw ; Muncey township, Robert Robb, Esq., William 
Watson, John Buckalow ; Bald Eagle township, Mr. William Dunn, Thos. Hewes, Alexander 
Hamilton, (afterwards killed near Northumberland ;) Buffalo township, Mr. Walter Clark, (re- 
moved to Wliite Deer,) Wm. Irwin, Joseph Green ; Wioming township, Mr. James McClure, 
Mr. Thos. Clayton, Mr. Peter Melick ; Penns township, (is left blank ;) Moughonoy, (blank ;) 

Potter's township, John Livingston, Maurice Davis, Hall ; White Deer township, Walter 

Clarke, Matthew Brown, Marcus Hulings. 

Capt. John Hambright was elected chairman, and Thomond Ball clerk. The field-officers of 
the battalion of the lower division of the county were Samuel Hunter, Esq., colonel. Wm. Cooke, 
Esq., (who, it is said, afterwards turned tory,) lieutenant-colonel, Caspar Weitzel, Esq., 1st major, 
Mr. John Lee, 2d major. Those of the upper battalion appear to have been Wm. Plunket, Esq., 
colonel, James Murray, Esq., lieutenant-colonel, Mr. John Brady first major, Mr. Cookson Long 
2d major. 

Each captain was ordered to return at least 40 privates. Each battalion consisted of six com- 
panies. The captains of the lower battalion were Nicolas Miller, Chas. Gillespie, Hugh White, 
Wm. Scull, James McMahon, Wm. Clarke, (and afterwards) Capt. John Simpson ; and of the 
upper, or Col. Plunket's battalion, Henry Antis, Esq., Samuel Wallis, John Robb, Wm. Murray, 
Wm. McHaton, Simon Cool, David Berry. 

Many of the proceedings consist of forms possessing no special interest. Some of the more 
interesting were the following : — In the meeting of 8th Feb. 1776, it was resolved " that a peti- 
tion be presented to the lion, assembly of this province, setting forth the late murder of two of 
the sherift*'s posse near Wioming for attempting to act in conformity to the laws ;" and on 26th 
Feb., this " petition relative to the Connecticut intruders — was approved of and ordered to be 
copied fair." On I3th March, 1776, in their dispatch to the Com. of Safety at Phil., the county 
committee make certain complaints of grievances suffered in their infant settlement ; and on the 
27th of the same month they more urgently set the same forth as follows : " We are now, gentle. 
men, to inform you of what we think a grievance to this young and thinly inhabited coimty — 



TfORTIIUMBERLAND COUNTY 529 

viz,, a constant succession of recruiting officers from dificrent counties in this province. Our 
zeal for the cause of American Liberty lias hitherto prevented our taking any steps to huider ihc 
raising of men for its service ; but finding the evil increasing so fast upon us as almost to threat- 
en the depopulation of the county, we cannot help appealing to the wisdom and justice of your 
connnittec to know whether the quota of men that may be demanded from this county under 
their own officers is not as much as can reasonably be expected from it. Whether — at a time 
when we are uncertain of peace with the Indians, (well knowing that our enemies are tampering 
with them,) and a claim is set up to the greatest part of the province by a neighboring colony, 
who have their hostile abettors at our very breasts, as well as their emissaries among us — is it 
prudent to drain an infant frontier county of its strength of men ? and whether the safety of the 
interior parts of the province would not be better secured by adding strength to the frontier ? 
Whether our honorable assembly, by disposing of commissions to gentlemen in diffi-rent counties 
to raise companies, which arc to form the number of battalions thought necessary for the defence 
of this province, did not intend that the respective captains should raise their companies where 
they were appointed, and not distress one county by taking from it all the men necessary for the 
business of agriculture, as well as the defence of the same. From our knowledge of the state 
of this county, we make free to give our opinion of what would be most for its advantage, as 
well as that of the province — (between which we hope there never will be a dittcrence) — and first 
arc to inform you of the poverty of the people, many of whom came bare and naked here, being 
plundered by a banditti who called themselves Yankees ; and those who brought some property 
with them, from the necessary delay of cultivating a wilderness before they could have any pro- 
duce to live upon, together with the necessity of still continuing the closest application to labor 
and industry for their support, renders it morally improbable that a well-disciplined militia can be 
established here, as the distance which some men are obliged to go to muster is the loss of two 
■days to them ; which not being paid for, they will not, nor indeed can they, so often attend as is 
necessary to complete them even in the manual exercise. We would recommend that two or 
more companies be raised, and put in pay for the use of the province, to be ready to march when 
and where the service may require them, and when not wanted for the service of the public at 
any particular place, to be stationed in this county, in order to be near and defend our frontiers 
should they be attacked by our enemies of any denomination ; the good effijct of which we ima- 
gine would be considerable — as, though they may be too lew to repel, they may stop the progress 
of an enemy until the militia could be raised to assist them. Should this proposal appear eligi- 
ble, please to inform us thereof, and we will recommend such gentlemen for officers as we think 
will be most suitable for the service, and agreeable to the jx;ople. We are, gentlemen, with due 
respect, &c. Signed for and in behalf of the committee, John Hambright, Chairman." 

The committee changed once in six months, when only a part of the former members seem to 
have been re-elected. The committee seem often to have met at Laughlan McCartney's, a mem- 
ber from Mahoning township. 

On the 10th Sept. 1776, the committee learning that " Levy & Ballion have a quantity of salt 
on hand, which they refuse to sell for cash, (as ordered by a former resolve of committee,) the 
committee ordered Mr. Wm. Sayers to sell it at the rate of 15 shillings per bushel, and not above 
half a bushel to each family, and return the money to the committee." 

The committee attended to receiving from the Philadelphia committee their share of arms and 
ammunition, iron, and salt, and distributing it very carefully among the soldiers of the county. 

Capt. Robert Robb, of Muncy township, formerly one of the committee, seems to have given 
them a deal of trouble. He was charged with having in his possession " a paper supposed to be 
from Lord Howe, concerning conditions of peace, of which said Robb said, ' this is the very thing 
I would be at;' and says further, Mr. F'rankling (Dr. Franklin) was a rogue, he well knew, and 
that he had led the government into two or three scrapes already known to him ; also, it was 
thought Frankling had a pension from home ; likewise, tliat it was thought the convention was 
bribed. Also that said Robb says that Lord Howe used the members of congress politely that 
was sent to treat with him, but that they used him ill." 

The committee ordered that Robb should " either take his gun and march with the militia of 
the county into actual service, to prove his attachment to the American cause, or else be confined 
until released by further authority." (Here followed some expunging in the record.) Col. Jas. 
Murray was appointed to arrest and confine him ; who, having full confidence in Robb's patriot- 
ism, and "out of lenity to said Robb's family, saw fit to appoint the mansion-house of said Robb 
as a pri&»n for him, on a promise of liis good behavior for the future." 

Robb, however, seems to have practised good behavior as he understood it ; for when one Peter 
Smith had intruded himself several times into the company of Robb and another gentleman, who 
were " drinking a half pint together," Robb knocked him down, and bruised him severely, — and 
thereupon further " said that the committee were a set of rascals — some of them were robbers, 
some were horse-thieves, and some of them were murderers — and further saith not." 

This incensed the committee so, that they ordered Col. Murray to take Robb to Philadelphia ; 
but Murray resigned, and two other men were appointed to the duty. 

The committee, in a time of grea^ scarcity of grain (in Feb. 1777) in Bald Eaglp ^ownshi], 

G7 



530 



NORTHUMBERLAND COUNTY. 



ordered " that no stiller in that township shall huy any more grain, or still any more than he has 
by him, during the season." 

They also interfered with their authority to stop " a certain Henry Sterrat, of Bald Eagle town- 
ship, from profaning the Sabbath in an unchristian and scandalous manner, causing his servants 
to maul rails, &-c., on that day, and beating and abusing them if they offered to disobey such his 
unlawful commands." 

Several interesting incidents relating to the revolutionary history oC 
the W. Branch will be found under the heads of Lycoming, Clinton, Co- 
lumbia, and Union counties. The capture of Freeland's fort in the au- 
tumn of 1778, will be noticed subsequently in connection with the village 
of Milton. 

SuNBURY, the county seat, is an ancient town, situated on a broad plain 
on the left bank of the Susquehanna, immediately below the forks, and 
just above the mouth of Shamokin cr. This is a beautiful site : near 
the town, above and below, are ranges of high hills, affording a magnifi- 
cent prospect of the scenery of the valley ; in front of the town the Sus- 
quehanna, backed up by the Shamokin dam, spreads out into a basin 
nearly a mile wide, which receives the united streams of the North and 
West branches. The town w^as originally laid out with wide streets, of 
ample width, with a broad margin along the river bank. Annexed is a 
view of the public square, in the centre of which are seen the courthouse 




Public Square in Sunbury. 

and market-house. The place contains, besides the usual county build- 
ings, Lutheran, German Reformed, Presbyterian, Episcopal, and Method- 
ist churches ; a foundry, and the depot of the railroad. Population in 
1830, about 1,000 ; in 1840, 1,108. 

The Sunbury, Danville, and Pottsville railroad, was commenced about 
the year 1833. A few miles at the eastern end were opened for use in 
1834 ; but on account of the connection not being completed, and the in- 
convenient inclined planes at that end of the road, its use was abandoned, 
and the structure is now going to decay. The western division has been 
completed for 19 miles, from Sunbury to the Shamokin mines, and is now 
in successful use for the transportation of coal. By the severe pecuniary 



NORTHUMBERLAND COUNTY. 631 

crisis of 1837-39, the completion of the road between the extreme divisions 
was suspended, until the opening of the Girard coal mines on the head- 
waters of the Nescopeck will warrant the use of the expensive inclined 
planes on the eastern division. The length of the road from Sunbury to 
Pottsville, is 44.54 miles ; branch to Danville, 7 miles ; entire length 
61.54 miles. It was the original intention of Stephen Girard, and the 
other projectors of this road, that it should be continued up the W. Branch, 
and across the wilderness of the Sinnemahoning to Erie, and surveys 
were made for that purpose. 

A company is at present engaged in constructing a short canal from the 
Susquehanna basin above, following an ancient channel in the rear of the 
town, and emptying into Shamokin cr., below the level of the great dam, 
thus enabling the immense water-power of the Susquehanna to be 
brought into use. With this facility, and with the immense supplies of 
coal, iron, and limestone in the immediate vicinity, Sunbury, although its 
commercial prospects have somewhat declined, bids fair to become a busy 
manufacturing town. 

An account of the Indian town of Shamokin has been given above, on 
page 525. 

Sunbury was laid out by the surveyor-general, John Lukens, about the 
year 1772, when the county was established. He erected a frame house 
here, which is still standing. Wm. McClay also came up from Harris- 
burg and erected the stone house, which is still standing, fronting on the 
river. Just back of this house, a small stockade fort was erected during 
the revolution. Fort Augusta had been previously built during the old 
French war, where Mr. Samuel Hunter's house now stands. He still 
uses the vaulted magazine for a cellar or granary. About the year 1767, 
the mother and aunts of the venerable Mrs, Grant were residing, for 
shelter, at Fort Augusta. Old Stump, the Dutchman, a noted murderer 
of Indians, one day sought refuge at the fort, after he had been murder- 
ing several Indians. The ladies refused to harbor him, fearing that the 
wrath of the Indians might be meted out to them also ; but at length — 
kind souls ! — they relented, and stowed Stump snugly away between two 
beds. The Indians soon came, blustered and threatened, but, not finding 
their man, they picked up a poor cat, pulled out all her hair, and tore her 
to pieces before the family, by way of showing them how they would 
have treated Stump. 

Among the earlier settlers here were Mr. Dewart, father of Hon. Mr. 
Dewart, still residing in town, and Mr. David Mead, who kept an inn 
here, and in 1787 removed to Meadville. The Brady family also often 
resided here, when it was unsafe to occupy their residence further up the 
West Branch. There are still living here two venerable sisters of that 
family. 

The following singular circumstance is related in the Sunbury Ameri- 
can of July, 1842, and is well authenticated : 

A most singular incident recently occurred at the table of one of our most respectable farm- 
ers, (Mr. Ruch,) in this neighborhood. The family had baked some pies early in the morning, 
and had set them in the cellar to cool for dinner. It was observed, before the pie was cut, that 
">* appeared very full ; and no sooner was the knife thrust into it, than a snake issued out, to the 
dtter amazement and terror of all at table. This was a kind of dessert as unwelcome as unex- 
pected. The snake, it was supposed, had got in between the crusts while the pie was cooling on 
the ceilar floor. 



531? NORTHUMBERLAND COUNTY". 

Shamokin, a thriving village, has grown up since 1834, at the eastern 
termination of the railroad, 19 miles from Sunbury, among the coal- 
mines of Mr. Boyd and others. The Shamokin Coal and Iron Co., M^ho- 
own large tracts of coal lands near this place, was incorporated on the 
15th Jmie, 1836, but not organized until 19th Nov. 1839. In 1840 they 
took out a charter, under the general act, for the manufacture of iron, and 
proceeded to erect one furnace, with machinery for two, near the coal 
mines. This furnace has been for some time in successful operation ,^ 
making excellent iron from the ore of Montour's ridge, with the use of 
anthracite coal. The company own about 1400 acres of coal and iron 
land, 750 of which are in Columbia co., on the Locust mountain, and the 
remainder is near Shamokin. The latter tract contains twelve veins of 
coal, of excellent quality, " varying in thickness from five feet up to sixty."^ 
The railroad cuts the veins at right angles, affording the greatest possible 
facility for working the mines. The company is extensively engaged in 
mining and transporting coal for the Baltimore market. 

Georgetown is on the left bank of the Susquehanna, 15 miles south of 
Sunbury. It contains about 80 dwellings. 

Snyderstovvn is on the turnpike and railroad in the valley of Shamokin 
cr., 7 miles east of Sunbury. It contains about 60 dwellings, a German 
Reformed and Baptist church. 

Northumberland is situated nearly opposite Sunbury, at the point form- 
ed by the confluence of the North and West branches. The country ex- 
pands behind the town in a semcircular form, rising in gentle swells to- 
wards Montour's ridge, which crosses between the two rivers at a distance 
of about three miles. Opposite the town, in the North Branch, is a long 
and beautiful island, called Lyon's island, and recently belonging to Mr. 
Cowden. Two splendid bridges connect this island with the main land 
on either shore. Another splendid bridge, which answers also as a tow- 
path, crosses the West Branch at its mouth. At the southern end of this 
latter bridge rises the high and precipitous sandstone ledges of Blue hill, 
from which a magnificent prospect is enjoyed of the valleys of both riv- 
ers. The annexed sketch, copied from a larger one by Bartlett, was 
taken from the canal bank about a mile south of the town, and gives a 
general but distant view of all the prominent objects mentioned above. 

Northumberland is well laid out, with spacious streets, and, to those 
who love quiet, is a pleasant residence. It contains a bank. Old School 
and New School Presbyterian, German Reformed, Methodist, and Unita- 
rian churches, an academy and townhouse. Population in 1840, 928. 
The borough was incorporated 14th April, 1828. 

From its peculiar geographical position, at the junction of the two great 
rivers, anticipations were indulged that Northumberland would become 
a place of great commercial importance. Almost every traveller confi- 
dently made this prediction : — and it might have proved true, if no canal 
had ever been made, or if both or either of the great branches of the 
river had not been accommodated with a canal. In that case the transit 
of trade would have been at Northumberland : but now the valley of 
each tributary creek has its own trading town on either branch, and the 
boats pass and repass the Forks daily without leaving any profit there. 
This circumstance, though unfortunate for Northumberland, is, as it 
should be, much more for the general benefit of the country, than to build 



NORTHUMBERLAND COUNTY, 



533 




Distant vieio of Northumberland from the south. 

up an overgrown town at any one point. Both Sunbury and Northum- 
berland were formerly places of much more commercial importance than 
they now are. 

On the Sunbury side of the river, near the end of the bridge between 
the two towns, stands a fine mansion, occupied by the venerable Mrs, 
Grant, her children and grandchildren. This lady, whose memory ex- 
tends back about 80 years, but whom one would scarcely suspect of being 
past fifty, is the widow of Capt. Grant of the revolutionary army, wha 
had command of one of the forts in this region. She relates that her 
father, Mr. Robert Martin, who was originally from Jersey, had been set- 
tled in the Wyoming valley under the Pennsylvania title ; but being un- 
able to live in peace, he abandoned his farm and removed to Northum- 
berland, where he opened a tavern not long previous to the new purchase 
of 1768. His house at that time was the only one to be seen about the 
point, or even about Sunbury, except within Fort Augusta. For three 
miles up the W. Branch there was no house, and none for a great dis- 
tance up the N. Branch. When the purchase was made his house was 
thronged with speculators, pioneers, and surveyors, who came to enter 
upon the new lands. Mr. Martin had a brother in Freeland's fort when 
it capitulated. During the revolution Capt. Lowden marched from here 
with a company of recruits to Boston. Capt. Lowden and Mr. Paterson 
owned the site of Northumberland, and afterwards sold a part of it to 
Reuben Haynes, a brewer from Philadelphia, who laid out the town about 
the year 1775. It made but slow progress during the revolution, when 
all the inhabitants were frequently compelled to seek refuge at Fort Au- 
gusta. After the disastrous battle at Wyoming, Mrs. Grant says it made 
one sad to see the poor fugitives, with their cattle, floating down in great 
numbers in flat-boats, canoes, and rafts. Northumberland was reoccu- 
pied in 1785, and about ten years after it had about 100 houses. 

The Duke of Rochefoucauld Liancourt, an observing French traveller, 
who passed through here in 1795, says, in substance — 

The average price of lands about the town is $20 to $24 per acre, near the river. Further 



634 NORTHUMBERLAND COUNTY. 

up the river from $4 to $6. Town lots selling at $48 to $50. Houses chiefly built of loj^ — 
two only of stone ; and one of brick, " large and convenient," lately sold at $5,200, and rented 
for $80 — the highest rent in town. The inhabitants mostly foreigners — Irish, Dutch, and Eng- 
lish ; and Germans about Sunbury. People here were much in favor of the Whiskey insurrec- 
tion. The island of 2.50 acres is now the propertj' of an aged man, who lives on it in a small 
log-house. He bought it about seven years since for $1,600, and lately refused $3,300. 

Mrs. Grant relates an interesting incident which occurred at the island 
opposite her residence. During the old French war of 1755-58, a Dr. 
Smiley and his wife were taken captives and carried away by the Indians. 
He escaped, leaving her still in captivity, and fled to Fort Augusta. One 
night they heard a feeble voice crying for help on the point of Lyon's 
island. Fearing, however, that it was but an Indian's device to decoy 
them, they hesitated about going. Smiley was the first who volunteered 
to go, and, taking several others with him, he went over to the island, 
and there his courage was appropriately rewarded by the affectionate 
embrace of his own wife, who had escaped from captivity, and come 
thus far alone. 

Among the early settlers at Northumberland was the family of Mr. 
Boyd, whose descendants still reside in the place. Mrs. Dash, too, was 
another early settler, and a very enterprising woman. She was the wife 
of an English banker who had been unfortunate in business ; and while 
he was settling up his business, she came out about the year 1794, with 
her three daughters, to Northumberland, purchased a small farm of about 
100 acres, and in a few months had 20 acres cleared and in wheat, and a 
comfortable stone cottage in which to welcome her husband. That was 
a wife worth having. 

Dr. Joseph Priestley, the distinguished philosopher and theologian, spent 
the latter years of his life in Northumberland. The large mansion erect- 
ed by him is still standing, in a lovely, shaded spot, a little apart from the 
village, and is in the occupation of his family. His sons had purchased 
a large tract of land here with the view of making it the asylum of Eng- 
lish dissenters, and other intelligent emigrants from Europe. Many Eng- 
lishmen, friends of Dr. Priestley, removed here about the same time, 
among whom was Dr. Thomas Cooper, who subsequently removed to the 
southern states, where he became distinguished as a politician, philoso- 
pher, and professor of political economy. Mr. Russell was another Eng- 
lishman who resided here, and purchased, in connection with the land 
speculators at Philadelphia, large tracts of land in Bradford, Susquehan- 
na, and Luzerne counties. 

Dr. Joseph Priestley was born at Ficldhead, near Leeds, in England, in March, 1733. Hia 
father was a clothier of the Calvinistic persuasion, in which he was also himself brought up. 
After he had attained a respectable degree of classical acquirement, he was finally placed at the 
dissenters' academy at Daventry, with a view to tiie ministry. He spent three years at ihia 
school, where he became acquainted with the writings of Dr. Hartlc}', and was gradually led 
into a partiality for the Arian hypothesis. He became minister of Needham market, in Suffolk, 
but falling under the suspicion of Arianism, he left there and took charge of a congregation at 
Nantwich, to which he joined a school. In 1761 he was appointed tutor in the languages at 
Warrington academy. Here he published his essay on government, and several other useful 
works on education and history. His History of Electricity, published in 1767, procured him an 
admission into the Royal Society ; he had previously obtained the title of doctor of laws from 
the University of Edinburgh. In the same year he took charge of a church at Leeds, where his 
opinions became decidedly Socinian. Here his attention was first drawn to the properties of fixed 
air, and he also composed his work on Vision, Light, and Colors. In 1773 he went to live with 
the Marquis of Landsdowne, as hbrarian, or literary companion. He travelled over Europe with 
this nobleman, and also occupied himself with scientific pursuits. In 1773 be furnishid a paD«* 



NORTHUMBERLAND COUNTY. 



535 



in the Philosophical Transactions, on the different kinds of air, which obtained for him a gold 
medal. This was followed by three volumes, the publication of which forms an era in the his- 
tory of ffiriform fluids. He published several metaphysical works, and an edition of Hartley's 
Observations on Man, to which he annexed a dissertation savoring^ strongly of Materialism. 
This doctrine he still more forcibly supported in his Disquisitions on Matter and Spirit, in 1777. 
These works resulted in a dissolution of the coimection between himself and his patron, and he 
took charge of a dissenting congregation at Birmingham. At length, when several of his friends 
ut Birmingham were celebrating tlie destruction of the Bastile, a mob assembled and set fire to 
the dissenting meeting-houses and to several dissenters' houses, among which was that of Dr. 
Triestlcy, although he was not present at the celebration. He lost his valuable library and appa- 
ratus, and although he obtaiu(^d a legal compensation, it fell far short of his loss. On quitting 
Birmingham he succeeded his friend Dr. Price as lecturer in the dissenting college at Hackney, 
where he remained some time in the cultivation of scientific pursuits, until he was goaded by 
party enmity to seek an asylum in the United States. His sons had already preceded him, and 
taken up or purchased a large body of land near Northumberland, where the doctor arrived and 
fixed his residence in 1794. Here he dedicated himself for ten years to his accustomed pursuits, 
until his death on the 6tli Feb., 1804, in his 71st year. 

Doct. Priestley was an ardent controversialist, chiefly in consequence of extreme simplicity and 
opeimess of character ; but no man felt less animosity towards his opponents, and n)any, who 
entertained the strongest antipathy to his opinions, were converted into friends by his urbanity in 
personal intercourse. As a njan of science, he stands high in the walk of invention and discov- 
ery : he discovered the existence of oxygen gas, and other teriform fluids. As a theologian, he 
followed his own convictions wherever they led him, and passed tlirough all changes, from Cal- 
vinism to a Unitarian or Socinian system, in some measure his own ; but to the last remained a 
zealous opposer of infidelity. In his family he ever maintained the worship of God. His works 
amount to about seventy volumes, or tracts ; and embrace essays on history, politics, divinity, 
(practical and controversial,) metaphysics, and natural philosophy. His Life, edited by his son, 
was published in 1806. The memoirs are written by the doctor himself, down to the year 1795. 




Churches in Milton. 
Milton is situated on the left bank of the West Branch, at the mouth 
of Limestone run, 12 miles above Northumberland. It is a bustling? town, 
by far the most flourishing and populous in the county, and forms the 
shipping-port for several rich lime.stone valleys around it. A large por- 
tion of the population is of German descent. There are here Presbyte- 
rian, German Lutheran, Methodist, Baptist, Episcopalian, and "Shiloh" 
churches : an academy, several foundries, and a number of extensive flour- 
ing-mills driven by the water of Limestone run. There is a stone bridge 
across the run, and a frame bridge across the West Branch. The West 
Branch canal passes through the town. Population in 1830, 1,274; in 
1840, 1,508. Above is a view, taken from the Washington road, of 



536 NORTHUMBERLAND COUNTY. 

three of the churches — the Episcopal, the Baptist, and the Methodist. 
The former is nearly hidden among the trees, on the right. 

Milton was first started as a town, about 50 years since, by Andrew 
Straub. Mr. Covenhoven remembers that, in the year 1778, at the time 
of the big runaway, there were but two houses on the site. Marcus Ru- 
ling, a boatman, had built a cabin near the run, and kept a tavern there ; 
and had afterwards sold out to Mr. M'Candless. Marcus Rulings, a 
blacksmith, had his shop on the river bank, just at the upper end of the 
present borough. lie afterwards removed to Duncan's island, and event- 
ually to Pittsburg. 

M'CuNEsviLLE is a small but flourishing village, which has grown up 
since 1825, about three miles north of Milton, on the stage-road to Wil- 
liamsport. It contains some twenty or thirty dwellings, three taverns, 
stores, &c. 

VVatsonburg is on the left bank of the West Branch, above the mouth of 
"Warrior's run, and four miles from Milton. It contains some thirty dwell- 
ings, stores, &c., and several mills at the run, near the village. Snyders- 
TOWN, a small hamlet, is about five miles northeast of Milton ; and Potts- 
GROVE, a small village on Chillisquaque cr., is five miles southeast of Mil- 
ton. 

On Warrior's run, during the revolution, was situated Freeland's fort, 
memorable for the scenes which occurred at its capture, in the early part 
of autumn, or, to use an old pioneer's expression, about the time peaches 
were ripe, in 1778. The following account of that event was received 
in conversation with the aged Mr. Covenhoven, of Lycoming co. ; and 
another gentleman, a descendant of Mr. Vincent who was captured at 
the fort :*— 

Rumors had been received at Fort Muncy, (near Pennsborough,) where Col. Hepburn, after- 
wards Judge Hepburn, was commanding, that a hostile force of British and Indians might bo 
soon expected down the West Branch. To obtain more definite information, Robert Covenhoven, 
who was then acting as a guide and scout for the garrison, was sent out to the mountains above 
Ralston, on the head-waters of Lycoming creek and Tioga river. He was offered one or more 
companions, but he preferred to go alone. He knew every defile of the wilderness, and he could 
better elude observation alone than with several men, who might not follow his counsel. He 
travelled all night, and when he arrived among the mountains, he heard at least 100 shots from 
the enemy encamped there, who were cleaning their guns. Without rest, and with no more food 
than he could eat as he ran, he returned innnediately, and reported a large force approaching. 
Robert King also brougiit down word from Lycoming cr., that Ferguson, with a party who had 
gone up to cut hay, had been attacked by Indians, and tiiree men had been killed. Fort Muncy 
was filled with women and cinldren, who were immediately put into boats and sent down to Fort 
Augusta, under the charge of Mr. Covenhoven. They took with them also the famifirs from 
Fort Menningcr, at the moutli of Warrior's run ; but Freeland's fort being four miles up that 
run, from its mouth, there was not time to wait for the families there to come down. A niessen- 
ger, however, was sent to alarm them. While the party were descending the river, the -women 
would often jump out to tug the boats over the ripples. Fort Muncy, being untenable, was aban- 
doned. 

About this time, and one or two days previous to the attack on Freeland's fort, Isaac, Benja- 
min, Peter, and Bethuel Vincent, brothers, together with Mr. Freeland, the owner of the fort, and 

* The account of the capture of Freeland's fort, in one of the numbers by Kiskiniinetas, in 
the Blairsville Record, of 1832, and since copied in the " Incidents of Border Life," is in many 
particulars incorrect, and has been so acknowledged by the author. He did not derive his infor- 
mation on this subject from tlie same authentic source from which he learned tlie other events 
of Capt. Brady's life, although, at the time of the publication, he supposed that his informer was 
fully acquainted with the facts. No blame, thercfbre, attaches to the respectable author of those 
numbers, who resided at a distance from the West Branch, and had no convenient means of veri. 
ifmg ttie statements furnished to him. 



PERRY COUNTY. 537 

Ws son, were at work in a field. A party of Indians came suddenly upon them. Isaac Vincent 
and Freeland, the father, were killed. Benjamin Vincent was taken prisoner. Jacob Freeland, 
the son, ran towards the stone-quarry, and was speared by an Indian in his thigh : he fell near 
the edjre of the precipice, at the quarry. The Indian pounced upon him, but Freeland suddenly 
raised him upon his shoulders, and pitched him over into the quarry ; and would have killed him, 
but another Indian came up and killed Fre<!land, spearing him in several places. The other 
Vincents escaped to the fort. 

The main force of the enemy now appeared, consisting of about 300 Indians and 200 British, 
under Col. McDonald. On their way down, they burnt Fort Muncy, and tlienlaid siege to Free- 
land's fort, which was commanded by Capt. John Lytic. There were brave men in that fort, 
who would have defended it to the death ; but it was also filled with women and children, whom 
it was not thought prudent to expose to the cruelties that might result from a capture by storm. 
When, therefore, the enemy were about setting fire to the fort, a capitulation was entered into, by 
which the men and boys, able to bear arms, were to be taken prisoners, and the women and 
children were to return home unharmed. There was a Mrs. Kirk in the fort, with her daughter 
Jane and her son William. Before the capitulation she fixed a bayonet upon a pole, vowing she 
would kill at least one Indian ; but as there was no chance for fighting, she exhibited her cun- 
ning by putting petticoats upon her son Billy — who was able to bear arms, but had yet a smooth 
chin — and smuggled him out among the women. 

The enemy took possession of the fort, and allowed the women and children to remain in an 
old building outside of tlic fort, on the l)ank of the run. At a preconcerted signal, Capt. Hawk- 
ins Boone, who commanded a fort on Muddy run, (about 600 yards above its mouth, and two 
miles above Milton,) came up to the relief of Freeland's fort, with a party of men. Perceiving 
the women and children playing outside of the fort, ho suspected no danger, and incautiously ap- 
proached so near that the women were obliged to make signs to him to retire. He retreated pre- 
cipitately, but was perceived by the enemy, who with a strong force waylaid him, on the North- 
umberland road, at M'Clung's place. Boone's party fell into the ambush, and a most desperate 
encounter ensued, from which few of the Americans escaped. William Miles, (now of Erie co.,) 
was taken prisoner in Freeland's fort : and afterwards, in Canada, Col. McDonald mentioned to 
him, in the highest terms of commendation, the desperate bravery of Hawkins Boone. He re- 
fused all quarter — encouraged and forced his men to stand up to the encounter ; and at last, with 
most of his Spartan band, died on the field, overpowered by su[)erior numbers. 

Cornelius Vincent and his son, Bethuel Vincent, (father of Mr. Vincent of M'Cuneville,) Capt. 
John Lytic, William Miles, and others, were taken prisoners at the capitulation. Capt. Samuel 
Dougherty and a brother of Mr. Miles were killed in the flight. Peter Vincent escaped in the 
flurry occasioned by Hawkins Boone coming up. Sam Brady, James Dougherty, and James 
Hammond hyd cautioned Boone against keeping the road, in his retreat ; and they themselves, 
refusing to accompany him along the road, took the route through the woods, and escaped. 

Bethuel Vincent had recently been married, when he was taken prisoner. His wife returned to 
her home in New Jersey. Four years after the capture she had heard nothing from her husband. 
One evening, when she was out with a sleighing party, and had stopped at a tavern, a roughly 
dressed man inquired if a Mrs. Vincent lived in that vicinity. She was pointed out to him. He 
stated that he had known her husband in Canada, had lately seen him, and that he was well. 
He rode with the party in the sleigh, and was disposed to take Mrs. Vincent on his lap ; but she 
indignantly declined the familiarity, until she discovered that the impertinent stranger was her 
husband. 



PERRY COUNTY. 

Perry county was separated from Cumberland by the act of 1820. 
Length 38 miles, breadth 14; area 539 sq. miles. Population in 1820, 
11,342 ; in 1830, 14,257 ; and in 1840, 17,096. The county lies between 
two lofty and very distinct ranges of mountains, the Kittatinny on the 
southeast, and Tuscarora mountain and its continuation, Turkey moun- 
tain, on the northwest. The surface between these two prominent bar- 
riers is broken by a number of subordinate ridges, having the same gen- 
eral direction, but subdivided into isolated links ; exhibiting the etfects of 
those mighty sijhterranean forces that have upheaved the great anthra- 

68 



538 PERRY COUNTY. 

cite coal region, lying in the same range northeast of the Susquehanna. 
These minor ranges are Bower's mountain, Quaker ridge, and Dick's hill ; 
Mahoney ridge. Limestone ridge. Middle ridge. Racoon ridge, and Cono- 
cocheague hill ; and Cove mountain on the Susquehanna. Between these 
ridges are narrow, undulating valleys of limestone and slate lands, of 
great beauty and fertility. The effects of the forces above alluded to 
are strikingly exhibited in the apparently capricious manner in which the 
streams find their way through the mountains. The Susquehanna, here 
reinforced by the Juniata, as if proud of its augmented volume, breaks 
directly through the double barrier of Cove mountain, when it might ap- 
parently have found an easier course by turning the end of it, where it 
dies away only four or five miles west of the river. The Little Juniata, 
too, an humbler stream, instead of passing down the valley between Ma- 
honey ridge and Dick's hill to the Susquehanna, or passing the depres- 
sions at either end of Dick's hill, runs half way down the valley, and 
then turning suddenly to the right, cuts directly through the main body 
of the hill, and enters the Susquehanna at Petersburg. A glance at the 
map will illustrate these phenomena better than a prolix description. 

Iron ore is found in many localities, and several furnaces are in opera- 
tion in the county. The Susquehanna forms the eastern boundary of the 
county, breaking through its course five lofty mountain ranges. The Ju- 
niata emerges from the Tuscarora mountain near Millerstown, and joins 
the Susquehanna at Duncan's island. Sherman's creek, with its many 
branches, waters the southern side of the co. ; the Little Juniata is in the 
middle part ; and Buffalo, Little Buffalo, and Racoon creek, water the 
northern side. The Harrisburg and Huntingdon turnpike runs along the 
left bank of the Juniata ; and the county is intersected with many excel- 
lent common roads in every direction. The Pennsylvania canal crosses 
the Susquehanna in a pool, with a double towing-path attached to the 
magnificent bridge at Duncan's island, and there divides — one branch 
taking the Juniata, and the other the Susquehanna. Above Duncan's 
island the Juniata division crosses on an aqueduct to the right bank of 
the Juniata, and again recrosses by a curious rope-ferry just below Mil- 
lerstown. There is a medicinal spring on the bank of Sherman's creek, 
in a romantic region at the foot of Quaker hill, about 1 1 miles north of 
Carlisle. A commodious house accommodates visitors. 

The original population of this co. was Scotch, Irish, and English ; but 
the Germans and their descendants now predominate. Iron and woollen 
manufactures are carried on to a considerable extent, but agriculture 
forms the prominent occupation of the citizens. Few details have been 
preserved respecting the early settlement of Perry co. The early pio- 
neers were generally Scotch-Irish Presbyterians, with a few Quakers, 
who came over the mountains from the Conococheague and Carlisle set- 
tlements. 

Mr. Magee, grandfather of the present sheriff of the co., settled at an 
early day among the hills in Toboyne township. He often had more vis- 
itors than friends. Hearing a screaming one dark night, near his cabin, 
he stepped out of the door with an axe, and killed a panther that was 
just ready to pounce upon him. There is still standing in Madison town- 
ship a log-house belonging to the McMullen family, that was formerly a 
place of refuge for the settlers ; it is full of bullet holes. The following 



PERRY COUNTY. 539 

extracts ate from the narrative of Robert Robison, a soldier in Col. Arm- 
strong's expedition, and one of the early pioneers of Sherman's valley : 

The next I remember of was in the year 1756, the Woolcomber family, on Sherman's creek: 
the whole of the inhabitants of the valley were gathered to a fort at George Robison's ; but 
Woolcomber would not leave home ; he said it was the Irish who were killing one another ; these 
peaceable people, the Indians, would not hurt any person. Being at home, and at dinner, the 
) ndians came in, and the Quaker asked them to come and eat dinner ; an Indian answered that 
he did not come to eat, but for scalps ; the son, a boy of 14 or 15 years of age, when he heard 
the Indian say so, repaired to a back door, and as he went out he looked back and saw the In- 
dian strike the tomahawk into his father's head. The boy then ran over the creek, which was 
near to the house, and heard the screams of his mother, sisters, and brothers. The boy came to 
our fort and gave us the alarm ; about forty went to where the murder was done, and buried the 
dead. 

In the second war, on the 5th July, 1763, the Indians came to Juniata, it being harvest time, 
and the white people were come back to reap their crops ; they came first to the house of Wm. 
White ; it was on the Sabbath day ; the reapers were all in the house ; the Indians crept up nigh 
to the door and shot the people lying on the floor, and killed Wm. White, and all his family that 
were there, excepting one boy, who, when he heard the guns, leaped out of the window and made 
his escape. 

The same party went to Robert Campbell's on Tuscarora cr., surprised them in the same way, 
shot them on the floor where they were resting themselves ; one George Dodds being there har- 
vesting, had just risen, and gone into the room and lay down on the bed, setting his gun beside 
him. When the Indians fired, one of them sprung into the house with his tomahawk in his 
hand, running up to where a man was standing in the corner ; Dodds fired at the Indian not six 
feet from him ; the Indian gave a halloo and ran out as fast as he could. There being an opening 
in the loft above the bed, Dodds sprung up there and went out by the chimney, making his es- 
cape, and came to Sherman's valley. He came to Wm. Dickson's and told what had happened, 
there being a young man there which brought the news to us, who were harvesting at Edward 
Elliott's ; other intelligence we got in the night. John Graham, John Christy, and James Chris- 
ty, were alarmed in the evening by guns firing at Wm. Anderson's, where the old man was killed 
with his Bible in his hand ; supposed he was about worship ; his son also was killed, and a girl 
that had been brought up from a child by the old people. Graham and the Christys came about 
midnight. We hearing the Indians had got so far up the Tuscarora valley, and knowing Col- 
iins's family and James Scott's were there about harvest, 12 of us concluded to go over Bigham's 
gap and give those word that were there : when we came to Collins's we saw that the Indians 
had been there, had broke a wheel, emptied a bed, and taken flour, of which they made some 
water-gruel ; we counted thirteen spoons made of bark ; we followed the tracks down to James 
8cott's, where we found the Indians had killed some fowls ; we pursued on to Graham's, there 
the house was on fire, and burned down to the joists. We divided our men into two parties, six 
in each, my brother with his party came in behind the barn, and myself with the other party 
came down through an oats field ; I was to shoot first ; the Indians had hung a coat upon a post 
on the other side of the fire from us ; I looked at it, and saw it immoveable, and therefore walked 
down to it and found that the Indians had just left it ; they had killed four hogs, and had eaten 
at pleasure. Our company took their tracks, and found that two companies had met at Gra- 
ham's, and had gone over the Tuscarora mountain. We took the run gap ; the two roads meet- 
ing at Nicholson's, they were there first, heard us coming, and lay in ambush for us ; they had 
the first fire ; being 25 in number, and only 12 of us — they killed five, and wounded myself. 
They then went to Alexander Logan's, where they emptied some beds, and passed on to George 
M'Cord's. 

The names of the 12 were Wm. Robison, who acted as captain, Robert Robison, the relator 
of this narrative, Thomas Robison, being three brothers, John Graham, Charles Elliott, William 
Christy, James Christy, David Miller, John Elliott, Edward M'Connel, William M'AHster, and 
John Nicholson ; the persons killed were William Robison, who was shot in the belly with buck- 
shot, and got about half a mile from the ground ; John Elliott, then a boy about 17 years of age, 
having emptied his gun, he was pursued by an Indian with his tomahawk, who was within a few 
perches of him, when Elliott had poured some powder into his gun by random, out of his powder 
horn, and having a bullet in his mouth, put it in the muzzle, but had no time to ram it down ; he 
turned and fired at his pursuer, who clapped his hand on his stomach and cried, och ! then turned 
and fled. Elliott had ran but a few perches further, when he overtook William Robison, welter- 
ing in his blood, in his last agonies ; he requested Elliott to carry him off, who excused himself 
by telling him of his inability to do so, and also of the danger they were in ; he said he knew it, 
but desired him to take his gun with him, and, peace or war, if ever he had an opportunity of 
killing an Indian, to shoot him for his sake. Elliott brought away the gun, and Robison was not 
found by the Indians. 

Thomas Robison stood on the ground until the whole of his people were iied, nor did the lo' 



540 



PERRY COUNTY. 



dians offer to pursue, until the last man left the field ; Thomas having fired and charged a tuc' 
ond time, the Indians were prepared for him, and when he took aim past the tree, a number fired' 
at him at the same time ; one of his arms was broken ; he took his gun in the other and fled ; 
going • a hill he came to a high log, and clapped his hand, in which was his gun, on the log to 
assist aping over it ; while in the attitude of stooping, a bullet entered his side, going in a 

triangului course through his body ; he sunk down across the log ; the Indians sunk the cock of 
his gun into his brains, and mangled him very much. John Graham was seen by David Miller 
sitting on a log, not far from the place of attack, with his hands on his face, and the blood run- 
ning through his fingers. Charles Elliott and Edward M'Connel took a circle round where the 
Indians were laying, and made the best of their way to Buffalo creek, but they were pursued by 
the Indians ; and where they crossed the creek there was a high bank, and as they were endeav- 
oring to ascend the bank they were both shot, and fell back into the water. 

A party of 40 men came from Carlisle, in order to bury the dead at Juniata ; when they saw 
the dead at Buffalo creek they returned home. Then a party of men came with Capt. Dunning } 
but before they came to Alexander Logan's, his son John, Charles Coyle, VVm. Hamilton, with 
Bartholomew Davis, followed the Indians to George M'Cord's, where they were in the barn ;. 
Logan and those with him were all killed, except Davis, who made his escape. The Indians 
then returned to Logan's house again, when Capt. Dunning and his party came on them, and 
they fired some time at each other; Dunning had one man wounded. 

I forgot to give you an account of a murder done at our own fort in Sherman's valley, in Ju- 
ly, 1756 : the Indians waylaid the fort in harvest-time, and kept quiet until the reapers were 
gone ; James Wilson remaining some time behind the rest, and I not being gone to my business, 
which was hunting deer for the use of the company, Wilson standing at the fort gate, I desired 
liberty to shoot his gun at a mark, upon which he gave me the gun, and I shot ; the Indians on the 
upper side of the fort, thinking they were discovered, rushed on a daughter of Robert Miller, 
and instantly killed her, and shot at John Simmeson ; they then made the best of it that they 
could, and killed the wife of James Wilson, and the widow Gibson, and took Hugh Gibson and 
Betsey Henry prisoners. While the Indian was scalping Mrs. Wilson, the narrator shot at and 
wounded him, but he made his escape. The reapers, being 40 in number, returned to the fort,^ 
and the Indians made oft'. 

I shall relate an affair told me by .lames M'Clung, a man whom I can confide in for 
truth, it being in his neighborhood. An Indian came to a tavern, called for a gitl of whiskey, 
drank some out of it ; when there came another Indian in, he called for a gill also, and set it ons 
the table, without drinking any of it, and took out the first Indian, discoursing with him for some 
time ; the first Indian then stripped himself naked, and lay down on the floor, and stretched 
himself; the other stood at the door, and when he was ready, he stepped forward with his knife 
in his hand, and stabbed tiie Indian who was lying down to the heart ; he received the stab, 
jumped to his feet, drank both the gills of whiskey off, and dropped down dead ; the white peo- 
ple made a prisoner of the other Indian, and sent to the heads of the nation ; two of them came 
and examined the Indian, who was a prisoner, and told tliera to let him go, he had done right. 




Bloamjield. 

Bloomfield, the county seat, is a place of recent origin, its site having 
been a clover-field no longer ago than 1825. It was then selected as the 
eounty seat, and in four years from that time it boasted, in the words f>f 



PERRY COUNTY. 



541 



the Perry Forester, "29 dwelling-houses, 21 shops and offices, a court- 
house and jail — more than half a dozen lawyers, and half as many doc- 
tors, with a population of about 220." It now has a population of 412, 
(by the census of 1840,) a Methodist, a Presbyterian, a Lutheran and 
German Reformed church, and an academy. It is pleasantly situated, 
about nine miles from Duncan's island, and six from the canal at New- 
port, one mile above the forks of the Little Juniata, in the narrow valley 
between Limestone and Mahoney ridges. The preceding view shows the 
courthouse and public offices, one of the hotels, and a number of private 
dwellings in the centre of the town. 

MiLLERSTovvN is a large village on the left bank of the Juniata. 10 miles 
north of Bloomfield, and 15 above Duncan's island. It contains about 80 
dwellings, a Presbyterian church, &c. Population in 1840, 371. The 
town was laid out about the year 1800, or a short time previously. Be- 
low the town is a pool formed by a state dam in the Juniata, upon which 
the canal boats pass by means of an endless rope stretched across the 
river and passing round a large pulley on each side. One of the pulleys 
is turned at a given signal by water-power from the canal, which puts 
the rope in motion with its boat attached. 




Petersburg, with DuncarCs Island Bridge in the distance. 
At the mouth of the Juniata there is an elegant bridge, leading from 
Duncan's island to Petersburg, a pretty village, about a mile below. Sep- 
arated from Petersburg only by a small stream, the Little Juniata, is 
DuNCANNON, a manufacturing village, the site of the extensive iron-works 
of Messrs. Fisher and Morgan. These works are situated at the mouth 
of Sherman's cr., and consist of a rolling-mill, employing about 150 hands ; 
and a nailery containing 26 machines, capable of making 800 kegs of 
nails per week. The Montebello furnace, on Little Juniata, about four 
miles distant, also pertains to this establishment. It employs about 60 
hands. These villages are neatly built with white cottages, interspersed 
with shade-trees, and presenting a very lively appearance when seen 
from the canal across the Susquehanna. Behind the town rises a lofty 
ridge, from which the preceding sketch was taken. Petersburg and Dun- 
cannon are seen in the foreground, at the foot of the hill ; and beyond, 
in the distance, are the dam, the long bridge, Duncan's island, and the 



542 PHILADELPHIA COUNTY. 

broad valley of the Susquehanna stretching away among the mountains. 
From this point may be seen, very distinctly, the ripples across the river, 
marking the harder strata of rocks in its bed, corresponding with the 
hard silicious strata in the mountains on either side. 

Marcus Hulings, who owned Duncan's island, was authorized to erect 
a dam and mill at the mouth of Sherman's cr., as early as 15th Sept. 1784. 
The new forge was established by Messrs. Stephen Duncan and John D. 
Mahon, in 1839. 

(For a description and history of Duncan's island, see Dauphin co.) 

Liverpool is a large and important town on the Susquehanna, 14 miles 
above Duncan's island. It contains about 100 dwellings, stores, taverns, 
&c., and one or more churches. The canal passes along the river bank in 
front of the town. Quite a brisk trade is carried on here. There are 
extensive iron- works near the town. Population in 1840, 454. 

The town was laid out some thirty or forty years since. The scenery 
on the Susquehanna, opposite this place, is magnificent — sublime : — de- 
scription cannot reach it ; it must be seen to be appreciated. 

Landisburg is a large village, on the left bank of Sherman's cr., about 
eight miles southwest of Bloomfield. It contains one or two churches* 
and about 50 or 60 dwellings. About two miles northwest of this place 
is situated the poorhouse of the county. 

Newport is quite a large, busy town, on the Juniata canal and river, 
six miles northeast of Bloomfield. It contained, by the census of 1840, 
423 inhabitants. It is the second town, in point of population, in the 
county. 

The other villages are New Buffalo, on the Susquehanna, five miles 
above the mouth of Juniata, containing a Presbyterian church, and a 
population of 147, by the census of 1840; and Ickesburg, nine miles north- 
west of Bloomfield, near the Run-gap of Tuscarora mountain, containing 
some twenty dwellings, and a Presbyterian church in the vicinity. 



PHILADELPHIA COUNTY. 

Philadelphia county is one of the three counties originally established 
by William Penn, about the close of the year 1682. It then extended 
indefinitely towards the northwest, bounded on either side by its fellow 
counties, Bucks and Chester. It has since, by the establishment of Berks 
CO. in 1752, and of Montgomery co. in 1784, been reduced to an area of 120 
sq. m., or about 77,000 acres. It extends along the Delaware, from Dar- 
by cr. to Poquasin cr., a distance of 22 m., and up the Schuylkill a dis- 
tance of 10 m., measured from the Delaware at Kensington. It comprises, 
besides the city and its suburban districts, the townships of Kingsessing, 
Blockley, Passyunk, Moyamensing, Penn, Northern Liberties, Oxford, 
Lower Dublin, Moreland, Byberry, Bristol, Germantown, and Roxborough. 
The population of the whole county, including the city, was, in 1790, 
54,391 ; in 1800, 81,009; in 1810, 111,210; in 1820, 137,097; in 1830, 
188,789; in 1840, 258,037— being nearly five times that of 1790. 



PHILADELPHIA COUNTY. 



543 



41,220 


53 722 


63,802 


80,458 


93,665 






r 7,118 


13,326 


22,314 






19,678 


28,923 


34,474 


16,970 


21,558 \ 


1,810 


2,453 


3,332 




3,798 


3,105 


2,507 


3,342 






. 3,498 


11,141 


27,849 


9,621 


13,707 


14,713 


20,740 


27,548 


1,592 


2,887 


3,963 


6,822 


14,573 


884 


992 


1,638 


1,441 


1,594 


1,091 


1,618 


2,655 


3,401 


< 3,318 
I 2,896 


634 


903 


1,188 


1,068 


1,339 


1,518 


^ 973 
I 1,233 


1,315 


1,502 


1,582 


1,405 


1,637 


2,376 


1,048 


1,252 


1,682 


3,334 


5,797 


3,220 


4,243 


4,311 


4,642 


5,482 


771 


965 


1,257 


1,425 


1,734 


1,495 


2,194 


2,640 


2,705 


3,298 


362 


400 


443 


418 


469 


579 


765 


876 


1,018 


1,055 



The following table shows the census of the city and county from 1 800 
to 1840, inclusive, and of the city and districts for 1790. Dr. Mease states 
the population of the city, in 1753, at 14,563 ; in 1760, at 18,756 ; and in 
1769, at 28,042. 

1790. 1800. 1810. 1820. 1830. 1840. 

City of Philadelphia, 28,522 

Kensington, (incorporated 1820,) 
Northern Liberties, (incorpor'd 1803,) 
Nort'hern Liberties, (unincorporated,) > 8,337 
Penn township, (North and South,) 
Spring Garden, (incorporated 1813,) , 
Southwark, (incorporated 1794,) - 5,661 
Moyamensing township, ---.... 

Passyunk township, ........ 

Blockley township, ........ 

Do. West Philadelphia borough, 

Kingsessing township, ....... 

Oxford township, ......... 

Do. Frankford borough, ... 

Roxborough township, (including Manayunk,) 
Germantown township, ....... 

Bristol township, ......... 

Lower Dublin township, ....... 

Moreland township, 

Byberry township, ......... 

Total, 81,005 111,210 137,097 188,961 258,037 

According to the census of 1840, Philadelphia county and city contain 3 furnaces, 1 rolling- 
mill, 186 houses in foreign trade, 63 commission houses, 2,078 retail stores, 16 fulling-mills, 29 
woollen manufactories, 45 cotton manufactories, (containing 40,862 spindles,) 32 dyeing and 
printing establishments, 10 tanneries, 11 distilleries, 19 breweries, 1 glass-house, 1 glass-cutting 
establishment, 7 potteries, 12 sugar refineries, 10 paper manufactories, 47 printing-offices, 13 
book-binderies, 8 daily newspapers, 17 weekly newspapers, 7 semi-weekly and tri-weekly news, 
papers, 26 periodicals, 20 rope- walks, 17 flouring-mills, 13 grist-mills, 13 saw-mills, 1 oil-mill — 
besides a vast amount of capital and men employed in the manufacture of machinery, locomo- 
tives, houses, steamboats, ships, drugs, silk, soap and candles, coaches, and in gardening, nurse. 
ries, butchering, &c., &,c. 

A range of low rocky hills, of the primitive granitic formation, crosses 
the upper section of the county, imparting an agreeable diversity to the 
surface, and affording many beautiful sites for tha country seats of wealthy 
citizens. That part of the county on which the city and its suburbs are 
situated, is a broad and elevated plain, gently sloping towards each river, 
and composed principally of gravel and clay — the deposit, doubtless, of 
some ancient ocean. Below the city, around the mouth of the Schuyl- 
kill, was originally a vast alluvial marsh, over which the waters flowed 
at every tide ; but, by drainage and embankment, this tract has been con- 
verted into excellent meadows, yielding abundant pasturage for thou- 
sands of cattle. 

Besides the Delaware and Schuylkill, the principal streams of the 
county are Poquessin cr., the northeastern boundary, and Darby cr., the 
southwestern — both tributaries of the Delaware ; and between these are 
Pennypack cr., Sissinockisink cr., Frankford cr., formed by Tacony and 
Wingohocking crs.. Gunner's run and Cohocksink cr. ; and on the other 
side of the county are the Wissahiccon, Falls cr., and Mill cr., tributaries 
of the Schuylkill — besides several small creeks and runs on the flats be- 
low the city. 

The City of Philadelphia extends entirely across a neck of land, about 
two miles wide, between the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers ; and pre- 



544 PHILADELPHIA COUNTY. 

sents a front along the Delaware, including the suburbs of Kensington 
and Southwark, of nearly four miles, and one mile and a half along the 
Schuylkill. It is 120 miles from the ocean, by the course of the river, 
and 60 in a direct line ; and lies in N. lat. 39° 56' 54", and in W. Ion. 
(from London) 75° 8' 45". The distance from Philadelphia to New 
York, by the usual route, is 87 miles ; to Baltimore 95 ; to Washington 
city 136; to Harrisburg 100, and to Pittsburg 300. It is impossible to 
comprise, in a work of this kind, the complete statistics of a city so large 
as Philadelphia. 

The city contains, (in addition to the manufactories already enumerated,) more than 100 
churches — of which are, Episcopal 15, (including the old Swedes' church ;) Catholic 6 ; Unita- 
rian 1 ; Presbyterian 27 ; Independent Congregational (in Broad-st.) 1 ; Dutch Reformed 4 ; 
Baptist 12 ; Methodist 18 ; Friends' 8 ; Congregational 1 ; German Reformed 1 ; Jews' Syna- 
gogues 3 ; Lutheran 4 ; Moravian 1 ; Swedenborgian 2 ; Mariners' 3 ; Universalist 2. Of scien- 
tific and literary institutions there are — the University of Pennsylvania, including its medical 
department ; two other medical schools ; the Girard College ; the American Philosophical Socie- 
ty ; the Pennsylvania Historical Society ; the Academy of Natural Sciences ; the Franklin Insti- 
tute ; the Atheneum ; the Philadelphia Library, and 7 other public libraries : of benevolent insti 
tutions — the Pennsylvania Hospital, the United States Naval Asylum, Asylums for the Deaf, 
Dumb, Blind, and Insane, for Indigent Females, five Asylums for Orphans, the County Alms- 
house, the Friends' Almshouse, Wills' Hospital for indigent lame and blind, and about seventy 
benevolent societies ; eight museums, or collections in science and art ; sixteen banks ; the Mer- 
chants' Exchange ; the county offices ; the United States Mint ; the United States Navy Yard ; 
five theatres ; Penitentiary and Prison ; two magnificent bridges, (besides some six or seven 
others, equally splendid, in the county ;) five railroads, &c., &c. 

Philadelphia did not grow up, as have many cities, by hazard ; or by 
the gradual addition of house to house, and by the conversion of crooked 
by-paths and narrow lanes into crowded streets, without a regular plan, 
as the commercial necessities of an augmenting village population might 
seem to require. The establishment of a large city was an early and 
favorite plan of William Penn ; and in his " Concessions to Adventurers 
and Purchasers in the Province," published in July, 1681, before he left 
England, he had agreed — 

" That so soon as it pleasethe God that the abovesaid persons arrive there, a certain quantitv 
of land or ground plot shall be laid out, for a large town or city, in the most convenient place 
upon the river for health and navigation ; and every purchaser and adventurer shall by lot, have 
so much land therein as will answer to the proportion which he hath bought or taken up upon 
rent." 

The city owes its distinguishing regularity, its wide Market-street and 
Broad-street, its spacious and beautiful public squares, to the wise fore- 
cast of Wm. Penn. Its name, too, a Greek word signifying brotherly love, 
was conferred by him, as he himself says, before the city was born, and 
is a token of the benevolent principle by which he intended his province 
should be governed. It was the intention of the founder that the city 
should be much less compact than it has since become — that it should re- 
semble " a greene country towne ;" and he had intended, too, that the 
river bank should be left entirely open for general use from the water up 
to the north side of Front-street. For many years he resisted all solicita- 
tions for permission to build warehouses on the bank where Water-street 
now is. 

Col. Wm. Markham, a young kinsman of the proprietor, was dispatch- 
ed in May, 1681, with a number of colonists, to announce to the natives 
and Swedes the grant of the province to Wm. Penn, to conciliate their 
good will, and prepare for the arrival of the proprietor with a larger 



PHILADELPHIA COUNTY. 545 

number of colonists. In the autumn of the san^e year Penn sent out 
three commissioners to manage his affairs, Wm. Crispin, John Bezar, and 
Nathaniel Allen, with special instructions to select a site and lay out the 
great city. The following extracts from his instructions, for which we 
are indebted to the Memoirs of the Penn. Hist. Society, will show the 
vastness of the founder's original designs : 

" The creeks should be sounded on my side of Delaware river, especially Upjand, in order to 
settle a great towne, and be sure to make your choice where it is most navigable, high, dry, and 
healthy. That is, where most ships may best ride, of deepest draught of water, if possible, to 
load or unload, at ye Bank or key side, without boating and litering it. It would do well if the 
nver coming into yt creek be navigable, at least for boats up into the country, and yt the scitua- 
tion be high, at least dry and sound, and not swampy, wch is best knowne by digging up two or 
three earths, and seeing the bottom. 

" Such a place being found out for navigation, healthy scituation, and good soyle for provision, 
lay out ten thousand acres contiguous to it in the best manner you can, as the bounds and ex- 
tent of the libertyes of the said towne. 

" The proportion in the said towne is to be thus : every share or five thousand acres shall have 
an hundred acres of land, out of ye ten thousand acres. If more than one be concerned in the 
share, as it may easily fall out, then they to agree of ye dividing ye sanje as they shall think fit, 
still keeping to proportion, as if one hundred pounds will have an hundred acres, five pounds will 
have five acres. 

" That no more Land be surveyed or sett out, till this be first fixt, and ye people upon it, wch 
is best, both for Comfort, Safety, and Traffique. In the next season, the Lord willing, I shall be 
with you, and then I shall proceede to larger Lotte : This was ye Resolution of a great part of 
the Furchassers at London, the fifteenth day of Septemb 1681, and I find it generally ap- 
proved. 

" If it should happen yt the most Convenient place for this great Towne should be already 
taken up in greater quantity of Land than is Consistent wth the Town Plott, and yt Land not 
already improved, you must use yor utmost skill to perswade them to part wth so much as will 
be necessary, that so necessary and good a designe be not spoiled, that is, where they have Ten 
Acres by ye Water side, to abate five, and to take five more backward, and so proportionably, be- 
cause yt by the Settlement of this Towne, the remaining five in two or three years' time will be 
worth twice as much as those Ten before ; yea, wt they take backward for their water-side Land 
will in a little more time, be really more vallueable than all their Ten forward was before ; urg- 
ing my regard to them if they will not break this great and good Contrivance ; and in my Name 
promise them wt gratuity or priviledge you think fitt, as having a new graunt at their old rent ; yea, 
halfe their quit-rent abated — yea, make them as free Purchasers, rather than disappoint my mind 
in this Township : though herein, be as sparing as ever you can, and urge the weak bottome of 
their Graunte, the D. of Yorke having never had a graunt from the King &,c Be impartially just 
and Courteous to all, That is both pleasing to ye Lord, and wise in itselfe. 

" If you gain yor point in this respect, (of wch be very careful!) fall to dividing as before ac- 
cording to shares ; then subdivide in wch observe yt you must narrower spread by the Water 
side, and run Backwarde more or lesse, according to the Compasse you have by the Waterside, 
to bring in the hundred Shares for their Proportion in the said Ten Thousand Acres. 

" But if you cannot find land enough by ye Water side to allow an Hundred Acres to five 
Thousand Acres. Get wt you can, and proportionably divide it, though it were but fifty acres 
for a Share. 

" Be sure to Settle the figure of the Towne so as yt the streets hereafter may be uniforme downe 
to the Water from the Country bounds, lett ye place for tlie Store house be on the middle of the 
Key, wch will yet serve for Market and State houses too. This may be ordered when I come, 
only let the Houses built be in a line, or upon a Line as much as may be. 

" Pitch upon the very middle of the Piatt where the Towne or line of Houses is to be laid or 
run facing the Harbour and great River for the scituation of my house, and let it be not the tenth 
part of the Towne, as the Conditions say (viz) yt out of every hundred Thousand Acres shall 
be reserved to mee Ten, But I shall be contented with less than a thirtyeth part, to witt Three 
Hundred acres, whereas severall will have Two by purchaseing Two Shares, yt is Ten Thous- 
and Acres, and it may be fitting for nice to exceede a little. 

" The Distance of each House from the Creek or Harbor should be in my Judgt a measured 
quarter of a Mile, at least two hundred paces, because of building hereafter, streets downewards 
to ye Harbor. 

" Let every House be placed, if the Person pleases in ye middle of its platt as to the breadth 
WAy of it, that so there may be ground on each side, for Gardens or Orchards or fields, yt it may 
be a greene Country Towne, wch will never be burnt, and allwayes be wholsome. 

" I Judge yt you must be guided in yor breadth of Land by wt you can get, yt is unp)an^ed, 

69 



540 PHILADELPHIA COUNTY. 

and will not he parted wtli, but so far as I can jjuesso at lliis Distance nielhinks in a Citty. each 
share to have titty Poles upon ye Front to ye Kiver, and ye rest Backward will be sutticient. 
But perhaps you may have more, and perliaps you will not have so much space to allow, Herein 
follow your Land and Scituation, being always just to proportion." 

The city on the original plan would have occupied 12 square miles, to 
acconimodato all tho piiroliasors. 8ovtM-al sites were examined and 
spoktMi of by tlu^ coinmissionors. ainoiii:: whioli was one at Chester ; an- 
other on tlit> liiiih bank at and below tlu> mouth of Poquessin cr. : another 
at remisbury manor, and the present site, wiiieh was reconuneiuied by 
the commissioners ; but neither was delinitely tixed upon until al'ter 
Penn's arrival in lOS'J, when, with the consent of the colonists, he re- 
duced his plan nearly to the limits of the present city proper, and made 
up the proportion of lots to the colonists in the land adjoining the city, 
M-hich was eaUed Liberties; one of these Liberties was west of the 
Schuylkill, the otluM- took th(> name of the Northern Liberties. 

The arrival ol" Wm. I'eim, and his reception at New Castle and Ches- 
ter, have been noticed on pages LS and 'JiJSJ-tJOL Tradition states that 
he made the voyage from Clu^ster to Wicacoa in an open boat with a few 
friends, in the latter })art of November, lt)8'2. At Wicacoa he found 
dwelling three Swedes, brothers, named Andries, Swen, and Oele Swen- 
son, (since converted into Swanson,) of whom he afterwards purchased 
the site of the city, giving them other lands in exchange. The site of 
the city tit that day presented a high bold bank along the Delaware, 
fringed with a grove of tall {)ine-trees, which the Indians called Co(i(juan- 
ock. The early Jersey colonists had noticed this place. Proud states 
that— 

In the Tenth month, O. S. (December') 167S, arrived the Shield, from Hull. Daniel Towes 
conunauiler, and auehored before l>arlin>iton This was the tirst ship that came so far up the 
river Delaware. l)pposite to Coanuanoek. the Indian name of the place where Philadelphia now 
stands, wliieh was a bold and hi<rli shore, she went so near it, in turninsj, that part of the tackling 
struck the trees — some of the passengers expressing, " It was a tine situation for a town." 

In this bank many of the tirst and early adventurers had their caves, or holes for their resi- 
dence, before any houses were built, or better accommodations prepared for them. The tirst 
liouse erected on this plot of ground, was built by (leorge CJuest, and not finished at the time of 
the proi>rietor"s arrival. This house was then building in Huilii's row, near that called Powell's 
dock, lie, for many years afterwards, kept a tavern there called the PUie Anelior. 

John Key — who was said to be the tirst born child of English parents in Philadelphia, and that 
in compliment of which William Penn gave him a lot of ground — died at Kennet, in Chester co., 
on the .'ith of July, ITtiT, in the 8.ith year of his age ; where his corpse was interred, in the (Qua- 
kers' burying-gmund, the next day, attended by a great concourse of people. He was born in a 
cave, long afterwards known by tiic name of Penny-pot, near Sassafras street. I have seen iiini 
myself more than once, in the city — to which, about six years before his death, he walked on foot, 
from Kennet, (alH>ut tiiirty miles,") in one day. In tho latter part of his life he generally, in the 
city, went under tiu- name >.■>( jirnt.born. 

in tlie latter part of the year 1682,* the proprietary, having finished his business with the In- 



* It is thought by others that the city was not fully laid out until 1683, as Penn says in his 
letter to the Society of Free traders, 16th Aug. 1683, " Philadelphia — the expectation of those 
tliat are concerned in this province — is, at last, laid out, to the great content of those here that 
are any ways interested therein. I say little of the town itselt', because a platform will be shewn 
you by my agent, in which those who arc purchasers of me will tind their names autl interests. 
But this I will say, for the gtxnl providence of CJoil, — that, of all the many places I have seen in 
the world, 1 remember not one better seated ; so that it seems to me to have been appointed for a 
town, whether we regaril the rivers, or the conveniency of the coves, docks, springs, the loftiness 
and soundness of the land, and the air, held by the ptxiplc of these parts to be very good. It is 
advanced, within less than a year, to almut fourscore houses and cottages, such as they are, 
where merchants and handicrafts arc following their vocations as fast as they can, while tho 
countrvmcn are close at their farms. Some of thcni got a little winter com in the ground last 



PHILADELnilA COUNTY. 547 

dians, undertook, with the assistance of his surveyor-general, Thomas Holme, to lay out a place 
for the city. 

'I'lic followiufT is an extract from Thomas Holme's description : 

" The city, as the model shows, consists of a larffc Front-street on each river, and a High-st., 
near tlic middle, from river to river, of one hundn-d feet broad ; and a Hroad-strcet, in the middle 
of the city, from side to side, of the like hrcadtli. In the centre of the city is a square of ten 
acres, iit each anfjle to liuild houses for public, atlairs. TluTt! is also in each quarter of the city 
II square of eight acres, to be for the like uses as Moorficlds, in London ; and eight streets, be- 
sides the said High st., that run i'rom river to river, or from Front to Front ; a!)d twenty streets, 
besides the Ikoad-stnn't and two Front-streets, that run across the city from side to side. All 
these streets are Hfty feet broad." 

William I'enn — in answer to a remonstrance and address to him from several of the adven- 
turers, freeholders, and inhabitants, in the city of Philadel|»hia, (respecting the front, or bank 
lots along the side of Delaware,) who claimed the privilege to build vaults, or stores, in the bank, 
against their respective lots — thus expresses himself, in KiHl : — "The bank is a top common, 
from end to end. The rest, next the water, belongs to front-lot men no more than hack-lot men. 
The way bounds them. They may build stairs, and, at the top of the bunk, a common exchange, 
or walk, — aiul against the street common wharfs may be built freely ; but into the water, and the 
shore, is no purchaser's." 

Within the space of tlic first year after the proper requisites for a regular settlement were ob. 
tained, between twenty and thirty sail of ships, with passengers, arrived in the province — in- 
cluding those which came before, and about the same time with the proprietary. The settlers 
nmounteil to such a large number, that the parts near Delaware were peopled in a very rapid 
manner — even from about the falls of Trenton, down to Chester, near fifty miles, on the river ; 
besides the settlements in the lower counties, which, at the same time, were very considerable. 

As the first colonists were generally Quakers, and in their native country had suffered much 
on account of their religion, hoth in person and property, their great and primary concern is said 
to have been the continuance and su[)port of their religious public worship, in every part of the 
country where they made settlements, in such manner as their situation and circmnstances then 
permitted. 

The Quakers had meetings for religious worship, and for the oeconomy of their society, so early 
as the fore part of the year 1681, at the house of Thomas Fairlamb, at Shackamaxon, near, or 
about the place where Kensington now stands, nigh Philadelphia ; and in the next following year, 
1682, at the place itself where the city is since built, in a boarded meeting-house erected there for 
that purpose. 

Their brick meeting-house in the city, at or near the centre, was built in 1684 

That on the bank, in Front-street, in ... 1685 

Their great meeting-house in High-street, in - - . 1695 

That on the hill, in Pine-street, in - . . 1753 

And the present meeting-house in High-street, in - - - 1755 

The nnnjber of marriages of the people called Quakers, in Philadelphia alone, during tht; first 
thirty-two years of the province, or between the years 1682 and 1714, inclusive, was about 314. 

In this, (1781,) and the two next succeeding years, (1782-'83,) arrived ships, with passengers 
or settlers, from London, Bristol, Ireland, Wales, Cheshire, Lancashire, Holland, (jermariy, &c., 
to the number of about fifty sail. Among those from (Germany wi^n- some Friends, or Quakers, 
from Krislieim, or Crcslieim, a town not far from Worms, in the Palatinate. They had been 
early convinced of the religious principles of the Quakers, by the [ireaching of William Ames, 
an Englisluuan ; for which they had borne a public testimony there, till the present time — when 
they all removed to Pennsylvania, aiul settled about six or seven miles distant from Philadelphia, 
a j)lace which they called Germantown. 

These adventurers were not all young persons, able to endure the hardships unavoidable in sub- 
duing a wilderness, or as equally regardless of convenient accommodations as young, healthy, 
and strong men, accustomed to labor and disap|X)intnient ; but there were among them persona 
advanced in years, with women and childn-n, and such as, in their native country, had lived 
well, and enjoyed ease and plenty. 

season ; and the generality have had a handsome summer crop, and are preparing for their winter 
corn. They reajjcd their barley, this year, in the month called May — the wheat in the month 
following , so that there is time, in these parts, for another crop of divers things before the wint ■ 
season. We are daily in hopes of shipping, to add to our number ; for, blessed be Cod, here is 
both room and acconunodation for them. I bless (j!od, I am fully satisfied with the country and 
entertainment I got in it ; for I fiiul that particular content which hath always attended mo 
where Cod, in his providence, hath made it my place and service to reside. 



548 



PHILADELPHIA COUNTY. 



Their firsT'. business, after their arrival, was to land their property, and put it under such shel- 
ter as could be found ; then, while some of them got warrants of survey, for taking up so much 
land as was sufficient for immediate settling, others went diversely further into the -ytroods, to the 
different places where their lands were laid out, often without any path or road to direct them, — 
for scarce any were to be found above two miles from the water side — not so much as any mark 
or sign of any European having been there. As to the Indians, they seldom travelled so regu- 
larly as to be traced or followed by footsteps ; except, perhaps, from one of their towTis to an- 
other. Their huntings were rather like ships at sea, without any track or path. So that all the 
country, further than about two miles distant from the river, (excepting the Indians' moveable 
settlements,) was an entire wilderness, producing nothing for the support of human life but the 
wild fruits and animals of the woods. 

The lodgings of some of these settlers were, at first, in the woods. A chosen tree was frequent- 
ly all the shelter they had against the inclemency of the weather. This stimetimes happened late 
in the fall, and even in the winter season. The next coverings of many of them were either 
caves in the earth, or such huts erected upon it as could be most expeditiously prociored, till bet- 
ter houses were built, for which they had no want of timber. 




Penn's Treaty Tree, at Kensington. 

The above is a representation of the celebrated Elm-tree, at Kensing 
ton, under which William Penn made his memorable treaty with the In 
dians, towards the close of November, 1682. The sketch was reduced 
from a larger engraving, taken from the tree before it was blown down, 
in 1810. 

It is remarkable that no original written record can be discovered of 
this celebrated event, and the evidence of its occurrence rests upon ob- 
scure references, and upon tradition ; yet that tradition is abundant. 
The treaty and its stipulations are referred to repeatedly in the early 
minutes of council, and in the speeches of Civility to Gov. Keith, in 1721 
and 1722 ; and of numerous other chiefs, at various conferences, at Con- 
estogoe and Philadelphia. Gov. Gordon, in a council with many chiefs 
of the Conestogoes, Delawares, Shawanees, and Ganawese, held at Phil- 
adelphia, May 20, 172^, thus addresses them: — 

" My Brethren : You have been faithfull to your Leagues with us, your Hearts have been clean, 
& you have preserved the Chain from Spotts or Rust, or if there were any you have been care- 
full to wipe them away ; your Leagues with your Father William Penn, & with his Governoura, 
are in Writing on Record, that our Children tSt our Childrens Children may have them in ever- 
lasting Remembrance. And we Know that you preserve the memory of ttiose things amongst 



PHILADELPHIA COUNTY. 549 

you by telling them to your Children, & they again to the next Generation, so that the;- remain 
stamp'd on your Minds never to be forgott. 

" The Chief Heads or Strongest Links of this Chain I find are these Nine, vizt : 

1st. " That all William Penns People or Christians, and all the Indians should be brethren, as 
the Children of one Father, joyned together as with one Heart, one Head & one Body. 

2d. " That all Paths should be open and free to both Christians and Indians. 

3d. " That the Doors of the Christians Houses should be open to the Indians &. the Houses 
oi' the Indians open to the Christians, & that they should make each other welcome as their 
Friends. 

4th. " That the Christians should not believe any false Rumours or Reports of the Indians, 
nor the Indians believe any such Rumours or Reports of tlie Christians, but should first come as 
Brethren to enquire of each other ; And that botii Christians &, Indians, whCn they hear any 
such false Reports of their Brethren, they should bury them as in a bottomless Pitt. 

5th. " That if the Christians heard any ill news that may be to the Hurt of the Indians, or 
tiie Indians hear any such ill news that may be to the Injury of the Christians, they should ac- 
quaint each other with it speedily as true Friends &. Brethren. 

6th. " That the Indians should do no manner of Harm to the Christians nor their Creatures, 
nor tlie Christians do any Hurt to any Indians, but each treat the other as their Brethren. 

7th. " But as there are wicked People in all Nations, if either Indians or Christians should do 
any harm to each other. Complaint should be made of it by the Persons Suffering, that Right may 
be done ; and when Satisfaction is made, the Injury or Wrong shbuld be forgott & be buried as 
in a bottomless Pitt. 

8th. " That the Indians should in all things assist the Christians, & the Christians assist the 
Indians against all wicked People that would disturb them. 

9th. " And lastly, that both Christians & Indians should acquaint their Children with this 
League & firm Chain of Friendship made between tiiem. Si, that it should always be made 
stronger & stronger &, be kept bright &- clean, without Rust or Spott between our Children and 
Childrens Children, while the Creeks and Rivers run, and virhile the Sdn, Moon & Stars endure." 

In a very elaborate memoir on the subject of this treaty, presented to 
the Pennsylvania Historical Society, in 1836, by Messrs. Peter S. Du 
Ponceau and J. Francis Fisher, they give it as their opinion that this 
treaty had no reference to the purchase of lands^ but was designed solely 
to establish a solemn league of friendship between William Penn and 
the Indian tribes. The following extracts are from that memoir : — 

The fame of the treaty under the Elm-tree, or, as it is called, the Great Treaty, is coextensive 
with the civilized world. So early as the middle of the eighteenth century, M. de Voltaire spoke 
of it as an historical fact, well known at that time. " William Penn," says he, " began with 
making a league with the Americans, his neighbors. It is the only treaty between those nations 
and the Christians, which was never sworn to, and never broken." Other European Writers have 
spoken of it in terms of unqualified praise. 

It is not on this treaty that depends the fame of our illtistrious founder. Others before him 
had made treaties of alliance with the original possessors of the American soil ; others had ob- 
tained their lands from them by fair purchase — the Swedes, the Dutch, and the English. The 
true merit of William Penn, that in which he surpasses all the founders of empires whose names 
are recorded in ancient and modern history, is not in having made treaties with, or purchased 
lands of the Indians ; but in the honesty, the integrity, the strict justice with which he constantly 
treated the aborigines of the land — in the fairness of all his dealings with them — in his faithful 
observance of his promises — in the ascendancy which he acquired over their untutored minds — 
in the feelings of gratitude with which his character inspired them, and which they, through 
successive generations, until their final disappearance from our soil, never could nor did forget, 
and to the last moment kept alive in their memories. Let us be permitted to quote here an eye- 
witness, the venerable Heckeweldcr, who thus expresses himself, in his History of the Indian 
Nations. After speaking of the aversion of the Indians to hold treaties elsewhere than in the 
open air, he proceeds : " William Penn," said they, " when he treated with them, adopted the an- 
cient mode of their ancestors, and convened them under a grove of shady trees, where the little 
birds on the boughs were warbling their sweet notes." " In commemoration of these conferences," 
continues the historian, " which are always to the Indians a subject of pleasing remembrance, 
they frequently assembled together in the woods, in some shady spot, as nearly as possible simi- 
lar to those where they used to meet their brother Miquon, (Penn,) and there lay all his words or 
speeches, with those of his descendants, on a blanket, or clean piece of bark, and with great sat- 
isfaction go over the whole. This practice, which I have repeatedly witnessed, continued until 
the year 1780, when the disturbances which then took place put an end to it, probably for ever." 

Perhaps it will be asked how they could do that, who were entirely ignorant of the art of 



550 PHILADELPHIA COUNTY. 

writing. They had, in their strings and belts of wampum, an artificial memory, by means of 
which, with the aid of tradition frequently repeated from one to the other, they could lemember 
the speeches made to them, and their own, in due succession. 

That this treaty was held at Shackamaxon,* shortly after the arrival of William Penn, in 1682, 
we think that the least doubt cannot at present be entertained. The testimony of all the histo- 
rians concur with uninterrupted tradition in establishing these facts. As to the locality, the \tn- 
eration with which the celebrated Elm-tree has been regarded, from time immemorial, attests it, 
in our opinion, with sufficient certainty. The venerable Richard Peters, who not long since died, 
at a very advanced age, and his friend, Mr. David H. Conyngham, still hving, both have affirmed 
that in their early youth, 60 or 70 years ago, the fact of the first treaty having been held under 
the Elm-tree, which was destroyed by a storm in 1810, was universally admitted ; and that Ben- 
jamin Lay, who came to Pennsylvania at the age of 54 years, in the year 1731, only half a cen- 
tury after the arrival of the founder, showed his veneration for it by paying it frequent visits. 
These testimonies are sufficient to establish this fact, beyond the possibility of controversy 
Thus much we think we can assert, without the fear of contradiction ; we even believe, and 
there is some evidence to prove, that Shackamaxon and thfe Elm-tree, before the arrival of Wm. 
Penn, were the scene of a former treaty made with the Indians, by Markham and the commis 
sioners associated with him, which was afterwards confirmed by the proprietary, on the same 
spot. If it be so, it adds to the solemnity of the act, and the sacredness of the ground. 

The instructions to these commissioners, lately discovered among the papers of the Hamilton 
family, give us Penn's humane directions : " Let my letter and conditions with my purchasers, 
about just dealing with them, be read in their tongue, that they may see we have their good in 
our eye, equal with our own interest ; and after reading my letter and the said conditions, then 
present their kings with what I send them, and make a friendship and league with them, accord- 
ing to those conditions, which carefully observe, and get them to comply with you. Be grave : 
they love not to be smiled on." 

We believe Mr. Clarkson's account of William Penn's address to the Indians, at the Great 
Treaty, to be as near the truth as any that is founded merely upon tradition. We therefore in- 
sert it. There is a great deal in this recital that bears internal evidence of truth, although we do 
not coincide with the writer in every thing that it contains. We reject particularly all that con- 
nects this transaction with the purchase of lands. 

" The Great Spirit," said Wilham Penn, " who made him and them, who ruled the heavens 
and the earth, and who knew the innermost thoughts of man, knew that he and his friends iiad 
a hearty desire to live in peace and friendship with them, and to serve them to the utmost of their 
power. It was not their custom to use hostile weapons against their fellow-creatures, for which 
reason they had come unarmed. Their object was not to do injury, and thus provoke the Great 
Spirit, but to do good. They were then met on the broad pathway of good faith and good-will, 
so that no advantage was to be taken on either side ; but all was to be openness, brotherhood, 
and love. After these and other words, he unrolled the parchment ; and, by means of the in- 
terpreter, conveyed to them, article by article, the conditions of purchase, and the words of 
the compact then made, for their eternal union. Among other things, they were not to be mo- 
lested in their lawful pursuits, even in the territory they had alienated ; for it was to be common 
to them and the EngHsh. They were to have the same liberty to do all things therein, relating 
to the improvement of their grounds, and providing sustenance for their families, which the Eng- 
lish had. If any disputes should arise between the two, they should be settled by twelve per- 
sons, half of whom should be English, and half Indians. He then paid them for the land, and 
made them many presents besides, from the merchandise which had been spread before them. 
Having done this, he laid the roll of parchment on the ground, observing again that the ground 
should be common to both people. He then added that he would not do as the Marylanders did, 
that is, call them children or brothers only ; for often parents were apt to whip their children too 
severely, and brothers sometimes would differ. Neither would he compare the friendship be- 
tween him and them to a chain, for the rain might sometimes rust it, or a tree might fall and break it ; 
but he should consider them as the same flesh and blood with the Christians, and the same as 
if one man's body were to be divided into two parts. He then took up the parchment, and pre- 
sented it to the sachem who wore the horn in the chaplet, and desired him and the other sachems 
to preserve it carefully for three generations, that their children might know what had passed 
between them, just as if he had remained himself with them to repeat it." 

" Our distinguished countryman, (says Mr. Vaux,) the late Sir Benja- 
min West, executed in 1775 an historical picture of the treaty of 1682, 
the original of which is in possession of John Penn, Esq. One of the 
five dignified individuals represented as present with the proprietary was 

* Shackamaxon was the Indian name of one of their villages, on the site of the present Ken- 
sington. 



PHILADELPHIA COUNTY. 



551 



the grandfather of West, and the painter has given a likeness of his an- 
cestor in the imposing group of patriarchs." But all historians complain 
that Penn's picture is too much tinctured with the fancies of the painter 
to be regarded as an authentic record. The graceful and athletic Penn, 
then at the age of 38, is represented as a corpulent old man, and the 
dresses are those of an age many years later than the reign of Charles 
II. The treaty tree was long preserved in the affections of the Indians 
and colonists. Mr. West relates that while the British occupied Phila- 
delphia during the revolution, and their parties were scouring the coun- 
try for firewood, Gen. Simcoe had a sentinel placed under the tree to pro- 
tect it. The Methodists and Baptists often held their summer meetings 
under its shade. It was blown down in 1810, when it was ascertained 
to be 283 years old, having been 155 years old at the time of the treaty. 
Many of its pieces were wrought into vases, chairs, work-stands, and 
other articles, to be preserved as sacred relics.* The Penn Society have 
erected a monument, of which the annexed is a view, on the spot where 
the tree stood, near the intersection of Hanover and Beach streets, Ken- 
sington. 



On the North. 

Treaty Ground 

of 

William Penn 

and the 

Indian natives, 

1682. 

On the South. 
William Penn 

Bom 1644. 

Died 1718. 




miATV SROUNDI 




On the West. 

Placed by the Penn 

Society, 

A. D. 1827, 

To mark the site 

of the 
Great Elm Tree. 

On the East. 

Pennsylvania, 

Founded 

1681, 

By deeds of Peace. 



immediately opposite to the tree once stood a venerable mansion, oi 
which Mr. J. F. Watson thus speaks in his Annals of Philadelphia : — 

" Thip respectable and venerable looking brick edifice was constructed in 1702 for the use of 
Thomas Fairman, the deputy of Thomas Holme, the surveyor-general, and was taken down in 
April, 1825, chiefly because it encroached on the range of the present street. A brick was found 
in the wall marked 'Thomas Fairman, Sept. 1702.' It had been the abode of many inmates, 
and was once desired as the country seat of Wm. Penn himself — a place highly appropriate for 
him who made his treaty there. Gov. Evans, after leaving his office, dwelt there some time. 
It was afterwards the residence of Gov. Palmer ; and these two names were sufficient to give it 
the character of the ' Governor's house' — a name which it long retained after the cause had been 
forgotten. After them the aged and respectable Mr. Thomas Hopkins occupied it for 50 years. 
Penn's conception of tliis place is well expressed in his letter of 1708 to James Logan, saying, 
' If John Evans (the governor) leaves your place, then try to secure his plantation ; for I think 
from above Shackamaxon to the town is one of the pleasantest situations on the river for a gov- 
ernor; where one sees and hears what one will, and when one will, and yet have a good deal of 
the sweetness and quiet of the country. And I do assure thee, if the country would settle upon 



* On the subject of this treaty tlie curious reader may find some further particulars on page 
14. See also Watson's Annals, Gordon's History, Note O, and the Memoirs of Du Ponceau, 
Fisher, Vaux, and Watson in the Collections of the Penn. Hist. Society ; Fisher's Memoir on 
the private life of Penn, in the same Collections ; and the printed Colonial Records, Vol III. 



552 



PHILADELPHIA COUNTY. 



me £600 per annum I would hasten over the following summer. Cultivate this among the best 
Friends.' The next year (1709) his mind being intent on the same thing, he says, ' Pray get 
Peggs' or such a remote place, [then on Front near to Green-street] in good order for me and 
family.' " 




Letitia House, in Letitia Court. 

Above is a view of probably the oldest house now extant in Philadel- 
phia. It stands in Letitia court, the entrance of which is in Market-st. 
between Front and Second streets. Antiquarians have been in some 
doubt about the identity of the building, some thinking that the house 
called the Black Horse tavern, facing the end of the court, is the one for- 
merly known as Penn's cottage ; but Mr. Watson, who has entered upon 
the inquiry with true antiquarian spirit, infers from all the data he could 
find, that the house here sketched is the true one ; and that it was built 
by Markham as a cottage for Wm. Penn's use in 1682, before the foun- 
der's arrival, and that the latter used it on his first visit, when not at his 
mansion of Pennsbury manor. Afterward it was used by Markham as 
deputy-governor, and for public offices. On Wm. Penn's second visit in 
1699, he lived at the Slate-roof house, and presented this to his daughter 
in fee, although she, being single, had no occasion to reside in it. A let- 
ter from Penn to his steward in 1684, allows his " cousin Markham to 
live in his house in Philadelphia, and that Thomas Lloyd, the deputy- 
governor, should have the use of his periwigs, and any wines and beer 
he may have there left for the use of .strangers." Mr. Watson has given 
in his Annals a lithographic view of the house as he fancied it to have 
appeared with its grounds in early times. We have given its present 
appearance, so that the curious in such matters may contrast the two. 
Mr. Watson says : — 

" If we would contemplate this Letitia house in its first relations, we should consider it as hav- 
ing an open area to the river the whole width of the square, with here and there retained a clump 
of forest trees on either side of an avenue leading out to F'ront-street ; having a garden of fruit 
trees on the Second-street side, and on Second-street, the ' Governor's gate,' so called, opposite 
to the lot of the Friends Great Meeting. By this gate the carriages passed along the avenue by 



PHILADELPHIA COUNTY. 553 

the north side of the house to the east part of the premises. This avenue remained an alley. 
Ji'ay long after, and even now is open and paved up to the rear of the house on Second-street." 

The allu.sion above to " periwigs, wines, and beer," gives us a casual 
glance at the sumptuary habits of Wm. Penn. He had been reared in 
his early days near the luxurious court of Charles II. ; he had travelled 
in France, Holland, and Germany, with the entree, when he chose it, of 
the best society of the old world ; and although, as an individual, loving 
the simple dress and manners of the Friends, he was not insensible to the 
importance of etiquette and style in a high public functionary. " He was 
aware that by the ignorant, respect is more readily paid to the law, and 
to the officers who administer it, if surrounded by a certain dignity and 
solemnity of forms." He kept his coach in the colony, his fine blooded 
horses, and his barge — for he loved to travel by w^ater — and gave par- 
ticular directions to James Logan to " take care of the barge, and let no 
one use it during his absence." He had his days and hours of business, 
and an officer, while the council was in session, to guard the door ; and 
when he went to open the assembly, or to hold the High Court of the 
Provincial Council, he was preceded by the members in procession, and 
the sheriff and peace-officers with their staves of office. In dress, too, he 
was regardful of the mode ; when he returned from France in 1664, he 
is represented as " a most modish person grown, quite a fine gentleman." 
" At the time when was painted the portrait presented to the Historical 
Society by his grandson," says Mr. Fisher, " he was a finished gentleman 
— his appearance was eminently handsome ; the appearance of his coun- 
tenance remarkably pleasing and sweet ; his eye dark and lively ; and 
his hair flowing gracefully over his shoulders, according to the fashion 
set by the worthless, though fascinating Charles II." But that was be- 
fore he came to Pennsylvania. 

In the colony, as we learn from his cash-book, he had his periwigs, (at 
least four.) his silk hose, his leathern gambadoes, or over-alls, and many 
a fine beaver furbished up at the hatter's ; and many more he gave to his 
friends, one of which, to Edward Shippen, he recommended as having 
" the true mayoral brim ;" and if tradition is right, he wore his silver shoe- 
buckles too. 

He liked a stately house, and his mansion at Pennsbury was intended to 
be a perfect palace ; and through James Logan he conveyed many sig- 
nificant hints that his colonists should build or buy him a governor's man- 
sion in town, " as Griffith Owen's, T. Fairman's, or Daniel Pegg's, or the 
like." He was fond of good living. His mansion at Pennsbury was ele- 
gantly furnished, and the cellars stocked with beer, cider, and wines ; al- 
though he dealt but sparingly in ardent spirits, and tobacco he evidently 
disliked, since his cash-book only records for it an expenditure of a single 
tenpence. Yet he liked the simple luxuries of the country, and writes to 
his steward, James Harrison, to "send some two or three sn<oked 
haunches of venison and pork — get them of the Swedes ; also some 
smoked shadds and beef ; — the old priest at Philadelphia had rare 
shadds." 

He was " given to hospitality, and not forgetful to entertain strangers," 
and to have them entertained during his absence. To show the respect 
" which even Quakers of those days were accustomed to pay to rank and 

70 



554 PHILADELPHIA COUNTY. 

station " Mr. Fisher quotes the following from James Logan's letter to 
Penn, of June, 1702. 

" He (Lord Cornbury, governor of New Jersey, then at Burlington) expressed a willingness to 
give our province a visit, and therefore had an invitation on Second Day morning. I hastened 
down to make provision, and in a few hours' time had a very handsome dinner, really equal, they 
say, to any thing he had seen in America. (The cash book informs us that the dinner cost £H} 
Is. 8d.) At night he was invited to Edward Shippen's, where he lodged, and dined to-day with 
all his company, near thirty in number. He has just now gone off in the barge, very, handsome- 
ly attended, expressing a great satisfaction in the place, and the decency of his entertainment in 
all its parts." 

But with all his official dignity, Wm. Penn loved, as an individual, to 
unbend himself occasionally from the restraints of public life, and indulge 
in rural sports. The following extracts from Mr. Fisher's Memoir on the 
private life of Wm. Penn, from which the above facts have been gathered, 
exhibit beautiful traits in his character : 

With his family he had occasionally other recreations — in attending a fair, or an Indian canti- 
co, of both which the cash-book gives evidence. We have frequent mention of his visits to 
the Indians, which gave him an opportunity to study their character ; and he conciliated their 
favor by partaking of tlieir feasts and witnessing their dances. A respectable old lady, the grand- 
mother of Samuel Preston, related, that in his desire to gain the good-will of the aborigines, " he 
walked with them, sat with them on the ground, and ate with them their roasted acorns and 
hominy. At this they expressed their great delight, and soon began to show how they could hop 
and jump ; at which exhibition Wm. Penn, to cap the climax, sprang up and beat them all." I 
should be loth to doubt the accuracy of the old lady's memory ; for is it not a delightful thought 
that our good founder, — so grave and dignified on solemn occasions, — in the playful joyousness 
of a good heart, could thus o'erstep the bounds of ceremony, lay aside his gravity, and join 
heartily in the innocent sports of the kind and peaceful Lenni-Lennape ? 

Of his liberality and charity, his cash-book bears the most gratifying evidence. His daily 
movements may be traced by some act of benevolence recorded there. Among his own beauti- 
ful maxims we find, " The saying is, that he who gives to the poor lends to the Lord ; but it may 
be said, not improperly, the Lord lends to us to give to the poor. They are, at least, partners by 
Providence with you, and have a right you must not defraud them of." 

During his last visit, Wm. Penn's town residence was the " Old Slate [roof] House," still 
standing in Second-st., opposite to the Bank of Pennsylvania. But he was chiefly at his manor, 
house of Pennsbury. At his manor of Springetsbury, which covered the larger part of Penn 
township, he had no mansion. The villa to the north of Bush hill, of which we may all recol- 
lect the stables, green-house, and shrubbery, was built by his son Thomas, about a century ago ; 
but on the same estate, to the northward, a vineyard was planted by his directions, which gave 
its name to the estate now covered by the village of Francisville, — though, according to old 
draughts, an eminence near the Schuylkill (perhaps on the site of Pratt's garden) is denominated 
" Old Vineyard hill." There he estabhshed a person skilled in the culture of the vine, (Andrew 
Doze,) whom he had sent for from France, and supported at considerable expense — having much 
at heart the making of wine in his province. Whether he long persisted in the experiment I can- 
not tell ; it was, however, it seems probable, abandoned at farthest at his second visit in 1699, 
and is only one of many examples to prove that, in this country, wine is not to be expected from 
foreign grapes. Thus was his mind, (while in England,) amid the tumults of parties and the 
whirlwind of revolution, occupied about the advancement of agriculture in his colony. Most of 
the emigrants were husbandmen, and he esteemed it their happiness. " The country, says he, 
is the philosopher's garden and library, in which he reads and contemplates the power, wisdom, 
and goodness of God. It is his food as well as study, and gives him life as well as learning." 
And in his parting instructions to his wife he enjoins, " Let my children be husbandmen and 
housewives : it is industrious, healthy, honest, and of good report. This leads to consider the 
works of God, and diverts the mind from being taken up with the vain arts and inventions of a 
luxurious world. Of cities and towns of concourse beware. The world is apt to stick close to 
those who have hved and got wealth there. A country Ufe and estate I love best for my chil. 
dren." 

That part of the life of Wm. Penn more intimately connected with the 
establishment and progress of his province, has been narrated in the Out- 
line History, and in other parts of this work. The following succinct 
sketches from Lempriere's Biographical Dictionary will show the more 



PHILADELPHIA COUNTY. 555 

important events of his early life, and of his useful public career in 
Europe : 

Sir Wm. Penh, a native of Bristol, was distinguished in the British navy as an able admiral. He 
Was commander of the fleet in the reduction of Jamaica in 1655 by Venables, but he lost for a 
time the good opinion of the protector, who confined him in the Tower for absenting himself 
from the American station without leave. He was member for Weymouth, and after the restora- 
tion he obtained a high command under the Duke of York, and greatly contributed to the defeat 
of the Dutch fleet, 1664. He was knighted by Charles II. for his services, and died at his house, 
Wanstead, Essex, 1670, aged 49. 

William Penn, the celebrated Quaker, son of the above, was bom in London, 1644. From a 
private school at Chigwell, Essex, he entered in 1660 as a gentleman commoner at Christ-church, 
Oxford ; but as he withdrew from the national forms of worship with other students, who, Hke 
himself, had listened to the preaching of Thomas Loe, a Quaker of eminence, he was fined for 
non-conformity, and the next year, as he pertinaciously adhered to his opinions, he was expelled 
from the college. This disgrace did not promote his comfort. His father considered his singu- 
larly sober and serious conduct as tending to impede his elevation to the favors of the licentious 
court ; and therefore, after being, as he says, whipped and beaten, he was turned out of doors, 
1662. His father, however, sent him to France, and on his return he entered at Lincon's-inn as 
a law student. In 1666 he was sent to manage an estate in Ireland ; and during his residence 
there he renewed his acquaintance with Loe, and showed such partiality to the Quakers, that he 
was, in those days of persecution, taken up at a meeting at Cork, and imprisoned by the mayor, 
who at last restored him to liberty at the request of Lord Orrery. His return to England pro- 
duced a violent altercation with his father, who wished him to abandon those singular habits, 
So offensive to decorum and established forms ; and when he refused to appear, uncovered before 
him and before the king, he a second time dismissed him from his protection and favor. In 1668 
he first appeared as a preacher and as an author among the Quakers ; and in consequence of 
some controversial dispute, he was sent to the Tower, where he remained in confinement for 7 
months. The passing of the conventicle act soon after, again sent him to prison in Newgate, — 
from which he was released by the interest of his father, who about this time was reconciled to 
him, and left him, on his decease some time after, a valuable estate of about i^l500 per anniun 
In 1672 he married Gulielma Maria Springett, a lady of principles similar to his own, and then 
fixed his residence at Rickmansworth, where he employed himself zealously in promoting the 
cause of the Friends by his preaching, as well as by his writings. In 1677 he went with George 
Fox and Robert Barclay to the continent on a religious excursion • and after visiting Amster- 
dam, and the other chief towns of Holland, they proceeded to the court of Princess Elizabeth, the 
granddaughter of James I., at Herwerden, or Herford, where they were received with great kind- 
ness and hospitality. Soon after his return to England Charles II. granted him — in considera- 
tion of the services of his father, and for a debt due to him from the crown — a province now de- 
nominated Pennsylvania. In 1682 Penn visited the province; and after two years' residence, 
and the satisfaction of witnessing and promoting the prosperity of the colonists, he returned to 
England. Soon after, Charles ll. died, and the acquaintance which Penn had with the new 
monarch was honorably used to protect the people of his persuasion. At the revolution, how- 
ever, he was suspected of treasonable correspondence with the exiled prince, and therefore ex- 
posed to molestation and persecution. In 1694 he lost his wife ; but though severely afflicted by 
the event, he in about two years married again, and afterwards employed himself in travelling 
in Ireland, and over England, in disseminating as a preacher the doctrines of his sect. He vis- 
ited in 1699 his province, with his wife and family, and returned to England in 1701. The sus- 
picion with which he had been regarded under William's government, ceased at the accession of 
Queen Anne, and the unyielding advocate of Quakerism was permitted to live with greater free- 
dom, and to fear persecution less. In 1710 he removed to Rushcomb, near Twyford, Berks, 
where he spent the rest of his life. Three repeated attacks of an apoplexy at last came to weak- 
en JUS faculties and his constitution ; and, after nearly losing all recollection of his former friends 
and associates, he expired 30th July, 1718, and was buried at Jordan, near Beaconsfield, Bucks. 

He published various works to advance and support his religious opinions, which were widely 
disseminated among the friends of his persuasion. The best known of these are No Cross, No 
Crown, to show that the denying of self and daily bearing the Cross of Christ is the only way to 
the kingdom of God — a Brief Account of the Rise and Progress of the People called Quakers — 
Primitive Christianity revived — Innocency with her Open Face, written in his vindication when 
confined in the Tower. 

On the next page is a view of the old " Slate-roof House," still stand- 
ing in very good preservation in Second-street, corner of Norris's alley, 
immediately opposite the Bank of Pennsylvania. It was originally built 
by Samuel Carpenter, one of the old patriarchs, in the early days of the 



55f$ 



PHILADELPHIA COUNTY. 




Slate-roof House, Second-street. 

eity, probably for his own residence. Here Wm. Penn dwelt during his 
second visit in 1699-1701 ; and John Penn was born here — the only one 
of the family born in America. James Logan, his secretary, occupied it 
after Wm. Penn's departure. Here it was that Lord Cornbury was so 
magnificently entertained, as above described. It afterwards belonged to 
Wm. Trent, the founder of Trenton, who offered it in 1709 to Logan for 
a proprietary palace, at £900, about $3,000 ; but it was bought by Isaac 
Norris, a distinguished citizen and former speaker of the assembly, who 
devised it to his son Isaac, and it is still believed to be the property of 
one of the Norris family. It was used for many years as a fashionable 
boarding-house, and has probably received within its walls more distin- 
guished men than any house in town. Gen. Forbes, the conqueror of 
Fort Pitt, died here in 1759, worn out by the fatigues of his previous 
campaign, and was buried with a display of military pomp previously un- 
known in the city. Between 1764 and 1774, Mrs. Graydon kept her 
boarding-house here, and had the honor of entertaining many distinguish- 
ed foreigners and Americans, among whom were Baron De Kalb, Sir 
William Draper, John Adams, and others of less note, of whom her son, 
Capt. Alexander Graydon, the humorous annalist, has left many interest- 
ing sketches. He describes it as " a singular old-fashioned structure, laid 
out in the style of a fortification, with abundance of angles, both salient 
and re-entering. Its two wings projected to the street in the manner of 
bastions, to which the main building, retreating from 16 to 18 feet, served 
for a curtain. It had a spacious yard half-way to Front-street, and orna- 
mented with a double row of venerable, lofty pines, which afixirded a very 
agreeable rus in urhe." But alas, how changed ! — its military aspect has 
been partly efiaced by a low structure between the wings ; and the am- 
bitious mansion, once the pride of its owners, and the residence of pro 
prietaries, governors, generals, senators, and titled barons, is now per- 
forming the humble duty of a retail fruit-shop. 

The venerable Swedes Church is situated on Swanson-st., in Southwark. 
a short distance above the Navy-j^ard. It was erected in 1700 ; the wings 
or porches were added a few years afterwards ; and with some alterations 



PHILADELPHIA COUNTY. 



557 




Old Swedes Church at Southwark. 

in the interior, it is still in regular use by the Swedish congregation. A 
part of the materials, some of the foundation stones probably, it is said, 
were brought up from the older church on Tinicum island. 

The artist has been careful to delineate in the picture the railroad and 
the city lamp-post, as they now exist, by way of marking the contrast be- 
tween the different epochs. The street at this place has been cut down 
some five feet below the original surface. To the left of the church is 
seen a large horizontal tablet, which marks the grave of Wilson, the 
celebrated ornithologist. He died in Philadelphia, and requested that his 
remains might be deposited in some secluded spot, shaded with trees, 
where the birds might warble their sweet notes over his grave. The old 
churchyard at Radnor, in Delaware co., would have been a more judicious 
selection to carry out his design. 

Several years before the arrival of Wm. Penn, the upper Swedish set- 
tlers had, by order of government, erected a blockhouse at Wicaco, (the 
Indian name of this neighborhood,) for defence against the Indians. As 
an attendance at Tinicum was very inconvenient, this blockhouse was 
converted into a church, the port-holes serving for windows, and Rev. Ja- 
cob Fabritius preached his first sermon there on Trinity Sunday, 1677. 
He continued to officiate for 14 years, though for 9 years he was entirely 
blind. The present church was founded under the ministry of Rev. An- 
drew Rudman. His parsonage was then at Point Breeze on the Schuyl- 
kill, and the opinions of his people being divided between that place and 
this for the site of the church, it was solemnly decided by lot, after fer- 
vent prayer. " Dissension at once ceased, and all joined in a cheerful 
hymn of praise." The church occupies precisely the site, and is very 
nearly of the same size as the old blockhouse church. At the time of 
Wm. Penn's arrival, who is said to have landed near this spot when he 



558 PHILADELPHIA COUNTY. 

came from Chester, the site of the blockhouse was a beautiful shaded knoll 
sloping gradually down to the river ; north of it, where Christian-st. is, 
was a little inlet, in which a shallop might ride ; and on the north side of 
the inlet was another pleasant knoll, on which was situated the primitive 
log-cabin of the three Swedish brothers, Sven, Oele, and Andries Swen- 
son, (since transformed to Swanson,) who sold to Penn the site of Phila- 
delphia, and who were besides at one time the owners of all that is now 
Southwark, Moyamensing, and Passyunk. They or their family present- 
ed to the Swedish congregation the land now occupied by the church, 
cemetery, and parsonage. It is said by antiquarians that these Swensons 
were the sons of Swen Schute, in whose favor Queen Christiana made 
the following grant : 

Stockholm, August 20, 1653. 
We Christiana, Sec, make known that by grace and favor, and in consideration of the good 
and important services which have been rendered to us and to the crown of Sweden, by our faith- 
ful subject the brave and courageous Lieutenant Swen Schute ; and further, because he has prom- 
ised so long as he shall live and his strength will permit him, he will remain faithful to us and the 
crown of Sweden ; we give and grant, by virtue of these letters patent, to himself, his wife, and 
to his heirs, a tract of country in New Sweden, viz. : Mockorhulteykyl, as far as the river, to- 
gether with the small island belonging thereto, viz., the island of Karinge and Kinsessing, com- 
prehending also Fassuming, [Passyunk] with all the commodities and other accessaries which 
belong thereto, to possess forever as an inviolable property. According to which let all whom it 
may concern regulate themselves, offering to the said Swen Schute, his wife and heirs, neither 
obstacle or hindrance of any kind whatsover, now or hereafter. In faith of which, &c. &.c. 
Given as above. CHRISTIANA. 

N. TUNGLK. 

The primitive cabin of the Swansons is said to have been built of 
logs, one and a half stories high, with a piazza all around it ; it stood 
fronting towards the river, about 30 feet north of Beck's alley near Swan- 
son-st. Large buttonwoods shaded the lawn in front of it, one of which 
yet remains near the gate of the present shipyard. The cabin was de- 
molished by the British during the revolution, and used for fuel. " Professor 
Kalm," says Mr. Watson, "visited it as a curiosity in 1748, and his de- 
scription of it is striking." 

" The wretched old Wooden building belonging to one of the sons of Sven (Sven's Soener,) is 
Btill preserved as a memorial of the once poor state of that place. Its antiquity gives it a kind 
of superiority over the other buildings in town — but it is ready to fall down, and in a few years 
to come, it will be as difficult to find the place where it stood, as it was unlikely, when built, that 
it should in a short time become the place of one of the greatest towns in America. Such as it 
was, it showed how they dwelt, when stags, elk, deer, and beavers ranged in broad daylight in 
the future streets and public places of Philadelphia. In that house was heard the sound of the 
spinning-wheel before the city was ever thought of." 

For the general history of the early Swedish colony the reader is re- 
ferred to the Outline History, and for many other details to Delaware 
and Montgomery counties. The following extracts are from the Swedish 
Annals, by Rev. J. C. Clay, the present rector of the church : 

Ministers of the Wicaco Church. 
Jacob Fabritius, who had been preaching for the Dutch in New York, preached his first sermon 
at Wicaco in 1677. He officiated for fourteen years, nine of which he was blind. He died about 
1692. Andrew Rudman was the founder of the present church. In 1702, he went to preach for 
the Dutch in New York; afterwards officiated at the Oxford church, near Frankford then in 
Christ Church, Philadelphia, where he died in 1708. Andrew Sandel arrived in 1702. Returned 
home in 1719. Jonas Lidman sent over in 1719. Recalled in 1730. The Rev. J. Eneberg took 
charge of the church during the vacancy. Gabriel Falk appointed rector in 1733. Deposed tho 
same year. John Dylander came over in 1737. He died honored and beloved in 1741. Ga. 
briel Nesman appointed rector in 1743. Returned home in 1750. Olof Parlin arrived in 1750 



PHILADELPHIA COUNTY. 569 

Died in 1757. Charles Magnus Wrangel came in 1759; returned in 1768; died in 1786. An. 
drew Gocranson sent over in 1766 ; became rector in 1768; officiated until the close of 1779; 
returned home in 1785 ; died in 1800. Matthias Hultgren commenced his official duties in 1780 ; 
recalled in 1786. Nicholas Collin, of Upsal, sent over in 1771 ; appointed to Wicaco in 1786; 
died 1831. Close of the Swedish mission. 

While Dr. Collin was rector he had for his first assistant the Rev. Joseph Clarkson, from 1787 
until 1792. The Rev. Slator Clay was appointed in 1792. Only a part of his time was given to 
the Swedes, for whom he continued to preach until the day of his death in 1821. 

[Rev. Joseph Turner, Rev. J. C. Clay, Rev. James Wiltbank, Rev. M. B. Roche, and Rev. 
Charles M. Dupuy, have also officiated as assistant ministers in the Swedish churches. Rev. 
J. C. Clay was appointed rector in 1831.] 

The Rev. Dr. Nicholas Collin, who had been for some time officiating at Swedesborough, in 
New Jersey, presided over these churches for a period of 45 years ; in which time he married 
.3,375 couple, averaging about 84 couple a year. In the early part of his ministry it averaged 
nmch more than this. The number of couple married by him in 1795 was 199, and in the fol- 
lowing year 179. 

Dr. Collin, during the whole period of his ministry, was held in high respect by his congrega- 
tions. He possessed considerable learning, particularly in an acquaintance with languages. The 
only work which he has left behind him, is a manuscript translation of Acrelius' History of New 
Sweden, which he undertook in 1799, at the request of the Historical Society of New York, in 
whose possession it now is. He was a member, and for some time one of the vice-presidents of 
the American Philosophical Society ; and was also one of the eighteen founders of the Society 
" for the commemoration of the landing of Wm. Penn." He died at Wicaco on the 7th of Oct. 
A. D., 1831, in the 87th year of his age. 

The orthography of many of the Swedish names has changed in the progress of time. Bengt- 
sen is now Bankson — Bonde has become Boon — Svenson, Swanson — Cock, Cox — Gostasson, 
Justis — Jonasson, Jones — Jocom, Yocum — HoUsten, Holstein — Kyn, Keen — Hoppman, Hoff- 
man — Von Culen, Culin — Hailing, Hulings or Hewlings — Wihler, Wheeler, &.c. And so also 
of Christian names : Anders is now Andrew — Johan, John — Mats, Matthias — Carl, Charles — 
Bengt, Benedict — Nils, Nicholas — Staphan, Stephen — Wilhelm, and also Olave, became Wil- 
liam, &-C. 

It was nearly a century before the pleasant little hamlet of Wicaco 
grew into the populous suburb of Southwark, and eventually joined the 
city. The intermediate distance was for years an open range, or com- 
mon, called Society hill — a famous place for field-trainings and camp- 
meetings, and for children to stroll on a holiday. Aged people remember 
a whortleberry-pasture at the site of the South Second-st. market. At 
the intersection of Pine and Front sts. was a prominent knoll, which took 
the name of Society hill, from the fact that the lots of the Society of 
Free Traders, when the city was laid out, extended between Spruce and 
Pine-st., entirely across from river to river. It was about the year 1767, 
that Joseph Wharton and others commenced improving this part of the 
city, by making a donation of lots for a market-house, school-houses, and 
churches, and advertising their lots for sale ; but little progress was made 
until after the revolution. Passing up Second-st., between Spruce and 
Dock St., we come to Wain's row, which now occupies the site of the 
splendid mansion of Edward Shippen, or Shippey, as he was familiarly 
called. The house and gardens occupied the square between Second and 
Third sts. Mr. Watson says — 

" This venerable edifice long bore the name of the Governor's House. It was built in the early 
rise of the city — received then the name of " Shippey's Great House ;" while Shippen himself 
was proverbially distinguished for three great things — the biggest person, the biggest house, and 
the biggest coach. It was, for many years after its construction, surrounded with rural beauty ; 
being originally on a small eminence, wittt a tall row of yellow-pines in its rear, a full orchard 
of fruit-trees close by, overlooking the rising city beyond Dock cr., and having in front a beauti- 
ful green lawn, gently sloping to the then pleasant Dock cr. and drawbridge, and the whole pros- 
pect unobstructed to the Delaware and the Jersey shore. It was indeed a princely place for that 
day, and caused the honest heart of Gabriel Thomas to overflow at its recollection, as he spoke 
of it in 1698 — 'Edward Shippey, who lives near the capital city, has an orchard and gardens 
adjoining to his great house, that equals any that I have ever seen ; being a very famous and 



560 PHILADELPfflA COUNTY. 

pleasant summer-house, erected in the middle of his garden, and abounding with tulips, carna- 
tions, roses, lilies, &c., with many wild plants of the country besides.' 

" Such was the place enjoyed by Edward Shippcn, the first mayor under the regular [city] char- 
ter, of the year 1700. Shippen was a Friend, from England, who had suffered ' for truth's and 
Friends' sake,' at Boston, by a public punishment, from the misguided rulers there. Possessing 
such a mansion, and the means to be hospitable, he made it the temporary residence of William 
Penn and his family, for about a month, when they arrived in 1699. About the year 1720, it 
was held by Gov. Keith ; and in 1756 it became the residence of Gov. Denny." 

Since we enjoy so extensive a prospect from " Shippey's Great House," 
let us contemplate for a moment the appearance of the rising city, in its 
early days. What is now Dock-st., well known as the only crooked street 
in the city proper, was originally a wide creek, which had its source in a 
swamp at the intersection of Market and Fourth sts., crossed Chestnut-st 
between Third and Fourth, at Hudson's alley, and entered Third-st. at 
the Girard Bank ; whence its course coincided with that of the present 
Dock-st. A small branch, now the site of Little Dock-st., extended south- 
westerly, towards the corner of Union and Third sts. The tides regularly 
flowed as far up as Chestnut-st., and the creek, as far up as Second-st., 
was navigable for sloops and schooners, and formed a much-valued har- 
bor for the early colonists. At first wooden bridges, and afterwards stone 
arches, w^ere thrown across the creek at the intersection of Market, Chest- 
nut, Third, and Second sts. ; and at Front-st. there was a drawbridge for 
the passage of vessels, which has left its name to the open area now at 
that place. There was a fine dry beach on the north side, from Front-st. 
to the river, which was used as the early landing-place. Wharves were 
erected along the creek, and the houses of the early city were clustered 
along its banks. In later days, the swamps along its shores became a 
nuisance, and the sides of the creek were walled. It was eventually pre- 
sented, by the eminent physicians and others, as noxious to the health of 
the city. The centre of the creek was entirely arched over, in 1784, and 
the sides filled up with earth. 

On the north side of the creek, and the upper side of Front-st., George 
Guest built the first house, which became celebrated afterwards as the 
Blue Anchor Tavern. Other houses soon rose by the side of it, and the 
cluster became known as " Budd's Row." Near the intersection of Third 
and Chestnut was a cluster of houses, consisting of Clarke's Hall, a splen- 
did mansion on Chestnut, between Third and Hudson's alley, with beau- 
tiful gardens extending down Third-st. to Dock cr. ; on the northeast cor- 
ner was the mansion of Gov. Lloyd, and near the southeast corner that 
of William Hudson, once the mayor. Above these, on Chestnut-st., where 
it crossed the creek, was another cluster, of which the most splendid was 
the mansion of David Breintnal, an early Friend, occupying the site of 
the present 115 Chestnut-st. It became afterwards the residence of An- 
thony Benezet, a Frenchman, originally a Huguenot, and afterwards a 
Quaker, distinguished for his benevolence, and for his early opposition to 
slavery. To such an extent did Benezet carry his good-will to every 
living creature, that, as Mr. Watson tells us, he regularly fed the rats in 
his yard, to keep them from stealing ! Above these, where is now the 
Arcade, was the splendid country seat of Joshua Carpenter, occupying, 
with its grounds, that whole square, back to Market-st. 

Continuing our course northward, we find the " Slate-roof House" and 
the Letitia House, already mentioned ; and as early as 1702, Charles 



PHILADELPHIA COUNTY. 56 . 

Reed had built what afterwards became the London CofTee-house, on the 
corner of Front and Market streets. A few doors further up Market-st., in 
Franklin's time, was his printing-office ; and at Second-st. was the Friends' 
Meeting ; near it, in Market-st., the old courthouse, and the prison ; and 
afterwards another prison at the corner of Third and Market. Far out 
Market-st., at Centre-square, in a lonely spot in the forest, stood the first 
Friends' Meeting — "a large plain brick building," erected in 1685; but 
it was too far for convenient use, and was eventually deserted, and went 
to ruin. Passing up Second-st. we come to Christ Church ; and then de- 
scending to Front-st. we find an immense stone arch, thrown over Mul- 
berry-st., (here very low ground,) which has perpetuated its memory in 
the familiar name of Arch-st., a name that no official usages or enact- 
ments have been able to efface.* The arch was taken away about the 
year 1721. Here, on the northeast corner, as Gabriel Thomas tells us, 
stood " Robert Turner's great and famous house, where are built ships of 
considerable burden — they cart their goods from that wharf into the city, 
under an arch, over which part of the street is built." Turner must have 
been rich, for he had built here two three-story houses, and several 
smaller ones, all of brick, as early as 1685. 

Further up Front-st., above Arch, we come to the " Friends' Bank 
Meeting-house," built in 1685, and intended for evening meetings; and 
crossing Sassafras-st., always called Race-st., from the fact of its having 
formerly been a race-course, we arrive at the foot of Vine-st., where was 
an excellent public landing-place, and near it the " Penny Pot-house," a 
famous tavern. Near this, in a cave in the bank, such as the early set- 
tlers made for themselves, was born John Key, the first native of Phila- 
delphia. Vine-st. was the northern limit of the city. Beyond it, above 
the intersection of Front and Green streets, stood the " big brick house" of 
Daniel Pegg, in the midst of meadows that were watered by Pegg's run ; 
and still further up the river were Fairman's mansion, and the Treaty- 
tree. — Such was the city, during the first half century of its existence. 

Christ Church, a stately but antiquated edifice, is situated on Second-st., 
between Market and Arch. In the early days of the province, about the 
year 1795, a small one-story church was erected, and the congregation 
was assembled at the sound of a bell which hung in the crotch of a tree 
— the same bell was afterwards in St. Peter's church in Pine-st. The 
present church was erected around and outside of the old one, while the 
congregation still worshipped there. Annalists differ as to the date of 
its erection, the two ends having been reared at different dates, between 
1727 and 1744. The steeple was erected in 1754, at a cost of £2,100, 
tne means having been raised by lottery. A set of eight chiming bells 
was at the same time placed in the steeple, which have long delighted 
the citizens of Philadelphia by ushering in the Sabbath morn with their 
cheerful tones. These bells were taken down by the Americans during 
the revolution, to conceal them from the British, and were returned to 
their place after the peace. 

Rev. Mr. Clayton appears to have been the first Episcopal minister in the city. Among the 
more eminent of those who succeeded him were — the Rev. Evan Evans, a Welshman, who came 

* The Philadelphians have two names for several of their streets. Market-st. is known, in all 
official records, as High-st. ; Arch-st. as Mulberry-st. ; Race-st. as Sassafras-st. ; South-st. as 
Cedar-st. 

71 



563 



PHILADELPHIA COUNTY. 




Christ Church, Second-street. 

over about the year 1698 or 1700 as a missionary to the churches in Pennsylvania. He rendered 
very efficient services not only to Christ Church, but to the infant Welsh churches at Oxford, 
Evansburg, on Perkiomen cr., Radnor, Concord, Chichester, &c. He went to Maryland in 1718, 
and was succeeded by Rev. Mr. Vicary, Rev. Mr. Cummings, from 1726 to 1740, Rev. Mr. 
Ross, Rev. Robert Jenney, 1742 to 1762, under whom St. Peter's church was organized. Rev. 
Richard Peters, formerly secretary to the proprietary government, succeeded him, and the Rev. 
Wm. White took charge in 1772. Rev. Jacob Duche, a native of Philadelphia, but educated 
for the ministry in London, was appointed assistant minister in 1759, and was afterwards pastor 
of St. Peter's. Duche was a popular man, and for a short time officiated as Chaplain to Con- 
gress, but he afterwards came out a decided tory, and in his zeal to make proselytes for the royal 
cause he commenced upon no less a personage than George Washington. The result of his efTorts 
was, that popular odium drove him into exile in England ; but he returned afterward and died in 
Philadelphia. 

The citizens of Philadelphia have been long familiar with the majestic and venerable form of 
Right Rev. Wm. White. He was born 24th March, 1747, O. S., (4th April, 1748, N. S.,) and 
was educated at the College, now the University of Pennsylvania. There was at that time no 
Episcopal bishop in America, and after completing his theological studies he was obliged to go 
to England in 1770 for holy orders, where he was ordained. He returned to Philadelphia, and 
officiated as assistant minister, until in 1779 he was appointed rector of Christ Church and St. 
Peter's. He was Chnplain to Congress during the revolution, an office which he accepted at a 
very critical period. ;ifter the British had entered Philadelphia. He took a prominent part in pro 
curing the erection of an American diocese after the revolution, and was elected, in Sept. 1786, 
Bishop of Pennsylvania. He was ordained in England, together with Bishop Provost of New 
York, amid the most august ceremonies, by the Archbishop of Canterbury, assisted by the Arch, 
bishop of York, and other dignitaries. Of the numerous important offices which he has held, 



PHILADELPHIA COUNTY 563 

of his commanding Influence in the Episcopal cliurch, of his fame as a theological writer, and 
of his high standing in the hearts of his fellow-citizens, it is unnecessary here to speak. He had 
consecrated every bishop of the United States, except Bishop Provost, up to the period of his last 
illness. Having " finished his course," he died as he had lived, in Christian calmness and se- 
renity, on the Sabbath, July 16th, 1836. 

The Presbyterians and Baptists commenced their career in Philadelphia 
together, in 1798, by meeting in the warehouse of the old " Barbadoes 
Trading Co." on the N. W. corner of Chestnut and Second streets, under 
the preaching of the Rev. John Watts, a Baptist clergyman. Soon after, 
Rev. Jedediah Andrews, a graduate of Harvard University, was called 
by the Presbyterians ; their partnership with the Baptists was dissolved, 
not very amicably ; and in 1704 the Presbyterians erected a frame-building 
on the south side of Market-st., between Second and Third streets — the 
first, and for many years the only Presbyterian church in the city. It was 
familiarly known as the " Old Buttonwood church," from trees of that 
kind near it. It remained nearly a century, was then rebuilt in modern 
style, and finally yielded to the encroachments of trade in 1820, when the 
congregation erected their present edifice on Washington square. This 
congregation was for many years under the ministry of Rev. James P.Wil- 
son, D. D., who died in 1831. Dr. Wilson was a man who added to ar- 
dent piety, a persuasive eloquence based upon deep research into elemen- 
tary principles, and rich treasures of varied and recondite learning : his 
personal influence was great throughout the church, but at the same time 
he possessed a catholic and charitable spirit. " He was," says Dr. Skin- 
ner, " among the worthiest of those ministers who, espousing no side in 
our debates about orthodoxy, are willing to let those debates proceed so 
long as they threaten no schism ; but when that danger is seen, throw in 
their influence, as a balance-wheel in a vast machine, whose movement 
without such a regulator would presently stop with a terrific crash." He 
was succeeded by Rev. Albert Barnes. 

The first Presbytery was organized in 1706. The church increased 
rapidly both in the city and province by the immigration of people from 
Scotland and Ireland. About the years 1733 to '39 a division sprung up 
between those who favored a more ardent style of preaching, higher evi- 
dence of personal piety in ministers, and " new measures" in the mode 
of making converts — and those who adhered to the ancient usages and 
forms of the Scotch Presbyterians. These parties were called Old Lights 
and New Lights. Of the latter party were the Tennents, the Blairs, Dr. 
Finley, Mr. Dickinson, Davenport, Rowland, Burr, Pierson, and others, 
who had been warmed by the preaching of Whitfield. This party, when 
they seceded in 1742, met for a time in Whitfield's College building in 
Fourth-street, but afterwards erected a large brick church on the N. W. 
corner of Arch and Third streets, which remained until within a few 
years past. This church once had a tall steeple, raised, like that of Christ 
Church, by means of a lottery. The leaders of the Old Light party were 
Rev. Francis Allison, Robert Cross, John Thompson, Cathcart, Craig, Adam 
Boyd, and others of Scotch-Irish origin. The two divisions eventually be- 
came united, and so remained until the lamentable and probably final 
division of 1838, into the Old School and New School divisions. It has 
been truly said, " there is nothing new under the sun :" divisions in 
churches of all kinds are certainly no novelty. Many are accustomed to 
think that the pamphlet literature of the day, and the trade of our rag- 



564 PHILADELPHIA COUNTY. 

ged newsboys is a modern invention ; and we laugh to see Puseyistn and 
Puseyite controversies hawked about the streets by the jip's worth in 
company with the latest novel : but such things were done in Philadel- 
phia eighty years ago. The following anecdote is derived — in substance,' 
but in our own language— from Dr. Miller's Life of Dr. Rogers : 

In 1760, Rev. Mr. McClenahan, who had been preaching in one of the Episcopal churches at 
Philadelphia, for some reason was in danger of being removed from his charge against his will. 
His ardent piety and peculiar style of preaching had rendered him very popular among the Pres- 
byterian!*, and much interest was excited in his favor. Eighteen of the Presbyterian ministers 
in the city and vicinity went so far as to write a letter to the Bishop of London interceding in 
his behalf, and requesting that he might be retained. The bishop, in his ofScial capacity, knew 
no such order as Presbyterian ministers, and of course took no notice of the letter. But it leak- 
ed into the English papers, and thence came to Philadelphia, where it produced explanations, 
satires, apologies, plain statements, vStc, usual on such occasions. The controversy became gen- 
erally known as " the case of the eighteen Presbyterian ministers." The pamphlets were hawk- 
ed about, as usual in that day, by the newsboys ; and when the price of the pamphlets had event- 
ually fallen very low, the shrill voices of the boys might be heard crying through the streets, 
*' Eighteen Presbyterian ministers for a groat .'" 

The Baptists — of whom nine individuals assembled in Philadelphia in 
1698, and "did coalesce into a church for the communion of saints, hav- 
ing the Rev. John Watts to their assistance" — after their expulsion from 
the old warehouse, worshipped awhile in Anthony Morris's brewhouse near 
the drawbridge, till 1707, when they removed, by the invitation of Geo. 
Keith's party of Quakers, to a house erected on the site of their present 
church in Second near Arch-st. Of the other sects, the Lutherans erected 
their first church in 1743, under the ministry of Rev. Henry M. Muhlen-^ 
berg, on Fifth-st. above Arch, at the corner of Appletree alley. Their 
large church on Fourth-st. was erected in 1772. The Dutch Reformed 
congregation, then under the charge of Rev. Michael Schlatter, from 
Holland, erected their first charch, of an octagon shape, on the site of 
the present one on Fourth near Race-st. The present edifice was built 
in 1762. During an unpleasant division in 1750, when two minis- 
ters were contending for the pulpit, Mr. Schlatter got into it on Saturday 
night and remained over until Sunday morning. The Roman Catholics 
erected their St. Joseph's chapel, an humble one-story edifice, in 1733, near 
Fourth-st, and south of Walnut-st. There had been Catholic service in 
private dwellings as early as 1707. The Moravians came about the year 
1738-40; their first church was erected in 1742, on Moravian alley, be- 
tween Arch and Race streets. The churches of the other sects were 
generally established subsequent to the year 1750. 

The ancient courthouse stood in the middle of Market-st., with its front 
on Second-st., until it was demolished, about ten years since. It was 
erected in 1707, and was then the pride of the city. Before its erection, 
there stood on- the same site a tall mast, from which the great town-bell 
announced the royal and provincial proclamations. Until the erection 
of the statehouse, in 1735, the colonial assemblies were held here, and 
the high courts of justice ; here the governors, Evans, Gookin, Keith, and 
Gordon, used to come in state to deliver their speeches, or to address the 
populace from the balcony. Here Isaac Norris presided, for many years, 
over the assembly, and David Lloyd, and Sir William Keith, (when ex- 
governor,) fomented their political feuds. Here too the excited crowd, at 
the elections, elbowed each other, as they passed up and down the stairs 
to vote ; and " on the adjacent ground," says Mr. Watson, " occurred the 



PHILADELPHIA COUNTY. 



565 




Old Courthouse. 

bloody election of 1742 — when the sailors, coopers, &c., combined to car- 
ry their candidates by exercise of oaken clubs, to the great terror and 
scandal of the good citizens — when some said Judge Allen set them on, 
and others that they were instigated by young Emlen ; but the point was 
gained, to drive the Norris partisans from the stairs, where, as they al- 
leged, they ' for years kept the place,' to the exclusion of other voters." 
Here too was displayed the legal talent of the early bar, by Lloyd, Her- 
set, Clark, and others ; and afterwards by John Ross, and And. Hamilton, 
who was an eminent lawyer. Here too, no doubt, Franklin began to 
make himself conspicuous in public life. Still another kind of eloquence 
was heard on the ground-floor, under the arch, where the northwest cor- 
ner was appropriated by the regular city auctioneer ; and the other part 
was used for a meal-market, and for the sale of stockings from German- 
town. It was from this balcony that Whitfield used to address ad- 
miring thousands, and his powerful voice was heard, on such occasions, 
even as far as the shipping in the river. 

On one of these occasions, in 1739, a little boy pressed as near to him as possible ; and, to tes- 
tify his respect, held a lantern for his accommodation. Soon after the sermon began, he became 
so deeply impressed and strongly agitated that he was scarcely able to stand ; the lantern fell 
from his hand, and was dashed in pieces. The impressions thus begun were confirmed and 
deepened, and resulted soon after, as he hoped, in the conversion of the little boy, who was a 
little more than twelve years of age. In the course of Mr. Whitfield's fifth visit to America, in 
1754, Rev. Mr. Rodgers, (then of St. Georges, Del., afterwards of the Brick church. New York,) 
was riding with him ; and asked him whether he recollected the occurrence of the little boy who 
was so much affected with his preaching as to let his lantern fall. Mr. Whitfield answered, " O 
yes ! I remember it well, and have often thought I would give almost any thing in my power to 
know who that little boy was, and what had become of him." Mr. Rodgers replied, " I am that 
little boy !" Mr. Whitfield, with tears of joy, started from his seat, took him in his arms, and 
remarked that he was the fourteenth person then in the ministry, whom he had discovered in the 
course of that visit to America, of whose hopeful conversion he had been the instrument. — Dr. 
Miller's Life of Dr. Rodgers. 



566 PHILADELPHIA COUNTY. 

Immediately opposite the courthouse, on the southwest corner of Mar- 
ket and Third streets, surrounded by a high brick wall, stood the " Great 
Meeting-house" of the Friends, originally built in 1695, rebuilt in 1755, 
and crowded out, by the course of trade, in 1808. In the middle of Mar- 
ket-st., below Third-st., stood the first city prison, with its watch-box, and 
stocks for the legs of culprits. The area around the courthouse was the 
principal scene of gathering on the occasion of the threatened descent 
of the " Paxton boys," in 1764. Alexander Graydon thus humorously de- 
scribes it : — 

The unpunished and even applauded massacre of certain Indians, at Lancaster, who, ih the 
jail of that town, had vainly flattered themselves that they possessed an asylum, had so encour- 
aged their murderers, who called themselves Paxton boys, that they threatened to perpetrate the 
like enormity upon a number of other Indians, under the protection of government, in the me- 
tropolis. To the credit, however, of the Philadelphians, every possible effort was made to frus- 
trate the inhuman design of the banditti ; and the Quakers, as well as others, who had proper 
feelings on the occasion, exerted themselves for the protection of the terrified Indians, who were 
shut up in the barracks, and for whose more immediate defence part of a British regiment of foot 
was stationed there. But the citadel, or place of arms, was in the very heart of the city, all 
around and within the old courthouse and Friends' meeting-house. Here stood the artillery, un- 
der the command of Capt. Loxlcy, a very honest, though little dingy-looking man, with regi- 
mentals considerably war-worn, or tarnished — a very salamander, or fire-drake, in the public es- 
timation, whose vital air was deemed the fume of sulphurous explosion, and who, by whatever 
means he had acquired his science, was always put foremost when great guns were in question. 
Here it was that the grand stand was to be made against the approaching invaders, who, if ru- 
mor might be credited, had now extended their murderous purposes beyond the savages, to their 
patrons and abettors. In this state of consternation and dismay, all business was laid aside, for 
the more important occupation of arms. Drums, colors, rusty halberts, and bayonets, were 
brought forth from their lurking-places ; and as every good citizen, who had a sword, had girded 
it to his thigh, so every one who had a gun had placed it on his shoulder. 

The benign influence of this ill-wind was sensibly felt by us schoolboys. The dreaded event 
was overbalanced in our minds by the holidays which were the eflect of it ; and, so far as I can 
recall my feelings on the occasion, they very much preponderated on the side of hilarity. 

As the defensive army was without eyes, it had, of course, no better information than such as 
common bruit could supply ; and hence many untoward consequences ensued. One was the near 
extinction of a troop of mounted butchers, from Germantown, who, scampering down Market-st. 
with the best intentions in the world, were announced as the Paxton boys, and by this mistake 
very narrowly escaped a greeting from the rude throats of Capt. Loxley's artillery. The word 
FIRE was already quivering on his lips, but something suppressed it. Another emanation from 
this unmilitary defect of vision was the curious order, that every householder in Market-st. should 
affix one or more candles at his door, before daylight, on the morning of the day on which, from 
some sufHcient reason no doubt, it had been elicited that the enemy would full surely make his 
attack, and by no other than this identical route, on the citadel. The decree was religiously 
complied with. This I can affirm, from the circumstance of having resided in Market-st. at the 
time. The sage precaution, however, proved superfluous, although, with respect merely to the 
nearness of the redoubted invaders, there was color for it. It was soon ascertained that they had 
reached Germantown, and a deputation of the least obnoxious citizens, with the olive-branch, 
was sent out to meet them. After a parley of some days, an armistice was agreed upon, and 
peace at length so effectually restored, tliat the formidable stragglers, who had excited so much 
terror, were permitted, as friends, to enter the city. 

Party spirit, at this time, ran very high, and the Paxton men were not without a number of 
clamorous advocates, who entirely justified them, on the score of their sufferings from the savages, 
who, during the war, had made incursions upon them, and murdered their kindred and friends ; 
and whether the Paxton men were " more sinned against than sinning" was a question which 
was agitated with so much ardor and acrimony, that even the schoolbo3's became warmly en- 
gaged in the contest. There was much political scribbling on this occasion ; and, among the 
pamphleteers of the day, Doct. Franklin drew his pen in behalf of the Indians, giving a very 
affecting narrative of the transaction at Lancaster, which no doubt had its effect in regulating 
public opinion, and thereby putting a stop to the further violence that was meditated. 

The Hall of Independence, still standing on Chestnut-street, between 
Fifth and Sixth, is an object of veneration to every American. It was 
commenced in 1729, and completed in 1734, having been designed for the 



PHILADELPHIA COUNTY. 



567 




Old State House, or Independence Hall. 

use of the provincial assemblies ; and the long hall formerly in the upper 
story was often used for grand official banquets given to governors, dis- 
tinguished strangers, and generals, and to the members of the first Con- 
gress when they arrived in 1774. It was originally decorated with a 
stately steeple, which was taken down in 1774, on account of decay, and 
only a small belfry was left to cover the bell until the year 1828, when 
the present steeple was erected as nearly like the ancient one as circum- 
stances would permit. The ancient bell, now used for the clock, is re- 
markable for its prophetic inscription. A bell was imported from Eng- 
land in 1752, but having been cracked on its first ringing, it was recast 
in Philadelphia by Pass and Stowe, under the direction of Isaac Norris, 
then speaker of the assembly. It was undoubtedly at his suggestion that 
the famous inscription, " Proclaim liberty throughout the land, and to 
ALL THE PEOPLE THEREOF," was placed upoii it : this was nearly a quarter 
of a century before the independence of the colonies was dreamed of; 
yet when the Declaration was signed on the 4th July, 1776, this very bell 
was the first, by its merry peal, to "proclaim liberty throughout the land." 
Previous to the late visit of Gen. Lafayette, some dunce in office, who 
had control of the building, by way of making the room where the Dec- 
laration took place more worthy, as he thought, of the nation's guest, for 
whose use the councils had appropriated it, had all the antique architec- 
tural decorations and furniture of the room removed, and caused it to be 
fitted up in modern style, with new mahogany furniture, tapestry, &c. 
This silly act was not discovered until too late, and it greatly diminished 
the pleasing associations that must have thronged the heart of Lafayette, 
as he stood once more in that sacred hall. The error has been since re- 
paired, so far as it could be, by restoring the hall as far as possible to its 
ancient appearance. The Declaration of Independence was signed in 
the lower hall, on the left of the principal entrance, as seen in the view. 



568 PHILADELPHIA COUNTY. 

Wliile Congress was sitting in the lower hall, that in the second story 
was occupied by the provincial convention of Pennsylvania. The upper 
story is at present used by tiie District Court of the United States ; the 
lower room on the right ol' the entrance lor one of the city courts. The 
wings, containing the county ollices, are of modern origin. 

Notwithstanding tlio jealousy tliat hud always existed in tlie colonies against tlie sliglitost in- 
frinijeinent upon their constitutional liberties, yet tiie question of an absolute sei)aration from 
tJreat Hritaiu had been scared}' entertained by any even of the wliigs up to tlic very coninience- 
nient of tlie year ITTti. A few profound political philosophers, indeed, ami more in England than 
here, had perhaps foreseen such an event : but Jay, Adams. Franklin, JetVersou, Washington, and 
inanyothers, concur in the()j)inion tiiat no se})aration wasinteniieii.or thouglit of, at the commence- 
ment of the war. Mr. Pratt, afterwards Lord Camden, said to Dr. Franklin in England, " For 
all what you Americans say of your loyalty, 1 know you will one day throw otiyour dependence 
upon this country : and notwithstanding your boasted atVectiou for it, will set up for independ- 
ence." p'ranklin replied, '* No such idea is entertained in the mind of Americans ; and no sucli 
idea will ever enter their heads unless you grossly abuse tliem." It is necessary to consider the 
general prevalence of this opinion to estimate the boldness of the step taken by the patriots of 
the Declaration. 

In July. 177a, a petition and address to the king had been drawn up by Mr. Jefferson, and pre- 
sented to Congress, but lie says " it was too strong for Mr. Dickinson" — (the author of the 
•' Farmer's Letters," and delegate from Pennsylvania.) Congress allowed Mr. Dickinson so far 
to modify Jefferson's draught, tluit only four and a half of its original paragraphs remained, and 
so passed it, although J etl'erson says, " tlie disgust against its humility was general.'" Mr. Dick- 
inson, quite elated at tlie success of his measure, said — "There is but one word, Mr. President, 
in tlie paper which I disaj)prove, and that is the word Con stress.-' On which Benj. Harrison 
(father of the late Pri-sident') rose and said, " There is but one word in the paper, I\Ir. President, 
of which [ approve, and tliat is the word Congce.w.'' This petition was taken to England by 
Richanl Peiiii, formerly governor of the province, who in Nov. 1775, was examined before the 
House of Lords, and stated in reply to their inquiries whether the war was intended to establish 
an indvpendeiit empire, " I think they do not carry on this war for imlepeiidciiey. I never heard 
them breathe sentiments of that nature." " For wliat purpose, then .'" he was asked. '' In de- 
fence of their liberties," was his reply. 

The following passages are extracted from a memoir recently publish- 
ed in the Magnolia, a southern magazine, by Wm. Bacon Stevens, Esq., 
of Georgia: 

The remarks above made as to tlic drawing up of the petition to tiie king by Dickinson, and 
" the general disgust felt tirst" by the members, reconcile the aiiparent insincerity of Mr. Adams 
in writing letters full of independence to his wife and James Warren, only a fortnight after the 
signing the above last act of fealt_y to his sovereign ; and which, being intercepted, were laid be- 
fore the king alongside of the petition, each giving the lie to tlie contents of the other, and puz- 
zling both the king and the ministers by their contrariety. Indeed, after the battles of Concord 
and Lexington, wliich happened nearly two m>inths before tlie passage of Mr. Dickinson's peti- 
tion, the feeling of independency rapidly gained ground, and soon became openly declared. 

On the l;'>tli May. 177t), a resolution was ju-oposed to and adopted by Congress, declaring, that 
"whereas the government of Creat Britain hail excluded the United Colonies from the crown, it 
was therefore irreconcilable to reason and good conscience for the people to continue their alle- 
giance to the crown ; and they accordingly recommended tiie several colonies to establish inde- 
pendent governments of their own." The same day Col. Archibald Cary introduced a resolution 
into the Virginia Convention, which was assembled at Williamsburgh, on the Uth of I\lay, in- 
structing their delegates in t^ougress to propose to them to tleciare tiie colonies independent of 
(Jrcat Britain. 'Phis coincidenee, it has been saiil. was brought about by the contrivance of Jef- 
ferson, who designed it for popular etVect. Accordingly, on Friday tlie 7th June, 177t>, Richard 
Henry Lee, the oldest of the delegation, in accordance with the instructions of the Virginia Con- 
vention, moved " that the Congress should declare that these United Colonies are, and of right 
ought to be, free and independent states ; that they are absolved from all allegiance to the Brit- 
ish crown, and that all the political connection between them and the State of Great Britain is, 
and ought to be, totally dissolved ; that measures should be immediately taken to procure the 
assistance of foreign powers, and u confederation be formed to bind tlie colonies more closely 
together." 

This motion was seconded by John Adams, of Massachusetts, and the next day, Saturday the 
8th, at It) o'clock, A. M., was appointed for considering it. On that day the House resolved it- 
self into a committee of the whole, and spent the remainder of that day and Monday tiie lOtli, 



PHILADELPHIA COUNTY. 569 

in deliberating upon the question. The principal advocates of the proposition were John Adams, 
Samuel Adams, Richard Henry Lee, (ieorge Wythe, and Thomas Jefterson ; and the principal 
opponents of the measure were, Messrs. Dickinson and Wilson, of Pennsylvania, Robert R. Liv- 
ing^ston, of New York, and Edward Rutledf^c, of South Carolina. 

[The debate was, as may well be conceived, of intense interest ; but tiie abstract of it, as given 
by Jefferson, is too long for insertion here. The principal arguments of the opponents were not 
urged against independence itself, but against the policy of declaring it then ; they urged espe- 
cially that " the people of the middle colonies (Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania, the Jerseys, 
and New York) were not yet ripe for bidding adieu to British connection, but that they were fast 
ripening, and in a short time would join in the general voice." But more cogent arguments were 
urged by the advocates for immediate declaration ; and they were the majority, and had resolved 
that, living or dying, they would be independent.] 

On the 10th June, Mr. Lee, having been informed of the dangerous illness of his wife, obtain, 
cd leave of absence from Congress, and returned home. The members, alter sotrie debate on the 
order of the day, postponed the further consideration of the subj(!ct to the 1st JMly. in order that 
the incipient feelings of independence of the colonies of New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, 
Delaware, Maryland, and South Carolina, might be fully matured and ijnderstood. A commit- 
tee was, however, appointed to draw up m the interim a Declaration of Independence, and report 
the same to the House. That committee consisted of John Adams, of Mass., Benj. Franklin, of 
Penn., Roger Sherman, of Conn., Robert R. Livingston, of New York, and Thomas Jefferson, 
of Virginia. The preparation of this important paper was confided to Mr. Jefferson. Having 
written what he thought a proper Declaration, he submitted it to the committee, wlio suggested 
several minor alterations. Jefferson then made two fair copies of the Declaration as revised by 
the committee ; one for Richard Henry Lee, who did not return to Congress till August, and the 
other to be presented as the report of the committee. This last was presented to the House on 
Friday, the 28th June, by Benjamin Harrison, (father of the late President,) and, after being 
read, was ordered to lie on the table. For the subsequent proceedings we again recur to the au- 
thentic notes of Jefferson : 

"On Monday, the 1st July, the House resolved itself into a committee of the whole, and re- 
Bumed the consideration of the original motion made by the delegates of Virginia, which, being 
again debated through the day, was carried in the affirmative by the votes of New Hampshire, 
Connecticut, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New Jersey, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, 
and Georgia. South Carolina and Pennsylvania voted against it. Delaware had but two mem- 
bers present, and they were divided. The delegates from New York declared they were for it 
themselves, and were assured their constituents were for it ; but that their instructions having been 
drawn a twelvemonth before, when reconciliation was still the general object, they were enjoined 
by them to do nothing which should impede tiiat object. They, therefore, thought themselvea 
not justifiable in voting on either side, and asked leave to withdraw from the question, which was 
given them. The committee rose, and reported their resolution to the House. Mr. Rutledge, of 
fSouth Carolina, then requested the determination might be put off to the next day, as he believed 
his colleagues, though they disapproved of the resolution, would then join it for the sake of una« 
nimity. The ultimate question, whether tlie House would agree to the resolution of the commit- 
iee, was accordingly postponed to the next day, when it was again moved, and South Carolina 
concurred in voting for it. In the mean time a third member had come post from tlie Delaware 
counties, and turned the vote of that colony in favor of the resolution. Members of a different 
sentiment attending that morning from Pennsylvania also, her vote was changed ; so that the 
whole twelve colonics, who were authorized to vote at all, gave their votes for it : and within a 
few days (July 9th) the convention of New York approved it, and thus supplied the void occa- 
sioned by the withdrawing of their delegates from the vote." [Be careful to observe that this 
vacillation and vote were on the original motion of the 7lh of June, by the Virginia delegates, 
that Congress should declare the colonies independent.] " Congress proceeded, the same day, to 
consider the Declaration of Independence, which had been reported and laid on the table the 
Friday preceding, and on Monday referred to a committee of the whole. The pusillanimous idea 
that we had friends in England worth keeping terms with, still haunted the minds of many. 
For this reason, those passages which conveyed censures on the people of England were struck 
out, lest they should give them offence. The debates having taken up the greater parts of the 
second, third, and fourth days of July, were, in the evening of the last, closed; the Declaration 
was reported by the committee, agreed to by the House, and signed by every member present 
except Mr. Dickinson." 

The fact that the names of several persons are affixed to that instrument, who were not in 
Congress when it passed, and took no part in the deliberations which produced it, is thus ex- 
plained by Jefferson : 

"The subsequent signatures of members who were not then present, and some of them not yet 
in office, is easily explained, if we observe who they were ; to wit, that they were of New York 
and Pennsylvania. New York did not sign until the 15th, because it was not until the 9th (fivo 
days after the general signature) that their convention authorized them to do so. The conven- 

72 



670 



PHILADELPHIA COUNTY. 




Rear of the State-house. 

tioh of Pennsylvania, learning that it had been signed by a majority only of their delegates, 
named a new delegation on the 20th, leaving out Mr. Dickinson, who had refused to sign, Wil- 
ling and Humphreys, who had withdrawn, reappointed the three members who had signed, Mor- 
ris, who had not been present, and five new ones, to wit. Rush, Clymer, Smith, Taylor, and 
Ross ; and Morris, and the five new members were permitted to sign, because it manifested the 
assent of their full delegation, and the express will of their convention, which might have been 
doubted on the former signature of the majority. Why the signature of Thornton, of New 
Hampshire, was permitted so late as the 4th November, I cannot now say ; but undoubtedly for 
some particular reason which we would find to have been good, had it been expressed. These 
were the only post signers ; and you see, sir, that there were solid reasons for receiving those of 
New York and Pennsylvania, and that this circumstance in nowise affects the faith of this de- 
claratory charter of our rights and the rights of man." 

The Declaration of Independence was received by all the colonies with satisfaction and joy. 
On the 8th of July it was publicly proclaimed in Philadelphia, amidst salvoes of artillery and 
salutes of the multitudes. 

" On the 8th July, Jefferson wrote to Mr. Lee as follows : ' I enclose you a copy of the Decla- 
ration of Independence, as agreed to by the House, and also as originally framed.' This was the 
second copy which he had made for Mr. Lee. Mr. Jefferson added, ' You will judge whether it 
is better or worse for critics.' On this suggestion of Mr. Jefferson, the comparison was made by 
Richard Henry Lee, and his brother, Arthur Lee, who drew a black line upon the original draught 
proposed by the committee under every part rejected by Congress, and in the margin opposite 
placed the word out. This document, thus marked, is possessed by the American Philosophical 
Society. The form of declaration finally adopted and signed by the members of Congress, exists at 
Washington in the Department of State, but the originally proposed form has not been found, 
from which circumstance the document in possession of the society has become the sole original 
draught." 

We close this long, but hope not uninteresting narrative, by quoting part ofa letter from 
John Adams, whom Jefferson termed " the main pillar of the support of the Declaration of In- 
dependence on the floor of Congress," to his wife, dated July 5, 1776 : 

" The 4th of July, 1776," says he, " will be a memorable epoch in the history of America. I 
am apt to believe it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festi- 
vaL It ought to be commemorated as the day of deliverance, by solemn acts of devotion to 
Almighty God. It ought to be solemnized with pom*ps, shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bon- 
fires, and illuininations, from one end of the continent to the other, from this time forward for. 
ever. You will think me transported with enthusiasm, but I am not. I am well aware of the 
toil, and blood, and treasure, that it will cost to maintain this Declaration, and support and defend 
these states ; yet, through all the gloom, I can see the rays of hght and glory. I can see that 
the end is worth more than all the means ; and that posterity will triumph, although you and I 
may rue, which I hope we shall not." 

It was ascertained by Dr. Maese, in a correspondence with Mr. Jeffersoo, that the Deolaration 



PHILADELPHIA COUNTY. 



571 



bf Independence was written by him at his private lodgings " in the house of a Mr. Graaf, a 
new bricjt house, three stories high, of which" — says Mr. J. — " I rented the second floor, con- 
sisting of a parlor and bedroom ready furnished. In that parlor I wrote habitually, and in it 
Wrote this paper particularly." The house is on the southwest corner of Market and Seventh 
streets. 

The annexed view, copied from an old engraving, exhibits the rear of 
the State-house as it appeared at the time of the revolution, w^ith an 
enormous quaint clockcase at either end. For the beautiful elms that 
adorn this square We are indebted to the taste of Mr. Vaughan, father of 
the late John Vaughan, Esq., who caused them to be planted about the 
year 1682. It was here that, on the 8th July, 1776, the Declaration of 
Independence was first read by John Nixon, amid the repeated shouts of 
the people. The King's Arms in the court-room were taken down, and 
burnt in public ; and bonfires, discharges of cannon, and ringing of bells, 
demonstrated the joy of the people. 

In connection with the Hall of Independence should not be forgotten 
the former office of the Secretary of Foreign Affairs of the United States, 
— a narrow three-story brick building on the east side of Sixth-street, a 
few doors above Chestnut-street. It now belongs to Mr. Du Ponceau, 
who came out to this country as a captain under Baron Steuben, and af- 
terwards was employed as an under secretary in this same office. Here 
the great state papers of the revolution, that astonished the world, were 
drawn up, considered, and deposited. Here Robert R. Livingston offi- 
ciated as Secretary, and all the great men of the revolution came in and 
out familiarly ; and here, too, Mr. Du Pon9eau has often taken his break- 
fast of whortleberries and milk in company with Hon. Samuel Hunting- 
ton, the president of congress ; — frugal repast of revolutionary patriots ! 




Old London Coffee-house. 

The building for many years known as the London Coffee-house, and 
still standing at the S. W. corner of Front and Market streets, was erect- 
ed in 1701, by Charles Reed, and was first used as a coffee-house by Wil- 
liam Bradford, formerly printer, in 1754. The aspect of the lower story 



572 PHILADELPHIA COUNTY. 

is somewhat altered for modern use. Our artist has represented the an- 
cient pent-eaves with which it was evidently originally fitted ; though 
he has committed an anachronism, by representing the ancients of the 
cocked hat lounging on the benches, at the same moment that the mer- 
chants of modern times are busy in the adjoining tall granite-front com- 
mission stores of 1840 : this serves, however, more distinctly to mark the 
contrast. The pent-eaves were afterwards exchanged for a " large frame 
shed which covered the walk ; and here all the out-door public sales were 
held — and the horse-market twice a week ;" and here, too, says Mr. Wat- 
son, " Philadelphians once sold negro men, women, and children, as 
slaves !'' Here the politicians, wits, military officers, and merchants of 
the old French war, and of the revolution, used to meet and talk over the 
news. " We had," says an old writer, " in those days [of the revolution] 
a newspaper, published by Charles Town once a week, called the Eve- 
ning Post, — which Jemmy McCoy, an Irishman with one leg, used to sell 
through the streets — blowing a trumpet, and crying out, " Here's your 
bloody news ! here's your fine bloody news !" 

The winter of 1777-78, immediately following the battle of Brandy- 
wine, was memorable for the occupation of Philadelphia by the British 
army, under General Sir William Howe, accompanied by his brother, 
Lord Howe, who had command of the British fleet in the Delaware. The 
following extracts relating to the scenes of that winter, are from various 
sources : 

" The grenadiers, with Lord Cornwallis at their head, led the van when they entered the city. I 
went up to the front rank of the grenadiers when they had entered Second-street, when several of 
them addressed me thus, — " How do you do, young one ?" " How are you, my boy ?" — in a 
brotherly tone that seems still to vibrate on my ear ; then reached out their hands aild severally 
caught mine, and shook it — not with an exulting shake of conquerors, as I thought, but with a 
sympathizing one for the vanquished. The Hessians composed a part of the van-guard, and fol- 
lowed in the rear of the grenadiers. Their looks, to me, were terrific : their brass caps — their 
mustachios — their countenances, by nature morose — and their music, (that sounded better Eng- 
lish than they themselves could speak — plunder, plunder, plunder,) — gave a desponding, heart, 
breaking efTect, as I thought, to all ; to me it was dreadful beyond expression." — Watson's Corres. 

Recollections of the entry of the army, by a. lady. — We knew the enemy had landed at the 
head of Elk ; but of their procedure and movements we had but vague information — for none 
were left in the city in public employ, to whom expresses would be addressed. The day of the 
battle of Brandywine was one of deep anxiety. We heard the firing, and knew of an engage, 
ment between the armies, without expecting immediate information of the result, when towards 
night a horseman rode at full speed down Chestnut-street, and turned round Fourth to the Indian 
Queen public house. Many ran to hear what he had to tell ; and, as I remember, his account 
was pretty near the truth. He told of La Fa)'ette being wounded. 

The army marched in and took possession of the town in the morning. We were up stairs, 
and saw them pass to the State-house. They looked well, clean, and well-clad ; and the con- 
trast between them and our own poor barefooted and ragged troops, was very great, and caused 
a feeling of despair. It was a solemn and impressive day ; but I saw no exultation in the ene- 
my, nor, indeed, in those who were reckoned favorable to their success. Early in the afternoon 
Lord Cornwallis's suite arrived, and took possession of my mother's house. But my mother was 
appalled by the numerous train, and shrank from such inmates ; for a guard was mounted at the 
door, and the yard filled with soldiers and baggage of every description ; and I well remember 
what we thought of the haughty looks of Lord Rawdon, (afterwards the Marquis of Hastings,) 
and the other aid-de-camp, as they traversed the apartments. My mother desired to speak with 
Lord Cornwallis, and he attended her in the front parlor. She told him of her situation, and how 
impossible it would be for her to stay in her own house with such a numerous train as composed 
his lordship's establishment. He behaved with great politeness to her — said he should be sorry 
to give trouble, and would have other quarters looked out for him. They withdrew that very 
afternoon, and he was accommodated at Peter Reeve's, in Second, near to Spruce street ; and we 
felt very glad at the exemption. But it did not last long ; for, directly, the quarter-masters wen 
employed ill billeting the troops, and we had to find room for two officers of artillery, and after 
wards, in addition, for two gentlemen, secretaries of Lord Howe. 



PHILADELPHIA COUNTY. 57j 

The officers, very generally I believe, behaved with politeness to the inhabitants ; and many 
of them, upon goinjsf away, expressed their satisfaction that no injury to the city was contem- 
plated by their commander. They said that living among the inhabitants, and speaking the 
same language, made them uneasy at the thought of acting as enemies. 

At first, provisions were scarce and dear, and we had to live with much less abundance than 
we had been accustomed to. Hard money was, indeed, as difficult to come at as if it had never 
been taken from the mines, except with those who had things to sell for the use of the army. 

The day of the battle of Germantown, we heard the firing all day, but knew not the result* 
Towards evening they brought in the wounded. Tiie prisoners were carried to the state-house 
lobbies ; and the street was presently filled with women, taking lint and bandages, and every re- 
freshment which they thought their suffering countrymen might want. 

Gen, Howe, during the time he staid in Philadelphia, seized, and kept for his own use, Mary 
Pemberton's coach and horses — in which he used to ride about the town. The old officers ap- 
peared to be uneasy at his conduct, and some of them freely expressed their opinions. They 
said, that before his promotion to the chief command he sought for the counsels and company of 
officers of experience and merit ; but now, his companions were usually a set of boys — the most 
dissipated fellows in the army. 

Lord Howe was much more sedate and dignified than his brother, — really dignified — for he did 
not seem to affect any pomp or parade. 

They were exceedingly chagrined and surprised at the capture of Burgoyne, and at first would 
not suffer it to be mentioned. We had received undoubted intelligence of the fact, in a letter 
from Charles Thompson ; and upon communicating this circumstance to Henry Gurney, his in- 
terrogatories forced an acknowledgment from some of the superior officers that it was, as he said, 
" alas ! too true !" 

While the British remained, they held frequent plays at the Old Theatre — the performances by 
their officers. The scenes were painted by Major Andr^ and Capt. Delancy. They had also 
stated balls. — Letter from a Lady, in Watson's Annals. 

The Meschianza was a magnificent fete — a combination of the regatta, the tournament, the 
banquet, and the ball — given in honor of Gen. Howe, by his field-officers, on the occasion of hia 
departure for England, in May, 1778. The principal scenes were enacted at Mr. Wharton's 
Country-seat, in Southwark ; but a splendid spectacle was exhibited on the Delaware, by the 
procession of galleys and barges, which left the foot of Green-st., with the ladies, knights, Lord 
and Gen. Howe, Gen. Kniphausen, &c., on board, with banners and music. The British men- 
of-war, the Vigilant, the Roebuck, and the Fanny, lay in the stream opposite the city ; and the 
shores were crowded with British transport-ships, from which thousands of eager spectators 
watched the scene. Cheers and salutes of cannon greeted the procession. The principal actors 
in the pageant were the six Knights of the Blended Rose, splendidly arrayed in white and pink 
satin, with bonnets and nodding plumes, mounted on white steeds elegantly caparisoned, and at- 
tended by their squires. These knights were the champions of the Ladies of the Blended Rose, 
who were dressed in Turkish habits of rich white silk. To these were opposed the Knights of 
the Burning Mountain, dressed and mounted with equal splendor, and professing to defend the 
Ladies of the Burning Mountain. The names of the Ladies of the Blended Rose, as given by 
One of the actors in the pageant, were " Miss Auchmuty, [the daughter of a British officer,] Miss 
Peggy Chew, Miss Jenny Craig, Miss Williamina Bond, Miss Nancy White, and Miss Nancy 
Redman. The Ladies of the Burning Mountain, Miss Becky Franks, Miss Becky Bond, Miss 
Becky Redman, Miss Sally Chew, and Miss Williamina Smith" — only five ; but Maj. Andr^, in his 
account, gives it a little differently. In place of Miss Auchmuty, of the Blended Rose, he has 
Miss M. Shippen ; and in place of Miss Franks, of the Burning Mountain, he has Miss S. Ship, 
pen, and in addition Miss P. Shippen.* The challenge given by the Knights of the Blended 
Rose was, that " the Ladies of the Blended Rose excel in wit, beauty, and every other accom- 
plishment, all other ladies in the world ; and if any knight or knights should be so hardy as to 
deny this, they are determined to support their assertions by deeds of arms, agreeable to the laws 
of ancient chivalry." The challenge was of course accepted by the Knights of the Burning 
Mountain, and the tournament (not a real one, but a bloodless imitation) succeeded. After the 
tournament succeeded a grand triumphal procession, through an arch ; and then afte champetre, 
with dancing, supper, tfcc, enlivened by all the music of the army. Such were the scenes ex- 
hibited in Philadelphia, while the half-naked and half-starved officers and soldiers of the Amen 
can army were suffering on the hills of Valley Forge. The accomplished and unfortunate Maj. 
Andre was one of the knights, and was, besides, the Very life and soul of the occasion. He, 
with another officer, painted the scenery, and designed and sketched the dresses, both of the 
Knights and Ladies. One of these sketches, of a lady's dress, has been preserved by Mr. Wat- 
son, in the City Library. Where are now the lovely belles that figured in that brilliant pageant, 
and who " excelled all others in wit, beauty, and aCcomphshments ?" Sixty-five years have 

• See the two descriptions, at length, in Hazard's Register, vol. ivi, p. 100 ; and Vol. xiv., p. 295. 



514 PHILADELPHIA COUNTY. 

passed since the event ; and, if any are still living, they are the venerable aunts ahd grand* 
mothers of eighty and eighty-five! — Abridged fi-om Hazard's Register. 

" Even whig ladies went to the Meschianza, and to balls ; but I knew of very few instances 
of attachments formed, nor, with the exception of one instance, of any want of propriety in be- 
havior. When they left the city, [18th June, 1778,] the officers came to take leave of their ac- 
quaintance, and express their good wishes. It seemed to us that a considerable change had 
taken place, in their prospects of success, between the time of their entry and departure. They 
often spoke freely in conversation on these subjects. 

" The Hon. Cosmo Gordon staid all night at his quarters, and lay in bed so long, the next 
morning, that the family thought it but kind to waken him, and tell him 'his friends, the rebels,' 
Were in town. It was with great difficulty he procured a boat to put him over the Delaware. 
Perhaps he and his man were the last that embarked. Many soldiers hid themselves in cellars 
and other places, and staid behind — (I have heard.) In two hours after we saw the last of them, 
our own dragoons galloped down the street. 

" When our own troops took possession of the city. Gen. Arnold, then flushed with the recent 
capture of Burgoyne, was appointed to the command of it, and his quarters, (as if we had been 
conquered from an enemy,) appointed at Henry Gurncy's ! They were appalled at the circum- 
stance, but thought it prudent to make no resistance ; when, to their agreeable surprise, his polite- 
ness, and that of his aids, Maj. Franks and Capt. Clarkson, made the imposition set light, and 
in a few days he removed to Mrs. Master's house, in Market-st., that had been occupied as head- 
quarters by Gen. Howe — where he entered upon a style of living but ill according with republi.' 
can simplicity, giving sumptuous entertainments, that involved him in expenses and debt, and 
most probably laid tlie foundation, in his necessities and poverty, of his future deception and 
treason to his country. He married our Philadelphia Miss Shippen." — Lady, in Watson's Annals. 
" When the American army entered Philadelphia, in June, 1778, after the evacuation by the 
British troops, we were hard pressed for ammunition. We caused the whole city to be ransacked 
in search of cartridge-paper. At length I thought of the garrets, &c., of old printing-offices. 
In that once occupied as a lumber-room by Dr. Franklin, when a printer, a vast collection was 
discovered. Among the mass was more than a cart-body load of Sermons on Defensive War, 
preached by a famous Gilbert Tenant, during the old British and French war, to rouse the colo- 
nists to indispensable exertion. These appropriate manifestoes were instantly employed as cases 
for musket-eartridges, rapidly sent to the army, came most opportunely, and were fired away at 
the battle of Monmouth, against our retiring foe." — Garden's Revolutionary Anecdotes. 

In Jan. 1778, whilst the British troops were in possession of Philadelphia, some Americans, up 
the river Delaware, had formed a project of sending down, by the ebb-tide, a number of kegS 
charged with gunpowder, and furnished with machinery, so constructed that on the least touch 
of any thing obstructing their passage, they would immediately explode, with great force. The 
design was to injure the shipping, which lay at anchor opposite to the city, in such numbers that 
the kegs could not pass without encountering some of them. But, the very evening in which 
those machines were sent down, the first hard frost came on, and the shipping were hauled into 
the docks — so that the scheme failed. One of the kegs, however, happened to explode near the 
town. This gave a general alarm in the city — the wharves were filled with troops, and the 
greater part of a day spent in firing at every chip or stick that was seen floating on tlie river. 
For the kegs were sunk under water, nothing appearing on the surface but a small buoy. 

This circumstance gave occasion to the following publication, in the New Jersey Gazette : — • 

Extract of a Letter, dated Philadelphia, Jan. 9, 1788. 
" This city hath been lately entertained with a most astonishing instance of the activity, brave- 
ry, and military skill of the royal army and navy of Great Britain. The aff'air is somewhat par- 
ticular, and deserves your notice. Sometime last week, a keg of singular construction was ob- 
served floating in the river. The crew of a barge attempting to take it up, it suddenly exploded, 
killed four of the hands, and wounded the rest. On Monday last, some kegs of a similar con- 
struction made their appearance. The alarm was immediately given. Various reports prevailed 
in the city, filling the royal troops with unspeakable consternation. Some asserted that these 
kegs were filled with armed rebels, who were to issue forth in the dead of night, as the Grecians 
did of old from the wooden horse, at the siege of Troy, and take the city by surprise ; declaring 
that they had seen the points of their bayonets sticking out of the bung-holcs of the kegs. Others 
said that they were filled with inveterate combustibles, which would set the Delaware in flames, 
and consume all the shipping in the harbor ; whilst others conjectured that they were machines 
constructed by art magic, and expected to see them mount the wharves, and roll, all flaming 
with infernal fire, through the streets of the city. I say nothing as to these reports and appre- 
hensions ; but certain it is that the ships of war were immediately manned, and the wharves 
crowded with chosen men. Hostilities were commenced without much ceremony, and it vv'as 
surprising to behold the incessant firing that was poured upon the enemy's kegs. Both offieers 
and men exhibited unparalleled skill and prowess on the occasion ; whilst the citizens stood gap- 
ing, as solemn witnesses of this dreadful scene. In truth, not a chip, stick, or drift-log passed 



PHILADELPHIA COUNTY. 



sm 



by, without experiencing the vigor of the British arms. The action began about sunrise, and 
would have terminated in favor of the British by noon, had not an old market-woman, in cross- 
ing the river with proi^isions, unfortunately let a keg of butter fall overboard; which, as it was 
then ebb-tide, floated down to the field of battle. At sight of this unexpected reinforcement of 
the enemy, the attack was renewed with fresh force ; and the firing from the marine and land 
troops was beyond imagination, and so continued until night closed the conflict. The rebel kega 
were either totally demolished, or obliged to fly, as none of them have shown their heads since. 
It is said that his excellency Lord Howe has dispatched a swift-sailing packet, with an account 

of this signal victory, to the court of London. In short, Monday, the of Jan. 1778, will 

be memorable in history for the renowned battle of the kegs." — American Museum, 1787. 



THE BATTLE OF THE KEGS— By Francis Hopkinson, Esq.* 



Gallants, attend, and hear a friend 

Trill forth harmonious ditty : 
Strange things I'll tell, which late befell 

In Philadelphia city. 

'Twas early day, as poets say, 
Just when the sun was rising, 

A soldier stood on log of wood. 
And saw a thing surprising. 

As in amaze he stood to gaze, 
(The truth can't be denied, sir,) 

He spied a score of kegs, or more, 
Come floating down the tide, sir. 

A sailor, too, in jerkin blue. 

The strange appearance viewing, 

First d d his eyes, in great surprise. 

Then said, " Some miscliief 's brewing. 

" These kegs, I'm told, the rebels hold, 
Pack'd up like pickled herring ; 

And they've come down t'attack the town. 
In this new way of ferry'ng." 

The soldier flew, the sailor too, 
And, scar'd almost to death, sir. 

Wore out their shoes to spread the news, 
And ran till out of breath, sir. 

Now, up and down, throughout the town. 
Most frantic scenes were acted ; 

And some ran here, and others there, 
Like men almost distracted. 

Some fire cried, which some denied, 
But said the earth had quaked ; 

And girls and boys, with hideous noise, 
Ran through the streets half naked. 

Sir Williamt he, snug as a flea. 

Lay all this time a snoring ; 
Nor dream'd of harm, as he lay warm 

Tji DGQ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ 

Now, in a fright, he starts upright, 

Awak'd by such a clatter ; 
He rubs both eyes, and boldly cries, 

" For God's sake, what's the matter ?" 

At his bedside, he then espied 
Sir Erskine.t at command, sir; 

Upon one foot he had one boot, 
And t'other in his hand, sir. 



" Arise, arise !" Sir Erskine cries ; 

" The rebels — more's the pity — 
Without a boat are all afloat. 

And rang'd before the city. 

" The motley crew, in vessels new. 
With Satan for their guide, sir, 

Pack'd up in bags, or wooden kegs, 
Come driving down the tide, sir. 

" Therefore prepare for bloody war — ■ 

These kegs must all be routed, 
Or surely we dcspis'd shall be. 

And British courage doubted." 

The royal band now ready stand, 

All rang'd in dread array, sir, 
With stomach stout to see it out, 

And make a bloody day, sir. 

The cannons roar from shore to shore ; 

The small-arms loud did rattle : 
Since wars began, I'm sure no man 

E'er saw so strange a battle. 

The rebel dales, the rebel vales, 

With rebel trees surrounded. 
The distant woods, the hills and floods, 

With rebel echoes sounded. 

The fish below swam to and fro, 

Attack'd from every quarter : 
Why, sure, (thought they,) the devifs to pay 

'Mongst folks above the water. 

The kegs, 'tis said, though strongly made 

Of rebel staves and hoops, sir. 
Could not oppose their powerful foes. 

The conqu'ring British troops, sir. 

From morn to night, these men of might 

Display'd amazing courage ; 
And when the sun was fairly down 

Retir'd to sup their porridge. 

A hundred men, with each a pen, 

Or more, upon my word, sir, 
It is most true, would be too few 

Their valor to record, sir. 

Such feats did they perform that day, 
Against these wicked kegs, sir, 

That, years to come, if they get home, 
They'll make their boasts and brags, sir. 



* See note on page 581. 



t Sir William Howe. 



t Sir William Erskine 



«76 



PHILADELPHIA COUNTY 




FranklirHs Grave. 

The unostentatious grave of Doctor Franklin is in the northwest corner 
of the cemetery of Christ Church, at the southeast corner of Fifth and 
Arch streets.* The plain marble slab, (the one nearest the wall, as seen 
in the view,) is strictly in accordance with the directions in his will, which 
were as follows : — " I wish to be buried by the side of my wife, if it may 
be, and that a marble stone to be made by Chambers, six feet long, four 
feet wide, plain, with only a small moulding round the upper edge, and 
this inscription, 

Benjamin ^ 

and > Franklin, 
Deborah ) 
178-, 
be placed over us both." The actual date on the stone is 1790. The 
similar stone by the side of it is that of his daughter Sarah and her hus- 
band, Richard Bache. The following epitaph is not on the stone. It was 
written by Franklin for himself in 1728, when he was only 22 years of 
age, as appears by the original, found among his papers, and from which 
this is a faithful copy : 

The Body 

of 

Benjamin Franklin, 

Printer, 

(Like the cover of an old book, 

Its contents torn out, 

And stripped of its lettering and gilding) 

Lies here, food for worms. 

But the work shall not be lost, 

For it will (as he believed) appear once more, 

In a new, and more elegant edition, 

Revised and corrected 

by 

The Author. 

Benjamin Franklin was born in Boston in 1705, and died in Philadel- 

* It was said in the cotemporary papers at the tinje of his funeral, that this site was selected, 
" ia order that, if a monument should be erected over his grave, it might be seen to more advan- 



PHILADELPHIA COUNTY. 577 

phia 17th April, 1790. His biography would be too long, even were it not 
too well known, to be inserted here. One of the most interesting scenes 
in his life was his first arrival in Philadelphia in October, 1723, then at 
the age of 17. It is well known that he had been an apprentice in his 
brother's printing office in Boston ; had disagreed with his brother, and 
had left home without the knowledge of his parents in a sloop for New- 
York. Thence he had come on foot to Burlington, where he embarked 
in one of the passage boats that then plied between there and Philadel- 
phia. The doctor says : — 

We arrived on Sunday about eight or nine o'clock in the morning and landed on Market-st. 
wharf. I have entered into the particulars of my voyage, and shall, in like manner, describe my 
nrst entrance into this city, that you may compare beginnings so little auspicious, with the figure 
I have since made. 

On my arrival in Philadelphia I was in my working dress, my best clothes being to come by 
eea. I was covered with dirt : my pockets were filled with shirts and stockings ; I was unac- 
quainted with a single soul in the place, and knew not where to look for a lodging. Fatigued 
with walking, rowing, and having passed the night without sleep, I was extremely hungry, and 
all my money consisted of a Dutch dollar, and about a shilling's worth of coppers, which I gave 
to the boatman for my passage. As I had assisted them in rowing, they refused it at first ; but 
I insisted on their taking it. A man is sometimes more generous when he has little, than when 
he has much money ; probably because, in the first case, he is desirous of concealing his pov- 
erty. 

1 walked towards the top of the street, looking eagerly on both sides, till I came to Market- 
st., where I met with a child with a loaf of bread. Often had I made my dinner on dry bread. 
I inquired where he had bought it, and went straight to the baker's shop which he pointed out to 
me. I asked for some biscuits, expecting to find such as we had at Boston ; but they made, it 
saems, none of that sort at Philadelphia. I then asked for a three-penny loaf. They made no 
loayes of that price. Finding myself ignorant of the prices, as well as of the different kinds of 
bread, I desired him to let me have three-pennyworth of bread of some kind or other. He gave 
me three large rolls. I was surprised at receiving so much. I took them, however, and having 
no room in my pockets, I walked on with a roll under each arm, eating the third. In this man- 
ner I went through Market-street to Fourth-street, and passed the house of Mr. Reed, the father 
of my future wife. She was standing at the door, observed me, and thought, with reason, that I 
made a very singular and grotesque appearance. 

I then turned the corner, and went through Chestnut-street, eating my roll all the way ; and 
having made this round, I found myself again on Market-streeet wharf, near the boat in which 
I arrived. I stepped- into it to take a draught of the river water; and, finding myself satisfied 
with the first roll, I gave the other two to a woman and her child, who had come down the river 
with us in the boat, and was waiting to continue her journey. Thus refreshed, I regained the 
street, which was now full of well-dressed people, all going the same way. I joined them, and 
was thus led to a large Quaker meeting-house near the market-place. I sat down with the rest, 
and, after looking around me for some time, hearing nothing said, and being drowsy from my last 
night's labor and want of rest, I fell into a sound sleep. In this state I continued till the assem. 
bly dispersed, when one of the congregation had the goodness to wake me. This was conse- 
quently the first house I entered, or in which I slept in Philadelphia. 

I began again to walk along the street by the river-side ; and, looking attentively in the face 
of every one I met with, I at length perceived a young Quaker whose countenance pleased me. 
I accosted him, and begged him to inform me where a stranger might find a lodging. We were 
then near the sign of the Three Mariners. They receive travellers here, said he, but it is not a 
house that bears a good character ; if you will go with me, I will show you a better one. He 
conducted me to the Crooked Billet, in Water-street. There I ordered something for dinner, 
and, during my meal, a number of curious questions were put to me; my youth and appearance 
exciting the suspicion of my being a runaway. After dinner my drowsiness returned, and I 
threw myself upon a bed without taking off my clothes, and slept till six o'clock in the evening, 
when I was called to supper. I afterwards went to bed at a very early hour, and did not awake 
till the next morning. 

tage." It is p rhaps better that the giave should be left with the simple monument prescribed 
by his will : but could not some expedient be adopted by which not only citizens but strangers 
might be indulged with a sight of this interesting spot ? It is now seldom that either have the 
opportunity. The process of hunting up a sexton to unlock the gate of the cemetery is neither 
agreeable nor convenient. If one or two rods of neat and appropriate iron railing were inserted 
in the brick wall at this point, every person might view the grave without inconyerupnce. — D. 

73 



578 PHILADELPHIA COUNTY. 

As soon as I got up I put myself in as decent a trim as I could, and went to the house of 
Andrew Bradford, the printer. I found his father in the shop, wliom I had seen at New York. 
Having travelled on horseback, he had arrived at Pliiladelphia before me. He introduced me to 
his son, who received me with civility, and gave me some breakfast : but told me he had no oc- 
casion at present for a journeyman, having lately procured one. He added, that there was an- 
other printer newly settled in the town, of the name of Keuner, who might perhaps employ me ; 
and that in case of refusal, I should be welcome to lodge at his house, and he would give me a 
little work now and then, till something better should offer. 

The old man oflered to introduce me to the new printer. When we were at his house, "Neigh- 
bor," said he, " I bring you a young man in the printing business ; perhaps you may have need 
of his services." 

Keimer asked me some questions, put a composing stick in my hand, to see how I could work, 
and then said, that at present he had nothing for me to do, but that he should soon be able to 
employ me. At the same time, taking old Bradford for an inhabitant of the town well-disposed to- 
wards him, he communicated his project to him, and the prospect he had of success. Bradford 
was careful not to discover that he was the father of the other printer ; and from what Keimer 
had said, that he hoped shortly to be in possession of the greater part of the business of the 
town, led him, by artful questions, and by starting some difficulties, to disclose uU his views, what 
his hopes were founded upon, and how he intended to proceed. I was present, and heard it all. 
I instantly saw that one of the two was a cunning old fox, and the other a perfect novice. 
Bradford left me with Keimer, who was strangely surprised when I informed him who the old 
man was. 

I found Keimer's printing materials to consist of an old damaged press, and a small fount of 
worn-out English letters, with which he himself was at work upon an elegy on Aquila Rose, 
whom I have mentioned above, an ingenious young man, and of an excellent character, highly 
esteemed in the town, secretary to the assembly, and a very tolerable poet. Keimer also made 
verses, but they were indifferent ones. He could not be said to write in verse, for his method 
was to set the lines as they flowed from his muse ; and as he worked without copy, had but one 
set of Ictter-cases, and as the elegy would probably occupy all his types, it was impossible for any 
one to assist him. I endeavored to put his press in order, which he had not yet used, and of 
which indeed he understood nothing ; and, having promised to come and work off his elegy as 
soon as it should be ready, I returned to the house of Bradford, who gave me some trifle to do for 
the present, for which I had my board and lodging. 

In a few days Keimer sent for me to print oft" his elegy. He had now procured another set of 
letter-cases, and had a pamphlet to reprint, upon which he set me to work. 

The two Philadelphia printers appeared destitute of every qualification necessary in their pr j- 
fession. Bradford had not been brought up to it, and was very illiterate. Keimer, though he un- 
derstood a little of the business, was merely a compositor, and wholly incapable of working at 
press. He had been one of the French prophets, and knew how to imitate their supernatural 
agitations. At the time of our first acquaintance he professed no particular religion, but a little 
of all upon occasion. He was totally ignorant of the world, and a great knave at heart, as I had 
afterwards an opportunity of experiencing. 

Keimer could not endure that, working with him, I should lodge at Bradford's. He had in- 
deed a house, but it was unfurnished ; so that he could not take me in. He procured me a lodg- 
ing at Mr. Reed's his landlord, whom I have already mentioned. My trunk and effects being 
now arrived, I thought of making, in the eyes of Miss Reed, a more respectable appearance than 
when chance exhibited me to her view, eating my roll, and wandering in the streets. 

From this period I began to contract acquaintance with such young people as were fond of 
reading, and spent my evenings with them agreeably, while, at the same time, I gained money 
by my industry, and, thanks to my frugality, lived contented. I thus forgot Boston as much as 
possible, and wished every one to be ignorant of the place of my residence, except my friend 
Collins ; to whom I wrote, and who kept my secret. 

It would be superfluous to erect a splendid monument over the grave 
of Dr. Franklin : there are many monuments of his fame, and his prac- 
tical benevolence and wisdom, already in Philadelphia — among which, 
perhaps, the most splendid and appropriate is the Philadelphia Library, 
situated in Fifth-st., opposite Independence-square. 

The Philadelphia Library originated in a club, or "junto," established by Franklin and his m- 
timate friends, about the year 1727, who met every week in Pewter Platter alley, for mutual im- 
provement in reading and debate. Some of the most eminent men of the day, whose characters 
Franklin has sketched, were members of this club; the most remarkable of whom, after Frank- 
lin, was Thomas Godfrey, the self-taught mathematician, and inventor of the mariner's quadrant 
Their little stocks of books were united, and about the ye u- 1730 Franklin enlarged the library, 



PHILADELPHIA COUNTY. 



579 



by starting a public subscription, and raising a company of fifty members. " This," says Frank- 
lin, " was the mother of all the Nortli American subscription libraries, now so numerous." The 
proprietaries, particularly Thomas Penn, encouraged the plan, by making several valuable dona- 
tions, and by granting a charter of incorporation, in 1742. Several other libraries, the Amicable, 
the Association, and the Union, grew up in the city, and were finally blended, by a legislative 
act, in 1769, as the Library Company of Philadelphia. The Loganian Library, consisting of 
rare and curious books, principally in the ancient languages, was originally collected by James 
Iiogan, the distinguished secretary of the province, as well as the scholar and the statesman; 
w hich at his death was bequcatlicd to the city, under certain regulations, vesting the office of 
librarian in the Logan family. Valuable additions have since been made by members of the Lo- 
gan family; and by a legislative act of 1792, the library is to be under the same roof, and the 
same management, with the Philadelphia Library, although the two are separately arranged. 
The Philadelphia Library contains upwards of 30,000 volumes, and the Loganian Library about 
11,000. 

Another monument to the memory of Franklin is the American Philo- 
sophical Society, which has its hall on Independence-square, opposite the 
Philadelphia Library. The Atheneum also occupies rooms in the same 
edifice. 

On the (14th May, O. S.) 25th May, 1743, Franklin started another junto, consisting of nine 
members, of whom six had been members of the old junto, of Pewter Platter alley. Franklin's 
early philosophical experiments engaged the attention of this association. It existed a few years, 
and declined. Another junto, of other and younger members, arose in 1750 ; which also declined, 
and was succeeded by the American Philosophical Society, and the American Society for the 
Promotion of Useful Knowledge. These two were blended in 1769, by an act of incorporation, 
under the title of the American Philosophical Society for the Promotion of Useful Knowledge. 
Of this society Dr. Franklin was elected the first president, over Ex-Gov. Hamilton. The first 
great work of the Society was to provide for taking observations of the transit of Venus, on the 
3d June, 1769, under the direction of David Rittenhouse. Among the transactions of this So- 
ciety, subsequent to this period, were observations and surveys, with a view of connecting the 
Waters of the Delaware and Chesapeake by means of a canal ; attempts to encourage the rais- 
ing of silk ; resolutions touching the cultivation of the grape-vine ; and among the archives of 
the Society was found a report favorable to the first steam-engine put up in this country, and 
which was approved of because it had made one or two strokes, being prevented from going be- 
yond that amount of labor through the defectiveness of the machinery ; but which would no 
doubt have succeeded, had it been of better workmanship. The Pennsylvania Historical Socie- 
ty, 01 which the venerable Peter S. Du Ponceau is president, was originally the Historical Com- 
mittee of the Philosophical Society, and has its library and collections in the same edifice. It 
has caused to be published many valuable documents connected with the early history of Penn- 
sylvania. 




Pennsylvania Hospital. 

The Pennsylvania Hospital, occupying the whole square between Spruce and Pine, and be- 
tween Eighth and Ninth streets, originated in 1751 by the public spirit of Dr. Thomas Bond) 



$80 



PHILADELPHIA COUNTY. 



aided by the advice and legislative tact of Dr. Franklin, and the subscriptions of wealthy citi- 
zens. As Dr. Franklin tells the story, Dr. Bond came to him with the compliment that every 
one to whom he applied for subscription inquired, " what docs Franklin think about it ? Have 
you consulted him ?" And when he said he had not, they did not subscribe, but said " they 
would consider about it." Franklin immediately subscribed, used his influence to induce others, 
and got a bill through the legislature subscribing on the part of the province £2,000, on condi- 
tion that the citizens should subscribe a like sum. The citizens clinched the nail thus driven, 
and the Hospital was first established in a rented house on the south side of Market-street, the 
iiird house above Fifth-street. A lot was purchased in 1754, at the present site, and the pro- 
prietaries afterwards granted the whole square to the institution. The foundation stone of the 
first part erected, (the wing on Eighth-st.,) was laid on the 28th May, 1755, and bears an in- 
• cription written by Dr. Franklin. 

The first managers were Joshua Crosby, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Bond, Samuel Hazard, 
Richard Peters, Israel Pemberton, junr., Samuel Rhoads, Hugh Roberts, Joseph Morris, John 
Smith, Evan Morgan, Charles Norris. First Treasurer, John Reynell. First attending physi- 
cians were Doctors Lloyd Zachary, Thomas and Phineas Bond ; and the consulting physicians 
were Doctors Graeme, Cadwalader, Moore, and Redman. The institution contains a choice li- 
brary and anatomical museum, theatre for operations, baths, and other appropriate apartments. 
Beautiful gardens surround the buildings, and in the front yard stands a statue of Wm. Penn, 
of lead, bronzed, on a marble pedestal. This statue was presented in 1801, by John Penn, Esq. 
of London. The squares opposite the hospital were kept open until within a few years past, and 
the one in front is still vacant. This circumstance has contributed greatly to the health of the 
inmates. When the yellow fever desolated tlie city in 1793, and upwards of 4,000 died of it 
within four months, it is said that not a person in the hospital took it. On the hospital square 
in Spruce-street is a small building containing West's celebrated picture of Christ healing the 
sick, with other productions of his pencil. This picture was presented to the institution by the 
distinguished artist, and the revenue derived from its exhibition is appropriated to the use of the 
hospital. 




University of Pennsyloania. 

The University buildings are situated within a pleasant enclosure, 
fronting on Ninth-street, between Market and Chestnut streets. The 
edifice on the left in the above view, is devoted to the medical depart- 
ment. 

Education commenced at an early date in Philadelphia. Mr. Proud tells us that in 1 683 Enoch 
Flower from Wiltshire, taught reading, writing, and arithmetic, at eight shillings per quarter ; 
and in 1689 a public school was established by the Society of Friends, but open to all, which re- 
ceived in 1711 a charter from Wm. Penn. George Keith, from Aberdeen, a man of learning, 
and famous in Quaker history for his polemical character, was the first teacher. 

In 1749 a subscription was set on foot by a number of gentlemen of the city, among whom 
were Thomas Hopkinson, Tench Francis, Richard Peters, and Benjamin Franklin, to establish 
an academy and charitable school, which was opened the following year for instruction in the 
Latin and English languages, and mathematics. It was incorporated in 1753, and the proprie- 
taries endowed it with money and lands amounting to ^£3,000. Lindley Murray, the grammari- 
an, was a pupil of this college. Rev. Wm. Smith was appointed Principal, Rev. Francis Allison 
Master of the Latin school. The institution soon grew into a college by an act of incorporation 
in 1755, under the title of the College, Academy, and Charitable School of Philadelphia. Rev. 
Dr. Smith was elected Provost, and the same year degrees were conferred upon six pupils. Rev 



PHILADELPHIA COUNTY. 581 

Mr. DucW, Rev. Dr. Samuel Magaw, Rev. James Latta, Dr. Hugh Williamson, Francis Hop. 
kinson, Esq.,* and Mr. Hall. 

In 1764 the foundation of the first medical school was laid by a course of lectures on anatomy, 
delivered by Dr. Wm. Shippen. His pupils amounted to only ten. The next year Dr. John 
Morgan was associated with him as Professor of the Institutes of Medicine. Both these gentle- 
men were graduates at Edinburgh. In 1768 Dr. A. Kuhn was appointed Professor of Botany; 
in 1769 Dr. B. Rush took the chemical chair; and Dr. Thomas Bond delivered clinical lectures 
in the Pennsylvania Hospital. Thus was organized the most important medical school in the 
United States, which now numbers its 400 students annually. 

Dr. Smith, the Provost, was an able and learned man, and had been very efficient in procuring 
funds for it in Europe ; yet he was suspected of being not very favorable to a separation from 
Great Britain ; and being strongly attached to the Church of England, the more ardent whigs, 
and some of the Presbyterians, who were whigs to a man, determined to remove him from office, 
much against the judgment of the friends of the institution. The old provincial charter was 
abrogated, and a new institution, the University of Pennsylvania, was chartered by the state 
legislature in 1779, and endowed with the property of the old college and with the confiscated 
property of tories. Rev. Dr. John Ewing, the senior Presbyterian clergyman in the state, was 
chosen Provost. The old college was revived for a short time in 1789, but it did not long con- 
tinue, and was blended in 1791, by legislative enactment, with the University. Dr. Ewing contin- 
ued as Provost until 1803. He was succeeded by Rev. Dr. John McDowell, from Maryland, 
who resigned in 1809, and his successors have been Rev. Dr. John Andrews in 1811; Rev. 
Frederick Beasly, D. D., in 1813; Rev. Wm. H. Delancy in 1828 — who resigned in 1834, and 
was succeeded by Rev. John Ludlow, D. D. 

The original academy and college occupied the building in Fourth -street, between Market and 
Arch streets, erected by Whitfield, and long known as the Old College. In 1802 the University 
purchased an edifice on the present site, which had been erected by the state of Pennsylvania 
as a mansion for the president of the United States, but never used as such. This building was 
taken down, and the present buildings erected in 1830. 

Among the eminent teachers in Philadelphia about the middle of the last century were Robert 
Proud, the historian, who was a Scotchman by birth ; and David James Dove, an Englishman, 
much celebrated as a teacher, and no less as a small politician and a dealer in the minor kind of 
satirical poetry. Graydon relates the following anecdote of him : " Dove was a humorist, and a per- 
son not unlikely to be engaged in ludicrous scenes. It was his practice, in his school, to substitute 
disgrace for corporal punishment. He had a contrivance for boys who were late in their morning 
attendance. This was to dispatch a committee of five or six scholars for them, with a bell and 
lighted lantern, and in this 'odd equipage,' in broad daylight, the bell all the while tingling, were 
they escorted through the streets to school. As Dove affected a strict regard for justice in his 
dispensations of punishment, and always professed a willingness to have an equal measure of it 
meted out to himself in case of his transgressing, the boys took him at his word ; and one morn- 
ing, when he had overstaid his time, either through laziness, inattention, or design, he found him- 
self waited on in the usual form. He immediately admitted the justice of the procedure, and, 
putting himself behind the lantern and bell, marched with great solemnity to school, to the no 
small gratification of the boys, and entertainment of the spectators." 

The Merchants' Exchange, a magnificent edifice of white marble, occu- 
pies a triangular space formed by Third, Walnut, and Dock streets. It 
was commenced in 1834, after the design of Mr. Strickland. It contains 
a rotunda for the meeting of merchants, a reading-room, several insurance 
and brokers' offices, and the post-office in the basement. Previously to the 
erection of this edifice the merchants had assembled for many years in 
the old Coffee-house formerly kept by Mr. Sanderson in Second-st., next 
door below the Pennsylvania Bank. In the annexed view, beyond the 
Exchange on the right is seen the Girard Bank, formerly Stephen Girard's 
Bank, and originally erected for, and occupied by, the first Bank of the 
United States. 

Philadelphia has been distinguished by the residence of the two most 

* A signer of the Declaration of Independence, and afterwards Judge of the U. S. District 
Court. He was also the author of the " Battle of the Kegs," inserted on page 575. He died in 
1791. His son, the late Joseph Hopkinson, who died in 1842, was also Judge of the U. S. Dis- 
trict Court. In 1798 the latter wrote the popular song of " Hail Columbia." It was composed 
at a very short notice, for a friend of his, a theatrical singer, to be sung on the night of his 
benefit. 



582 



PHILADELPHIA COUNTY. 




Merchants' Exchange, and Girard Bank. 

eminent merchants and financiers of the United States, Robert Morris 
and Stephen Girard. 

Robert Morris, whose father was a merchant of Liverpool, came out to Maryland when a 
child. He was left an orphan at the age of 15. He was reared as a clerk in the counting-room 
of Charles Willing, an eminent merchant of Philadelphia, and in 1754 entered into partnership 
with Thomas Willing — a partnership which continued until 1793, nearly 40 years. Before the 
revolution they were more extensively engaged in commerce than any house in Philadelphia. 
Nevertheless Mr. Morris entered most cordially into the non-importation agreements which pre- 
ceded the war, although at the cost of great pecuniary sacrifices. He was a member of the 
second Congress in 1775 that met at Philadelphia, and in 1776 signed the Declaration of Inde- 
pendence. The success of the revolution was quite as much promoted by the commercial tact, 
the enthusiastic patriotism, and profound financial knowledge of Robert Morris, as by the wis- 
dom of the political philosophers, and the bravery of the military heroes of that period. Mr. 
Morris was at the head of all the congressional committees for procuring the importation of 
arms, ammunition, sulphur, saltpetre, lead, &c., for the army ; for fitting out a naval armament ; 
for negotiating bills of exchange, and for procuring foreign loans. His own credit often stood 
higher than that of his country ; and of this he did not hesitate to avail himself whenever public 
necessities required it ; and when Gen. Washington's victorious army were about passing into 
Virginia to meet Cornwallis, their march must have been inevitably arrested, and perhaps the 
fortunes of the day changed, had not Morris's ready tact procured the loan of the French mili- 
tary chest, through Count Rochambeau. In 1781 he was appointed by Congress Superintendent 
of Finance, and in this capacity proposed and established the Old Bank of North America, be- 
ing himself a large subscriber. With this financial engine he succeeded in negotiating heavy 
loans for the government at a period of great discouragement. Mr. Morris assisted in the con- 
vention to form the Federal Constitution, and was a member of the first Congress under it. After 
the war closed he entered very extensively into the East India trade ; and also purchased im- 
mense bodies of land in the interior of New York and Pennsylvania, which fell afterwards into 
the hands of the Holland Land Co., and others. 

Notwithstanding his numerous public and private engagements, his house was the seat of el& 
gant but unostentatious hospitality, and no one more freely parted with his gains for public or 
private objects of benevolence. Unfortunately, the mania common with many rich men overtook 
Mr. Morris in his later years, — and he commenced the construction of an immense marble man- 
sion, which, with its grounds, was to occupy the whole square between Walnut and Chestnut 
and Seventh and Eighth streets. In size, in architecturcil splendor, and durability of foundation. 



PHILADELPHIA COUNTY. 



58S 



the edifice was to rival the ancient palace of the Caesars, and the gardens were to be Fields of 
Elysium. The plan was beyond his means, and unsuited to the country : he broke down under 
rt, and the patriot who had lavished his wealth for his country in her hour of need, died in Phil, 
adelphia in I8f)(i, at the age of 73, insolvent. The marbles of the unfinished palace now form 
part of the uniform rows of houses in Sansom-street. 




Gii^ard College. 

The Girard College is situated near the Ridge road, about two miles 
northwest from the Exchange. This splendid establishment was com- 
menced in 1833. The corner-stone of the principal edifice was laid on 
the 4th July of that year, by Nicholas Biddle, Esq., chairman of the trus- 
tees, who delivered an address on the occasion. All the buildings are to 
be of marble. The central edifice, erected after the design of Thomas U. 
Walter, Esq., is in the form of a temple of the Corinthian order, 160 feet by 
217, including the porticoes ; and, when finished, will be one of the most 
magnificent buildings in the world. Whether it is strictly in accordance 
with Stephen Girard's taste, character, and design, is another question — 
still unsettled in the public mind. 

This edifice contains the more important public halls of the institution. 
The smaller buildings on each side are designed for the lodging and study 
rooms of the pupils. It is now ten years since the corner-stone was laid, 
and only the two buildings seen on the left of the annexed view are com- 
pleted. The main part of the great temple is erected, and the side porti- 
coes — the pediments, and end porticoes, and interior, being still incom- 
plete ; and the foundations are not yet laid of the two buildings on the 
right. No pupils have yet been admitted. 

Stephen Girard was born of very humble parents, near Bordeaux in France, on the 24th May, 
1750. Such education as he ever had, he must have picked up in the world at large. He com- 
menced his career at the age of ten or twelve — leaving France for the first and last time, as a 
cabin boy, bound to the W. Indies. Thence he went to New York, and sailed for some years 
between there and the W. Indies and New Orleans, as cabin-boy, sailor, mate, and eventually 
master and owner. Having made some money, he started a small shop in Water-street, Phila- 
delphia, in 1769, and in 1770 married a pretty girl, the daughter of a caulker. He lived with her 
some twenty years : but not very happily, on account of his own asperity of temper. She be- 
came insane in 1790, and died in the Pliiladeiphia Hospital in 1815. An only child died in in- 
fancy. After his marriage he continued business in Water-street, occasionally going as master 
of his own vessels — in one of which he was captured on a voyage to St. Domingo. He came 



584 PHILADELPHIA COUNTY. 

home poor, and started a little cider and wine bottling shop in Water-street, aided by his wife, 
the year before the revolutionary war. He was a friend to the revolution, and removed to Mount 
Holly while the British occupied Philadelphia. About the year 1782 he took on lease a num- 
ber of stores on Water-street, which proved a profitable operation, — and afterwards went into 
business with his brother, Capt. John Girard, who came out from France. They drove a profita- 
ble trade with St. Domingo ; and at their dissolution (for they could not agree) John was worth 
$60,000, and Stephen $30,000. After this he went largely into the St. Doniingo trade ; and, 
while a brig and schooner of his were lying at Cape Fran^oise, the great revolt of the negroes 
occurred. Many planters, in the panic, removed their valuables on board his vessels, and again 
returning to the shore, were cut oft' by the negroes. Whole families thus perished together ; and 
Mr. Girard, by the most extensive advertising, could never ascertain the heirs of the wealth (said 
to be about $50,000) that thus fell into his hands. His next commercial enterprises were in the 
East India trade, in which he had several ships, and acquired a large fortune. At the expiration 
of the charter of the old United States Bank in 1810-11, he purchased, through the Barings, in 
London, about $.500,000 of that stock ; and not long afterwards — purchasing the banking-house 
of the institution in Third-st., and making an arrangement with the former cashier, Mr. George 
Simpson — he started his own private bank in May, 1812, with a capital of $1,200,000. This 
was a bold step at the opening of the war with Great Britain — yet the specie was never refused 
for a bank-note of Stephen Girard's. When the new U. S. Bank was started, in 1816, he waited 
until the last moment before the subscription books closed, and then, inquiring if all that wished 
had subscribed, he coolly took the balance of the stock, amounting to $3,100,000 ; some of 
which he afterwards parted with. By the subsequent rise of this stock his fortune was immense- 
ly augmented. His own bank was continued till his death, when it had accumulated a capital 
of $4,000,000. The bank was afterwards chartered by the legislature as the Girard Bank, with 
individual stockholders ; and has since failed. Mr. Girard died of influenza, on the 26tli Dec. 
1831, at his residence in Water, above Market street. 

Stephen Girard was exceedingly plain in his dress and personal appearance. He was always 
blind of one eye ; and in middle life might be mistaken for a stout sailor, and in maturer years 
for a plain old farmer. His dwelling-house was under the same roof with his counting-house, in 
Water-street — a neighborhood occupied entirely by stores ; and his furniture was of the plainest 
kind. His equipage was an old chaise and a plain farm-horse. He indulged in no pleasures, or 
scenes of social life ; had no one with whom he sympathized as a friend ; and when his sympa- 
thies were exercised at all, they seemed to be for masses of men, and not for individuals — for fu- 
ture generations, and not for the present. He had a sort of instinctive fondness for giving med- 
ical advice; and when the yellow-fever desolated the city, in 1793, regardless of danger, he 
spent his whole time in personal attendance upon the sick, in all parts of the city. His temper 
was irritable, and when excited he would break out upon his dependents, in his broken English, 
with great volubility. 

He was seldom or never moved to acts of pecuniary charity by tales of distress. Of religion, in 
the ordinary use of the term, he had little, or none ; and, although interred in a Catholic cemetery, no 
clergyman attended his funeral. His character was like his eyesight — totally deficient on one 
side. Yet, in his darling pursuit, the accumulation of wealth, he exhibited gigantic powers. 
Still he did not idolize gold, nor spend it upon his own gratification ; but his greatest delight 
was to see it usefully employed. His ships and houses were always neatly and substantially 
built ; but ornament he disliked. While living he gave away moderate sums for public objects, 
but seldom so much as $1,000 at a time. The following anecdote is told by his biographer. 
He had encouraged Samuel Coates, a shrewd Quaker, to call on him next day for some aid 
needed by the Pennsylvania Hospital, and if he found him on the right footing, he might give 
something. Samuel came at breakfast-time. " Well, what have you come for, Samuel ?" " Any 
thing thee pleases, Stephen." Girard gave him a check for $200, which Samuel stuffed into his 
pocket without looking at it. " What ! you no look at the check I gave you ?" " No, Stephen : 
beggars must not be clioosers." " Hand me back the check again," demanded Girard. " No, 
no, Stephen — a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush." " By George !" exclaimed Girard, 
"you have caught me on the right footing." He then drew a check for $500 ; and, presenting 
it to Mr. Coates, asked him to look at it. " Well, to please thee, Stephen, I will." " Now give 
me back the first check," demanded Girard — which was instantly complied with. Few under- 
stood him, however, as well as Samuel Coates. A Baptist clergyman, to whom he gave $200, 
in the same way, for a church, made a remark concerning his ability to give much more. " Let 
me look at the check," said Girard. It was handed to him, and he tore it up with indignation. 

Of his immense wealth, estimated variously at from six to twelve millions, he bequeathed a 
few very moderate legacies to his relatives — to no one of them more than $10,000, except to his 
niece, Mrs. Hemphill, to whom he left $60,000 ; to the Pennsylvania Hospital, $30,000 ; to 
other public charities various sums, from $20,000 downwards ; to the city of New Orleans a 
considerable amount of real estate in Louisiana ; to the state of Pennsylvania $300,000, to be 
expended in improvement by canal navigation ; and the great bulk of -his fortune he bestowed 
upon the city of Philadelphia, in trust : $500,000 to be expended in opening, widening, and irp- 



PHILADELPHIA COUNTY. 



585 



proving a street along the Delaware, in front of the city, to be called Delaware-avenue, and also 
to widen Water-street ; sundry residuary sums to improve the police of the city, and promote 
the health and comfort of the inhabitants ; and, as his great and favorite object, $2,000,000, or 
more if necessary, to build and endow a college for the education and maintenance of " poor 
white male orphans," as many as " the said income shall be adequate to maintain ; to be received 
between the ages of six and ten, and to be bound out between the ages of fourteen and eighteen, 
to suitable occupations, as those of agriculture, navigation, arts, mechanical trades, and manu- 
factures." The following injunctions are extracted from the will : — 

" The orphans admitted into the college shall be there fed with plain but wholesome food, 
clothed with plain but decent apparel, (no distinctive dress ever to be worn.) and lodged in a 
plain but safe manner. Due regard shall be paid to their health ; and to this end their persons 
and clothes shall be kept clean, and they shall have suitable and rational exercise and recreation. 
They shall be instructed in the various branches of a sound education, comprehending reading, 
writing, grammar, arithmetic, geography, navigation, surveying, practical mathematics, astrono- 
my, natural, chemical, and experimental philosophy, the French and Spanish languages, (I do 
not forbid, but I do not recommend the Greek and Latin languages ;) and such other learning 
and science as the capacities of the several scholars may merit or warrant. I would have them 
taught facts and things, rather than words or signs. And, especiall}', I desire that, by every 
proper means, a pure attachment to our republican institutions, and to the sacred rights of con- 
science, as guarantied by our happy constitutions, shall be formed and fostered in the minds of 
the scholars." 

" I enjoin and require that no ecclesiastic, missionary, or minister, of any sect whatsoever, 
shall ever hold or exercise any station or duty whatever in the said college; nor shall any such 
person ever be admitted, for any purpose, or as a visiter, within the premises appropriated to the 
purposes of the said college. In making this restriction, I do not mean to cast any reflection 
upon any sect or person whatsoever; but, as there is such a multitude of sects, and such a diver- 
sity of opinion amongst them, I desire to keep the tender minds of the orphans, who are to de- 
rive advantage from this bequest, free from the excitement which clashing doctrines and sectarian 
controversy are so apt to produce : my desire is, that all the instructors and teachers in the col- 
lege shall take pains to instil into the minds of the scholars the purest principles of morality, so 
that, on their entrance into active life, they may, from inclination and habit, evince benevolence 
towards their fellow-creatures, and a love of truth, sobriety, and industry — adopting at the same 
time such religious tenets as their matured reason may enable them to prefer." 




United States Mint. 

The edifice occupied by the U. S. Mint is one of the chaste designs 
of Mr. Strickland. It is built of white marble, and was erected in 1830. 
It has a front on Chestnut-st. of 122 feet, and the same on the Centre 
Square. All the processes of assaying, refining, and coining, are carried 
on within its walls. The Mint was established in 1790, and the opera- 
tion of coining was commenced in 1793, in the building in Seventh-st., r^ow 

74 



586 



PHILADELPHIA COUNTY. 



occupied by the Apprentices' Library Co. R. M. Patterson, Esq., has been 
for several years at the head of the establishment. 







"i Hi, 




United States Bank. 

The chaste and beautiful banking-house occupied by the United States 
Bank is situated on Chestnut-st., between Fourth and Fifth streets. It 
was commenced in 1819, after the designs of the accomplished architect, 
William Strickland, and occupied nearly five years in its construction. 
The original cost was $500,000. It is built entirely of white marble, and 
its general form is that of the celebrated Parthenon, at Athens ; the lat- 
eral colonnades being omitted. A part of the Philadelphia Bank (incor- 
porated in 1804) is seen on the left of the view. On the right is seen a 
part of the edifice in which the Mercantile Library is kept. It was 
formed in 1822, and now contains about 6,000 volumes. 

The first Bank of the United States was incorporated by congress, in Feb. 1791, with a view 
to its aid in " conducting the national finances," and its " advantages to trade and industry in 
general." Congress having refused to renew the charter, it expired by its own Hmitation, in Itill. 
Stephen Girard purchased the building in Third-st., where its business had been transacted. 

A new United States Bank was chartered by congress, and approved by President Madison 
on the 10th April, 1816, with a capital of ,$35,000,000; the government taking $7,000,000 of 
the stock. During the war of 1812-14, all the state banks had been in a state of suspension. 
The organization and management of the United States Bank, on a specie basis, caused them to 
resume. The stock of the Bank was made an object of speculation, and stood at one time as 
high as $156 per 100. The dividends varied from 5 to 6 per cent. The branches of the Bank 
were at Portland, Portsmouth, Boston, Providence, Hartford, New York, Baltimore, Washington, 
Richmond, Norfolk, Fayettcville, Charleston, Savannah, Mobile, New Orleans, Nashville, liouis- 
ville, Lexington, Cincinnati, Chillicothe, and Pittsburg. The Bank commenced operations under 
the presidency of Capt. William Jones, in Jan., 1817. In 1820, tlie distinguished Langdon 
Cheves, of South Carolina, took charge of it, and restored it from a languishing condition to one 
of great prosperity. Nicholas Biddle, Esq., succeeded him in 1823. About the year 1828-29, 
the subject of the renewal of its charter began to be agitated. The Bank was drawn into the 
vortex of politics, and a fierce war was waged between its partisans and opponents. In Oct. 
1833, the deposits of the government, which had hitherto been made exclusively with this bank, 
were removed, by order of President Jackson. A bill to recharter the Bank had been vetoed by 
him, in the previous year. The charter expired, according to hmitation, in 1836. In the same 
year, the United States Bank of Pennsylvania was chartered, by the state legislature, with the 
same capital of $35,000,000 ; and purchasing the assets, and assuming the liabilities, of the 



PHILADELPHIA COUNTY. 



587 



former United States Bank, continued the business under the same roof. This bank failed, and 
•went into liquidation, early in 1841.* 




United States Naval Asylum. 

The U. S. Naval Asylum is situated on the Gray's ferry road, near the 
eastern bank of the Schuylkill, below South-street. It was completed in 
1835, having been erected by the government from the proceeds of the 
" hospital money" regularly paid by the officers and seamen of the navy 
out of their wages for many years past. It is designed as an asylum for 
sick seamen, and a home for the veterans of the navy, and for a naval 
school. The building, which is capable of lodging about 400 persons, is 
of M^hite marble : the entire cost was about $300,000. It was under the 
charge of Commodore Biddle in 1842. Not far below this, on the Gray's 
ferry road, is the U. S. Arsenal. 




Blockley Almshouse. 

The Almshouse of the city and county is an immense range of build- 
ings occupying an elevated site near the west bank of the Schuylkill, 
nearly opposite the U. S. Arsenal. There are few cities whose paupers 

* See the Outline History, page 51. 



588 



PHILADELPHIA COUNTY. 



can boast of so splendid a country seat. The buildings, with the neces' 
sary enclosures, cover an area of nearly ten acres. The establishment 
includes, besides the lodging-rooms for the inmates, and an immense din- 
ing hall, capable of accommodating more than 500 persons — workshops, 
where the inmates find employment ; an asylum and a school for male 
and female children ; an obstetric department, with the requisite appli- 
ances ; an hospital for the sick and the insane ; an extensive library, both 
medical and miscellaneous ; a depository for manufactures, &c. A farm 
of about 170 acres surrounds the establishment. The whole cost of the 
buildings and grounds was $850,000. The average number of the in- 
mates is about 1,500, increasing to nearly 2,000 in winter, and dimin- 
ished in the summer. The establishment is governed by 12 directors ; 
and is under the more immediate management of a superintendent and 
matron. The students of the various medical schools in the city enjoy 
the advantage of weekly clinical lectures given here by their professors. 




Wire Suspension Bridge. 

The new Wire Suspension Bridge crosses the Schuylkill at Fairmount, and occupies the site of 
Mr. Wernwag's bridge, which was burned down three or four years since. Several chain bridges of 
cheap construction have been used for some years in the U. States, but this is the first specimen 
of a suspension bridge erected in this country in which the principles of this graceful style have 
been fully carried out in a scientific and workmanlike manner ; although they have been com- 
mon in Europe for twenty years past. This bridge was erected at the expense of the county by 
Charles Ellet, Esq., civil engineer, who furnished the plan, and contracted for the work at 
$50,000. It was opened for travel in the spring of 1842, and its strength has been fully tested. 
The length between the abutments is 343 feet, and between the supporting rollers at the apex of 
the columns 357 feet ; width of floor and foot-ways 27 feet. There are five distinct cables on 
each side, each containing 260 strands of wire about 1-8 of an inch in diameter. Each cable is 
2 5-8 inches diameter, weighs 4 tons, is 650 feet in length, and is capable of sustaining a weight 
of 800 tons. The perpendicular cables or ropes by which each floor-beam is suspended from the 
cables are also made of small wires, and are 1 inch in diameter, each capable of sustaining 2 
tons ; there are 17 of these to each cable. The larger cables pass over iron rollers on the pillars, 
which tend to equalize the tension, and are fastened around numerous stout iron bars transversely 
imbedded in the solid rock, or in an immense body of masonry. The towers are of massive 
blocks of granite, quarried in Maine. The cables are covered with a coating of peculiar com- 
position to protect them from rust. The whole of the iron was made of Juniata ore at Easton, 
Penn. The former bridge which stood on this site, was famous in the annals of bridge architec- 
ture. It consisted of a single arch of wood, of 340 feet span, the longest wooden arch by 96 
feet in the world ! It was 50 feet wide at the abutments, and 35 feet in the centre, being braced, 



PHILADELPHIA COUNTY. 589 

by this variation in width, against lateral pressure. A view of it may be seen in the large 
engraving of Fairmount. It was finished in 1813, at a cost of ,$120,000, by Lewis Wem- 
wan-, the architect, who has since erected many fine bridges throughout the United States, 
but none on so bold a plan as this. It was originally owned by a company, of which the late 
Jacob Ridgway* was president. 

The Permanent bridge across the Schuylkill at Market-st. was erected by a company incorpo- 
rated in 1798, at an expense of ,$275,000, including the cost of the site. It was considered a 
famous piece of architecture in its day, and still maintains its reputation for strength, though 
structures now abound throughout the state far exceeding it in magnitude of design. It was re- 
markable, however, for the numerous obstacles with which the builders were met in sinking the 
piers, especially the western one, which is sunk, says Dr. Maese, " in a depth of water unexam- 
pled in hydraulic architecture, the top of the rock on which it stands being 41 feet below com- 
mon high tides." Both piers were built within coffer dams, and all the ingenuity of hydraulic en- 
gineers was severely tested, as well as the perseverance of the company. 

The Fairmount Water Works, justly the pride of Philadelphia, are sit- 
uated on the left bank of the Schuylkill, about two miles northwest from 
the heart of the city. The name of this enchanting spot was conferred 
in the earliest days of the province, and Wm. Penn " had his eye, but not 
his heart, on it" for a country seat. The simple process by which the 
city is supplied with w^ater is by means of a dam thrown acro.ss the 
Schuylkill, the water-power from which turns six large wooden wheels, 
which keep in operation six forcing pumps to raise the water from the 
pool of the dam 92 feet to the four reservoirs on the summit of the hill. 
These reservoirs, which are about 100 feet above tide, and 56 feet above 
the highest ground in the city, are capable of containing about 22,000,000 
of gallons. From the reservoirs the water is distributed throughout the 
city by iron pipes, the aggregate length of which is about 110 miles. 
Only a part of the pumps are ordinarily in use at the same time. The 
average daily consumption of water for public and private use is about 
4,000,000 of gallons. Each private family pays $5 a year for the use of 
the water. On the summit and slopes of the hill neat gravel walks and 
staircases are arranged, with here and there a graceful balcony for re- 
pose ; and at the base of the precipice, in the spaces not occupied by the 
machinery, a beautiful garden has been laid out, tastefully adorned with 
flowers, shrubbery, statues, and fountains. From the summit a magnifi- 
cent prospect is enjoyed of the city, of the splendid public institutions 
that encircle it, of the Schuylkill, with its canals, and its beautiful bridges, 
and the romantic scenery of its valley. It is not surprising that the place 
should be a favorite resort for strangers and citizens. 

Dr. Franklin had foreseen the want of pure water that would be felt, as the city became 
densely populated ; and by his will provided that one of his accumulative legacies, after 100 
years, should be used for introducing the waters of Wisahiccon cr. to the city. The suggestion 
was more useful than the legacy : the attention of the citizens was turned to the subject ; and 
one of the objects of the old Schuylkill and Delaware canal, incorporated in 1792, two years 
after Franklin's death, was to introduce the water of the Schuylkill into the city, fiom the level 

* Jacob Ridgway, who died in 1843, has been regarded as the wealthiest man in 

Pennsylvania since Stephen Girard. His property is valued at about $6,000,000, and is of va- 
rious kinds ; all of which is the result of a long life of untiring industry and perseverance. In 
early life he was a ship-carpenter. He subsequently was appointed U. S. Consul at Antwerp, 
where he resided during a portion of the great war of the European powers, and when the rights 
of American citizens stood in need of protection from the blind encroachments of angry bellige- 
rents. After residing a short time in Paris, he returned to the United States, where he continued 
engaged in laudable and useful enterprises to the day of his death. His real property is very 
extensive, lying in various parts of the Union, but principally in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and 
Delaware. His heirs are a son and two daughters, Mrs. Dr. Rush, and Mrs. Roatch. The lat- 
ter is a widow. Mr. Ridgway is represented as an amiable, kind-hearted man, kind to his work- 
men, indulgent to his tenants, and liberal towards his friends and the distressed. 



690 



PHILADELPHIA COUNTY. 



of Conshohocken. This attempt failed. The Wisahiccon project was also deemed too costly, at 
that day. In 1799, an apparatus was devised by Mr. Latrobe, the engineer, at the expense of 
the city, for raising water by means of a steam-engine, situated on the Schuylkill, at the foot of 
Chestnut-st. This engine raised the water 54 feet, into a tunnel, which conducted it to Centre- 
square ; where it was again raised, by another steam-engine, into a distributing reservoir. About 
700,000 gallons were raised In twenty-four hours, and distributed, by wooden pipes, through the 
city. This affair cost the city about $500,000, and the annual cost, in 1811, was near $30,000 ; 
of which only about one-third was reimbursed by water-rents, the remainder being raised by a 
tax. 

In 1812-15, a new steam-engine was erected at Fairmount, in the large edifice still standing 
there ; and one or more of the present reservoirs were constructed on the top of the hill. This con- 
cern cost an additional $350,000 ; but it yielded, in three or four years, to the present cheap and 
simple plan. This plan had been in use, "at the Moravian town of Bethlehem, ever since 1752. 
Like Columbus's device with the egg, its simplicity is such that every one now wonders why it 
was not sooner thought of in Philadelphia. To accomplish the object, it became necessary ftr 
the city to purchase the mill-sites, destroyed at the falls above, for $150,000 ; and also to procure 
from the Schuylkill Navigation Co. their exclusive privilege of damming the river, which was 
granted, on condition that the city should construct the short canal and locks, on the western 
side. The works were commenced in 1819, and the first water was raised in July, 1822. An 
immense amount of labor And powder was expended, in cutting down the rocky base of the 
precipice, that originally extended quite to the river. Since the city commenced the work, con- 
stant improvements and additions have been annually made, until the total expenditure at Fair- 
mount, since 1819, had amounted, in 1840, to nearly one and a half millions of dollars — nearly 
all of which had been reimbursed by the water-rents. The daily expenses for supplying the same 
quantity of water now used, by steam, would be about $200 per day ; by water-power it is only 
from $7 to $10. Among the expenses of the old steam-works, during the whole term of its use, 
nearly $900 were charged for whiskey — whether for raising the steam or not does not appear. 
The present works use nothing but cold water. 




Eastern Penitentiary. 

The Eastern Penitentiary is situated on elevated ground about two miles northwest from the 
city, and half a mile east of Fairmount. A wall of thirty feet high encloses an area of 640 
feet square, or about ten acres. The edifices are constructed of stone in heavy masses. Every 
room is vaulted and fire-proof. The buildings for the keeper and the officers make a part of the 
front wall on each side of the centre. The octangular tower 80 feet high over the entrance, con- 
tains the alarm-bell and clock, and affords a point of observation over the whole premises. In 
the centre of the yard is erected the observatory, and on seven lines radiating from it are the 
blocks of cells, — thus permitting the sentinel in the observatory to observe any movement in 
either of the long corridors. Connected with each cell on the outside is an exercising yard, the 
entrance to which from the cell is by double doors. The prisoner may be seen by the keeper 
through a small orifice (1-4 of an inch in diameter) in the passage way, widening in a conical 
form so as to command a view of any part of the cell. Food is passed through a small drawer 
inserted in the door of each cell. Ventilation, light, and cleanliness, are secured by very inge- 
nious contrivances in each cell, which at the same time permit no communication between tiie 
convicts. The corner-stone of the penitentiary was laid on the 23d May, 1823. The architect 
was Mr. John Haviland. 

It was originally designed by the legislature, in its efforts to reform the penal code, that cok . 
victs should be confined in perfect solitude, without occupation of any sort ; and both the penL. 



PHILADELPHIA COUNTY. 



fentiaries were constructed with that design. But this was justly considered as the severest of 
all punishments — an outrage upon humanity which the spirit of the age would not tolerate, that 
must destroy the health of the prisoner, and possibly result in rendering him an idiot or a mad- 
man. The plan was modified by the acts of 1829 and 1831, so as to admit of occupation within 
the cells. " This system of punishment," says Judge Gordon, in his Gazetteer, " is emphatically 
called the system of Pennsylvania, and consists in solitary confinement at labor, wim instructions 
in labor, in morals, and religion. It is an experiment in the success of which all good men are 
interested, and the prospect of a beneficial result is highly fluttering, so far as it relates not only 
to the morals of the prisoner, but to tlie means of supporting him from the produce of his labor. 
Solitary confinement has not, as was predicted, been found injurious to the mental or physical 
health of the prisoner. 

" Wlien a convict first arrives, he is placed in a cell and left alone, without work, and without 
■any book. His mind can only operate upon itself. Generally, but few hours elapse before he pe- 
titions for something to d), and for a Bible. No instance has occurred in which such a petition 
has been delayed for more than a day or two. If the prisoner have a trade that can be pursued 
in his. cell, he is put to work as a favor ; as a reward for good behavior, and as a favor, a Bible ia 
allowed to him. If he have no trade, or one that cannot be pursued in his cell, he is allowed to 
choose one that can, and he is instructed by one of the overseers, all of whom are master work- 
men in the trades they respectively superintend and teach. Thus work, and moral and religious 
instruction, are regarded and received as favors, and are withheld as a punishment." 




Moyamensing Prison. 

The Philadelphia County Prison, usually known as the Moyamensing Prison, is situated about 
one mile south of the city, between Tenth and Eleventh streets. The whole exterior is built with a 
blue sienitic granite, from the Quincy quarries In Massachusetts. The architecture is in the Tudor 
style of English Gothic, in which the castles of the middle ages were built ; and the design re- 
flects great credit upon the architect, Mr. Thomas U. Walter. The interior is disposed in two 
general divisions, one for the untried prisoners, and the other for male convicts whose term of 
service does not exceed two years ; the females being confined in a building in the rear of the 
debtor's apartment. The main prison contains 408 separate cells in two blocks of three stories 
each ; the cells open into a corridor of 20 feet wide, extending along the centre of each block. 
The debtor's apartment (seen on the right of tlie view) presents a front of 90 feet, composed of 
brown sandstone, in the Egyptian style of architecture. The aggregate cost of the whole es- 
tablishment was more than $450,000. The county prison was founded in 1832, and finished in 
1835; the debtor's apartment in 1836; and that for females in 1837-.38. Previous to the erec- 
tion of this prison, and the Eastern penitentiary, the two prisons of Philadelphia had been situa. 
ted, one at the southeast comer of Sixth and Walnut streets ; and the other in the upper part of 
Arch-st. Both these sites are now occupied by splendid dwellings. 

The Laurel Hill Cemetery, situated on the banks of the Schuylkill, 
four miles northwest of the city, was laid out by a company of citizens in 
1836. The site was originally occupied by the country seat of a wealthy 
citizen. No better selection could possibly be made for the repose of the 
dead. Nature seems to have lavished every variety of beauty and grandeur 
on this secluded spot ; the grounds are laid out with serpentine gravelled 
walks, and the whole is shaded by ancient forest and ornamental trees. 
A beautiful Gothic chapel, with its immense variegated window of stain- 
ed glass, stands in the upper part of the grounds. At the entrance of the 



593 



PHILADELPHIA COUNTY. 



cemetery is a splendid colonnade, with appropriate architectural devices, 
and just within the gate, in a small structure erected expressly for it, is 
an admirable group of statuary by Mr. Thorn, the self-taught artist, rep- 
resenting Sir Walter Scott conversing with Old Mortality. The remains 
of several public benefactors have been already entombed here ; among 
which are those of the " man of truth," Charles Thompson, secretary of 
the Continental Congress ; Joseph S. Lewis, for so many years the effi- 
cient chairman of the watering committee ; Birch, the munificent bene- 
factor of the blind ; and Godfrey, the inventor of the quadrant, over whom 
a beautiful and appropriate monument has recently been erected. 

Another beautiful enclosure, called the Monument Cemetery, situated 
nearer the city, not far from the Girard College, was laid out in 1838. 
And another is known as Ilonaldson's Cemetery, between Ninth and 
Tenth streets, in the southwest section of the city. Mr. James Ronald- 
son deserves much credit as the pioneer in this laudable enterprise. He 
laid out this cemetery on a square belonging to himself several years before 
that of Laurel Hill was commenced, and it now contains a large number 
of splendid tombs, shaded with appropriate trees, and adorned with flow- 
ers and shrubbery. 

About a mile below Laurel Hill, the splendid bridge of the Columbia 
railroad crosses the Schuylkill. This bridge is at the foot of the inclined 
plane. A short distance above Laurel Hill the Reading railroad crosses 
the Schuylkill on a fine bridge recently constructed near the Falls. 




•^ list— S*- ^ ^^ 




Manayunh. 

Manayunk is a bustling and populous manufacturing village, on the 
left bank of the Schuylkill, seven miles from Philadelphia. This village 
has grown up entirely since 1818, by the impetus given by the comple- 
tion of the Schuylkill canal, which has created a vast amount of water- 
power at this place. Previous to that time, and to the erection of the 
Fairmount dam, it was remarkable only for an extensive shad fishery, 



PHILADELPHIA COUNTY. 



593 



with one or two houses scattered here and there. Among the earlier 
residents here were the Leverings and the Tibbin's family. In 1823 the 
only factory enumerated as being here was Mark Richards' " Flat Rock 
Cotton Factory." There are now erected along the canal, 5 cotton fac- 
tories, 3 woollen factories, 2 paper-mills, 1 rolling-mill, 1 steel manufac- 
tory, 1 machine-shop, 1 mill for polishing saws, and 2 flouring-mills. 
Two neat bridges cross the Schuylkill here. The Norristown railroad 
passes through the place. The village also contains Catholic, Dutch Re- 
formed, Episcopal, Presbyterian, and Methodist churches. The slope of 
the hill above the village affords a delightful site for dwelling-houses, 
commanding a fine prospect of this picturesque valley. 

Germantown is a very ancient village six miles northwest from Phila- 
delphia. It has no lateral streets, but is composed of dwellings, stores, 
taverns, and occasionally splendid mansions extending for four or five 
miles on each side of the turnpike. The houses are substantially built 
generally of stone, and many of them still bear the quaint pent-eaves and 
ponderous cornices of the last century. The population of this lengthy 
place may be about 2,500. Many of the citizens are wealthy — having 
retired from business in the city — and all appear to enjoy that happy 
competence that results from quiet industry, uninterrupted by the excite- 
ment and expensive luxuries of a large city, but still enjoying all the ad- 
vantage of its market. A railroad to the city affords a ready means of 
communication several times a day. At the southern end of the village 
is situated Logan's hill, the favorite country residence of James Logan, 
long the distinguished confidential secretary of Wm. Penn, and eminent 
in the annals of the early province as a scholar and statesman. Here he 
spent the later years of his life, when his infirmities had forced him into 
retirement. He died in 1751, aged 77, and lies among the Friends, in the 
cemetery in Arch, below Fourth st. The mansion and grounds are still 
untouched by the encroachments of modern lot-speculators, and are occu- 
pied by his descendants. 




Birthplace of David Rittenhouse. 
In a secluded valley about a mile west of Germantown stand an an- 
cient mill and a house, represented in the annexed view. This was the 

75 ■ 



594 PHILADELPHIA COUNTY. 

birthplace of David Rittenhouse, and about this mill he first learned to 
exercise his mechanical genius. The following sketch of his life is from 
Mr. Lord's American edition of the Universal Biography : 

This eminent mathematician was born at Germantown, Pa., April 8th, 1732. His ancestors 
were emigrants from Holland. He was employed during the early part of his life in agriculture, 
and occupied himself habitually at that period with mathematical studies. While residing with 
his father he made himself master of Newton's Principia, by an English translation, and also 
discovered the science of fluxions, of which he for a long time supposed himself to be the first in- 
ventor. His constitution being too feeble for an agricultural life, he became a clock and mathe- 
matical instrument maker, and, without the aid of an instructor, produced work superior to that 
of the foreign artists. He also contrived and erected an orrery, much more complete than any 
which had been before constructed. In 1770 he removed to Philadelphia, and employed himself 
in his trade. He was elected a member of the philosophical society of tliat city, and one of the 
number appointed to observe the transit of Venus in 1769, an account of which he communicated to 
the society. His excitement was so great on perceiving the contact of that planet with the sun at 
the moment predicted, that he fainted. He was one of the commissioners employed to determine 
the boundary hne between Pennsylvania and Virginia, and between New York and Massachusetts 
He held the office of treasurer of Pennsylvania from 1777 to 1789. In 1791 he was chosen 
president of the philosophical society, and held the place till his death. He was also, in 1792, 
appointed director of the United States mint, and continued in the office till 1795, when ill health 
induced him to resign. His mathematical talents were of the highest order ; and had it been his 
lot to have had the advantages of education which the great European mathematicians enjoyed, 
he would undoubtedly have been excelled by none of them in the extent of his discoveries, and 
lustre of his fame. 

The celebrated battle of Germantown has been described under Mont- 
gomery county, on pages 490 to 495. The following extracts are from 
several numbers written by John F. Watson, Esq., and published in Haz- 
ard's Register and the Village Telegraph. 

The Germantown settlement was first taken up by Francis Danl. Pastorius, the 12th of the 
8th month, 1683, by a purchase from William Penn ; and was surveyed and laid out by the sur- 
veyor-general, 2d of 3d month, 1684, under a grant to him, for himself and others, of 6000 acres. 
It proved, however, to contain but 5700 acres. 

It was a part of Springetsbury manor, and was distributed among the proprietaries as follows, 
viz. : 200 acres to Francis D. Pastorius himself, on Chestnut hill ; 150 to Jurian Hartsfielder, 
(the same who in 1676 owned all Campington ;) 5350 to Pastorius, as agent to German and 
Dutch owners. 

Pastorius and Hartsfielder were to pay yearly Is. per 100 acres, quit-rent ; and all the others 
at the rate of Is. per 1000 acres, (" they having bought off the quit-rents,") forever to Wm. 
Penn and heirs. 

Germantown was incorporated as a borough town by a patent from Wm. Penn, executed in 
England in 1689. Francis Daniel Pastorius, civilian, was made first bailiff"; and Jacob Tellner, 
Dirk Isaacs op den Graff", and Herman op den Graff", three burghers, to act ex-officio as town 
magistrates ; and eight yeomen ; — the whole to form a general court to sit once a month. They 
made laws and laid taxes. 

The town lost its charter for want of a due election, (officers not being found willing to serve,) 
somewhere about 1704. In a letter from Pastorius to Wm. Penn, dated in 1701-2, he states his 
concern that he shall not be able to get men to serve in the general court for " conscience sake ;" 
and he trusts, for a remedy, to an expected arrived of emigrants. This difficulty probably arose 
from the oaths used in court proceedings. 

All the settlers in Cresheim (or Cresum) built on the Cresum road before settling a house on the 
Germantown road through Cresheim. There is an old map, made in 1700, in which all their 
residences and bams at that time are marked. 

The original of the following curious paper is in the hands of John Johnson, Esq. : 

" We whose names are to these presents subscribed, do hereby certify unto all whom it may 
concern, that soon after our arrival in this province of Pennsylvania, in October, 1683, to our 
certain knowledge, Herman op den Graff", Dirk op den Graff", and Abraham op den Graff", as well 
as we ourselves, in the cave of Francis Daniel Pastorius, at Philadelphia, did cast lots for the 
respective lots which they and we then began to settle in Germantown ; and the said Graflfs (three 
brothers) have sold their several lots, each by himself, no less than if a division in writing had 
been made by them. Witness our hands this 29th Nov. A. D. 1709. Lenart Arets, Jan Lensen, 
Thomas Hundus, WilUam Streygert, Abraham Tunes, Jan Lucken, Reiner Tysen." 

The first paper-mill in Pennsylvania was built by Yarret Rittenhouse. It stood about 100 



PIKE COUNTY. 595 

yards higher up the stream than where old Martin Rittenhouse now lives, at C. Markles's. It 
was calried off by a freshet. Wm. Pehn wrote a letter, soliciting the good people to give some 
aid in rebuilding it with the money. The grist-mill, now Nicholas Rittenhouse's on Wissahic- 
con, bdow Meirkles's, was built there, without the use of carts, or roads, or barrows. 

Thomas Godfrey, the inventor of the quadrant, was born in Bristol township, about one mile 
from Germantown, in the year 1704, on a farm adjoining to Lukens' /nill, on the Church lane. 
His father died when he was but one year old. His mother put her son out to learn the business 
of a glazier and painter. 

While engaged at this business on the premises at Stenton, (J. Logan's place,) accidentally 
♦observing a piece of fallen glass, an idea presented to his reflecting mind, which caused hira 
to quit his scaffold and go into Mr. Logan's library, where he took down a volume of Newton. 
Mr. Logan entering at this time, and seeing the book in his hand, inquired into the motive of his 
search, when he was exceedingly pleased with Godfrey's ingenuity, and from that time became 
his zealous friend. He procured for him a skilful person to try his quadrant at sea ; and finding 
it fully answered every wish, he endeavored to serve him by writing to his friends in England, 
especially to Sir Hans Sloane, so as to get for him the reward offered by the Royal Society. This 
was intended to be a measure in opposition to the claim of Hadley, — who, it was supposed, had 
obtained tlie description of the instrument from his nephew, who, it was recollected, had seen it 
in the West Indies. Such is the tradition of the matter in the Logan family, as preserved by 
Mrs. Logan. James Logan assents, in a letter to one of his friends, that Godfrey's discovery 
was two years prior to Hadley's. 

" Joshua Fisher, of Lewistown, afterwards of Philadelphia, merchant, first tried the quadrant 
in the bay of Delaware." Afterwards, Capt. Wright carried it to Jamaica, where, xmsuspicious 
of the piracy, he showed and explained it to several Englishmen, among whom was a nephew of 
Hadley's. 

Godfrey's affection for mathematical science occurred at an early period, from a chance oppor- 
tunity of reading a book on that study. Finding the subject perplexed with Latin terras, he ap- 
plied himself to that language with such diligence as to be able to read the occasional Latin he 
found. Optics and astronomy became his favorite studies. He died in Dec. 1749, His re- 
mains have recently been removed to Laurel Hill cemetery. 



PIKE COUNTY. 

Pike county was separated from Wayne, by the act of 26th March, 
1814 ; and in 1835 a portion of it was cut off to form Monroe co. Length 
23 miles, breadth 23 ; area about 580 sq. miles. Population in 1820, on- 
ly 2,894; in 1830,4,843; and in 1840, 3,832. This remarkably sparse 
population, in a county bordering on the Delaware, only eighty miles 
from New York and Philadelphia, is caused by the rugged and moun- 
tainous character of the greater portion of the county. 

A broad range of broken spurs of the Pokono, and more northwesterly 
ridges of the Apalachian system — composed principally of the slates, 
shales, and sandstones of formations VIII. and IX. of our state geologists — 
sweeps through this county, forming a high, broken, and rather cold coun- 
try, coven^d with a dense forest of pine, hemlock, oak, and other timber. 
The soil of this region is comparatively poor, that is, in comparison with 
the warm fertile valleys of slate and limestone below the Blue mountain, 
or at the west ; but, though generally too cold for corn, it produces, under 
the hand of cultivation, good rye, oats, potatoes, and gra.ss, and is well 
adapted for dairy farms. The extensive alluvial flats, along the margin 
of the Delaware, are very fertile, adapted for all agricultural products, 
and generally well-cultivated. The county is abundantly watered, and 
contains some of the best mill-sites in the state, many of which are ottly 



696 



PIKE COUNTY. 



partially improved. The Delaware forms the northeast and southeast 
boundaries. The other streams are the Waullenpaupack, on the northwest 
boundary ; the Lackawaxen, which flows across the northern corner ; the 
Shoholo and Bushkill ; and those of less note are Masthope cr., Big-pond 
or., Glass cr., Sawkill, Ramy's kill, Dingman's cr., &c. &c. The number 
of kills, (the Dutch word for creek,) marks the fact of the early settle- 
ment of the Dutch along the Delaware. (See Monroe co., page 474.) 

Most of these streams have their sources in ponds and marshes, and 
flow rather sluggishly, for many miles, through broad, alluvial flats, show- 
ing the existence of a high table-land : on approaching the verge of the 
great slate and shale formation, near the Delaware, they are precipitated 
from a great height into wild, narrow, and rocky glens, through which 
they go foaming and tumbling on towards the Delaware. The Waullen- 
paupack, near the Oswego and Milford turnpike, pours down a chasm of 
70 feet, and then dashes over three successive cataracts, of 150 feet in all, 
within a mile and a half The Sawkill, at Milford, also falls over a sim- 
ilar precipice. The Delaware and Hudson canal, from Carpenter's point, 
passes up the Delaware, on the New York side, crosses into Pike co. at 
the mouth of Lackawaxen, and continues up the valley of that stream 
into Wayne co. The citizens derive a great part of their subsistence 
from the forest, and agriculture has been hitherto but a secondary busi- 
ness. Many German and Irish emigrants are coming in, the former of 
whom make good farmers. There are great quantities of unseated land 
in the interior of the county, to be had at from $2 to $5 per acre, which 
would make many a happy and independent home to the poor laborers 
hovering around our great cities in want of work. The neighboring 
county of Sullivan, in New York, with an equally mountainous surface, 
and the same kind of soil, bears a population of nearly 20 to the square 
mile ; while Pike co. has scarcely 7 per square mile. 




View in Milford. 

The first settlement made at Milford, the county seat, was about the 
year 1799, by one Vandermark, a Dutchman, who gave name to the creek 
north of the village- In the year 1800, there were but two houses and a 



PIKE COUNTY. 697 

blacksmith's shop on the site. The whole plain was thickly grown over 
with pines, hemlocks, and bushes. By some carelessness the under-brush 
took fire, and the fire extended over the whole plain — not, however, de- 
stroying the buildings above mentioned. Some wag published a state- 
ment in the papers, that " a fire had ravaged the town of Milford, and 
had left but two houses and a blacksmith's shop standing !" The town, 
in its present shape, was laid out by Mr. John Beddis. 

In 1814 it became the county seat of Pike co., since which time it has 
increased gradually — most rapidly in the speculative times of 1836. The 
buildings are situated principally on two streets, in the shape of an L. 
The preceding view was taken from the centre of the street running north 
and south. The town contains the courthouse, a jail seldom tenanted, 
a Presbyterian and a Methodist church, and an academy. The Sawkill, 
which dashes down the ravine near the southern border of the town, 
turns several mills in its course. The citizens are much engaged in the 
lumber-trade. There is a fine bridge here across the Delaware. Many 
of the inhabitants of the village, and quite a number of farmers in the 
vicinity, are immigrants from France. They make industrious and thriv- 
ing citizens and farmers ; and by their good taste give an air of neatness 
and embellishment to their dwellings, which stimulates others to do like- 
wise. The construction of the Delaware and Hudson canal has taken 
much business away from this town to Port Jarvis, in New York, six 
miles above. 

About a mile and a quarter southwest of Milford, in a very secluded 
spot, may be seen the magnificent falls of the Sawkill. This stream, af- 
ter flowing sluggishly for some miles through level table-land, is here 
precipitated over two perpendicular ledges of slate rock — the first of 
about 20 feet, and the second about 60 feet — :into a wild, rocky gorge. 
The stream still continues, dashing and foaming on for a quarter of a 
mile, over smaller precipices, and through chasms scarcely wide enough 
for an individual to pass. The beetling cliffs that form the sides of the 
gorge are surmounted and shaded by cedars and hemlocks, that impart a 
peculiarly sombre and terrific air to the scenery. 

The surface of the hill by which they are approached is on a level 
with the top of the second fall ; and the spectator, on account of the 
bushes and trees, may reach the very verge of the precipice, and within 
almost leaping distance of the falls, before he perceives them ; and if he 
should happen for the first time to have trodden that lonely path without 
a companion, after the shades of twilight had thrown a deeper gloom 
around the glen, he will not soon forget the awful sublimity of the scene. 

WiLsoNviLLE is situatcd on the right bank of the Waullenpaupack, 
where the Oswego turnpike crosses it, and near the great falls of that 
creek. It was formerly the seat of justice of Wayne county, before the 
separation of Pike co. ; but the removal of the county business checked 
its prosperity. The inhabitants are principally engaged in the lumber 
business. On the turnpike, about a mile or two southeast of Wilsonville, 
is Tafton, a small, but smart village, of recent growth. 

Bushville is a small village on the Delaware, near Bushkill creek. 

The Sylvania Association, a company recently formed in New York 
and Albany for carrying out the system of " Industrial organization and 
social reform, propounded by Charles Fourier," have started a colony in 



698 



PIKE COUNTY. 




Sawkill Falls. 

Lackawaxen township, between Shoholy and Lackawaxen creeks, 
northeast of the Milford and Owego turnpike. Great benefits are antici- 
pated by this colony from the principle of association, — that is, from own- 
ing and cultivating their " domain" in common, and dwelling together in 
one or more immense mansions called phalanxteries, — whereby the ex- 
penses of separate house-building and house-keeping shall be avoided, 
and the distinction of master and servant be abolished. The following 
facts are derived from a pamphlet containing the constitution and bye- 
laws, with some additional information from an officer of the associatioH 



POTTER COUNTY. 599 

The association was formed early in 1843, by a few citizens of New York and Albany, mainly 
mechanics. In April, about 2500 acres of land, in three large tracts, was purchased, and a pio- 
neer division of some 40 persons entered upon the possession and improvement of the land. The 
number has been increased (in Oct. 1843) to about 130 or 140, including about 25 whole families 
of men, women, and children, and some single persons. These colonists are generally young, or 
in the vigor of life, and " all recognizing labor as the true and noble destiny of man on earth." 
The soil of the domain is a deep loam, well calculated for tillage and grazing. About 80 acres 
had been cleared before the association purchased the tract ; and they found upon it a saw-mill, 
an unfinished grist-mill, and two or three dwellings, &c., which have served for the temporary 
accommodation of the colonists. They have now about 160 acres cleared. It is intended to 
erect a spacious edifice for a dweUing, with workshop, &,c. The land lies in gentle sloping ridges, 
with valleys between and wide level table-lands at the top. Much of it can be cleared at $6 per 
acre. A small stream, or branch of the Shoholy, passes tlirough it, affording abundant water, 
power for all purposes. The domain is three to five miles from the Delaware and Hudson canal, 
14 miles northwest from Mllford, and 94 from New York city by the Milford turnpike, or 110 by 
way of Port Jervis, Middletown, and the N. Y. and Erie railroad. 

Any person of good character may become a member of the association, by owning a share, 
($25,; and laboring on the domain under the rules of the association. 

A capital of |$ 10,000 has been raised by subscription, upon which legal interest is paid by the 
association. This capital is to be increased, wiien practicable, to ,^100,000. Labor is paid for 
on a graduated scale of compensation, according as it is considered more or less repulsive, neces- 
sary, useful, or agreeable. Members are at liberty to pursue any branch of employment they 
may select ; but all labor performed must be for the benefit of the association, and must be pros- 
ecuted on the domain, or under the direction of the association. Disputes must be settled by 
arbitration, with privilege of appeal to a supreme court of the colony ; but any member who 
seeks legal redress out of the colony shall be expelled. Women receive five-eighths the wages 
of a man ; children from ten to fifteen one-third — from fifteen to eighteen one-half. Profits are 
divided annually, and all balances due individuals, above their board, clothing, and other items 
of expenditure, are to be credited as stock. A library, and suitable apartments for public exer- 
cises and amusements, are to be provided. The great edifice is to be leased according to an as- 
sessment of the various apartments, at an annual rent of ten per cent, on its cost. Members 
who wish to take their meals separately may do so by paying extra, and may use any extra fur- 
niture which tiiey choose to have at their individual cost. Children under ten, and the aged and 
infirm, are at the charge of the association. Young women may vote at the age of eighteen, 
and young men at twenty. The association may not hire a minister of religion, but provides a 
room, in which any one invited and paid by individuals may preach. The association may not 
suppress any public amusement, nor " exclude wine or ardent spirits from the tables of the asso- 
ciation, but shall furnish the same to any member desirous of using them, according to the plan 
adopted with reference to wearing apparel, or other articles." " Drunkenness subjects the 
guilty party to public rebuke, fine, or expulsion." If too many select any one occupation, the 
supernumeraries are detached by lot Thomas W. Whiteley, president ; J. D. Pierson, vice-pres- 
ident ; J. T. S. Smith, secretary ; Horace Greeley, treasurer — all of whom at present reside in 
New York city, except the vice-president. 

Another colony of individuals, principally from Brooklyn, N. Y., under 
the title of the " Social Reform Unity," have recently made a settlement 
in the southwestern part of the county, adjoining the Monroe co. line. 



POTTER COUNTY. 

Potter county was separated from Lycoming, by the act of 26th March, 
1804. Length 37 miles, breadth 30; area 1,106 sq. miles. Population 
in 1810, 29; in 1820, 186; in 1830, 1,265; in 1840, 3,371. 

The county comprises the high, rolling, and table-land, adjacent to the 
northern boundary of the state, lying on the outskirts of the great bitu- 
minous coal formation. Its streams are the sources of the Allegheny, the 
Genesee, and the West branch of the Susquehanna ; and a resident of 



600 POTTER COUNTY. 

the coanty says that all these streams head so near together, that a man 
in three hours may drink from waters that flow into the Gulf of St. Law- 
rence, the Gulf of Mexico, and the Chesapeake bay, respectively. The 
names of these sources are the Allegheny, the Genesee, the East branch 
of Sinnemahoning, Kettle cr.. Pine cr., and Cowanesque cr. The soil is 
a chocolate-colored loam, of fair quality, covered with a heavy growth 
of beech, maple, elm, basswood, pine, oak, chestnut, and hemlock ; and 
along the streams, hickory, butternut, and thorn. The land is well adapt- 
ed for grazing. In the south part of the county, bituminous coal and 
iron-ore are found ; and a bed of coal has been recently discovered within 
three miles of Coudersport. The leading roads of the county are as good 
as could be expected in a new county. 

Coudersport the county seat, is a small but thriving town, situated on 
the right bank of the Allegheny, at the crossing of the great east and 
west state road. Another road leads to Jersey Shore, on the West Branch. 
The place contains a stone courthouse and jail, an academy, three stores, 
two taverns, a carding-machine, mills, and dwellings. Stated preaching, 
by ministers of different denominations, is regularly enjoyed on the sabbath. 

John Keating, Esq., of Philadelphia, who owns immense tracts of wild 
lands in this region, presented one half of the town-plot for the use of 
the county, and $500 for the academy. He also gave 50 acres of land 
to each of the first 50 families that settled on his land ; and many other 
benevolent acts of that gentleman are gratefully remembered by the early 
settlers. 

It is evident, from a comparison of the population with the area, that 
the greater part of the county is still a wilderness ; and although enter- 
prising settlers are fast coming in, there is still a vast quantity of " un- 
seated" farming land, that may be purchased at a low rate. The history 
of the early pioneers is one of extreme toil and hardship, yet health and 
competence have been their reward ; and where they found nought but 
a howling wilderness, traversed only by the Indian, the bear, the wolf, 
the panther, the elk, and the deer, they now see cultivated fields, abound- 
ing with cattle and sheep, and an industrious population, furnished with 
mills, schools, and manufactories. The following extracts are from the 
correspondence of respectable citizens of the county. An early settler, 
Benjamin Birt, Esq., says — 

In the year 1808 an east and west road was opened through Potter co. Messrs. John Keating; 
& Co., of Philadelphia, owning large tracts of land in the northwest part of the county, agreed 
with Isaac Lyman, Esq., to undertake the opening of the road. In the fall of 1809 Mr. Lyman 
came in, with several hands, and erected a rude cabin, into which he moved in March, 1810. 
He then had but one neighbor in the county, who was four miles distant. I moved in on the 4th 
May, 1811, and had to follow the fashion of the country for building and other domestic concerns, 
— which was rather tough, there being not a bushel of grain or potatoes, nor a pound of meat, ex- 
cept wild, to be had in the county ; but there were leeks and nettles in abundance, which, with 
venison and bear's meat, seasoned with hard work and a keen appetite, made a most deHcious 
dish. The friendly Indians of different tribes frequently visited us on their hunting excur.sions. 
Among other vexations were the gnats, a very minute but poisonous insect, that annoyed us far 
more than musquitoes, or even than hunger and cold ; and in summer we could not work without 
raising a smoke around us. 

Our roads were so bad that we had to fetch our provisions 50 to 70 miles on pack-horses. In 
this way we lived until we could raise our own grain and meat. By the time we had grain to 
grind, Mr. Lyman had built a small grist-mill ; but the roads still being bad, and the mill at some 
distance from me, I fixed an Indian samp-mortar to pound my corn, and afterwards I contrived 
a small hand-mill, by which I have ground i..^ny a bushel, — but it was hard work. When we 
went out after provisions vrith a team, we were compelled to camp out in the woods ; and, if in 



POTTER COUNTY. 



601 




Early method of pounding corn. 

the winter, to chop down a maple-tree for our cattle to browse on all night, — and on this kind of 
long fodder we had to keep our cattle a good part of the winter. 

When I came here I had a horse that I called " Main dependence " on account of his being a 
good steady old fellow. He used to carry n^y whole family on his back whenever we went to 
a wedding, a raising, a logging-bee, or to visit our neighbors, for several j'ears, — until the increas- 
ing load comprised myself, my wife, and three children — five in all. 

We had often to pack our provisions 80 miles from Jersey Shore. 60 miles of the road was 
without a house ; and in the winter, when deep snows came on and caught us on the road with- 
out fire, we should have perished if several of us had not been in company to assist each other. 

The want of leather, after our first shoes were worn out, was severely felt. Neither tanner nor 
shoemaker lived in the county. But " necessity is the mother of invention." I made me a 
trough out of a big pine-tree, into which I put the hides of any cattle that died among us. I 
used ashes for tanning them instead of lime, and bear's grease for oil. The thickest served for 
sole leather, and the thinner ones, dressed with a drawing-knife, for upper leather ; and thus I 
made shoes for myself and neighbors. 

I had 14 miles to go in winter to mUl with an ox team. Tlie weather was cold, and the snow 
deep ; no roads were broken, and no bridges built across the streams. I had to wade tlie streams, 
and carry the bags on my back. The ice was frozen to my coat as heavy as a bushel of corn. 
I worked hard all day and got only seven miles the first night, when I chained my team to a tree, 
and walked three miles to house myself At the second night I reached the mill. My courage 
often failed, and I had almost resolved to return ; but when I thought of my children crying for 
bread, I took new courage. 

Mr. John Peat, another old pioneer, in a communication in the Forester 
in 1834, says : 

It will be 23 years the 23d day of May, 1834, since I moved into Potter county. Old Mr. 
Ayres was in the county at that time, and had been in the county about five years alone. Ii^i 
the fall before I came, three families — (Benjamin Birt, Major Lyman, and a Mr. Sherman) — 
moved to the county. The East and West State Road was cut out the year before I moved in. 

It was very lonesome for several years. People would move in, and stay a short time, and 
move away again. It has been but a few years since settlers began to stick. I made some 
little clearing, and planted some garden seeds, &,c., the first spring. We brought a small stock 
of provisions with us. On the 3d day of July I started, with my two yoke of oxen, to go to Jer- 
sey Shore, to mill, to procure flour. I crossed Pine creek eighty times going to, and eighty times 
coming from mill, was gone eighteen days, broke two axletrees to my wagon, upset twice, and one 
wheel came oft' in crossing the creek. 

Jersey Shore was the nearest place to procure provisions, and the road was dreadful. The few 
seeds that I was able to plant the first year, yielded but little produce. AVe however raised some 
half-grown potatoes, some turnips, and soft corn, with which we made out to live, without suffer- 
ing, till the next spring, at planting time, when I planted all the seeds that I had left ; and 
when I finished planting, we had nothing to eat but leeks, cow-cabbage, and milk. We lived on 
leeks and cow-cabbage as long as they kept green — about six weeks. My family consisted of 
my wife and twq chjjdren ; and f was obliged to work, though faint for want of food. 

76 



602 SCHUYLKILL COUNTY. ^ 

The first winter, the snow fell very deep. The first winter month, it snowed 25 days out of 
30 ; and during the three winter months it snowed 70 days. I sold one yoke of my oxen in the 
fall, the other yoke I wintered on browse ; but in the spring one ox died, and the other I sold to 
procure food for my family, and was now destitute of a team, and had nothing but my own hands 
to depend upon to clear my lands and raise provisions. We wore out all our shoes the first year. 
We had no way to get more, — no money, nothing to sell, and but little to eat, — and were in dread- 
ful distress for the want of the necessaries of life. I was obliged to work and travel in the woods 
barefooted. After a while, our clothes were worn out. Our family increased, and the children 
were nearly naked. I had a broken slate that I brought from Jersey Shore. I sold that to Harry 
Lyman, and bought two fawn-skins, of which my wife made a petticoat for Mary ; and Mary 
wore the petticoat until she outgrew it ; then Rhoda took it, till she outgrew it ; then Susan had 
it, till she outgrew it ; then it fell to Abigail, and she wore it out. 



SCHUYLKILL COUNTY. 

Schuylkill county was separated from Berks and Northampton, by the 
act of 1st March, ISIL Length 30 miles, breadth 20 ; area 745 sq. miles. 
Population in 1820, 11,339; in 1830, 20,744; in 1840, 29,053. 

The surface of the county is very mountainous and rugged. A pleas- 
ant and fertile red-shale valley lies between the Kittatinny and Second 
mountains ; but the region beyond, with the exception of the narrow val- 
leys of the streams, is of little value, comparatively, for agricultural pur- 
poses-r-the great wealth of that region consisting in its coal-mines. 
There are farms there, it is true, and more will be opened, stimulated by 
the excellent market in the immediate vicinity ; but, as a general rule, 
the coal-region of Schuylkill county must look below the Second moun- 
tain, or even below the Blue mountain, for its agricultural supplies. The 
mountain ranges run from southwest to northeast : the leading chains are 
the Kittatinny, or Blue mountain, which forms the southeastern boundary 
of the county ; the Second mountain ; Sharp mountain, which is the south- 
eastern limit of the coal measures ; Mine hill, and Broad mountain, 
which contain the principal veins of coal ; and the Mahantango and Ma- 
hanoy mountain, the northwestern boundary of the county. 

The Schuylkill, with its branches, Little Schuylkill, Norwegian, and 
Mill cr., is the principal stream of the county. The Swatara, the Ma- 
hantango, and Mahanoy creeks drain the southwestern end ; and the 
sources of Catawissa cr., Lizard, and Mahoning creeks are also within 
the county. 

The great southern anthracite coal-field is about 65 miles long, extend- 
ing from the Summit-mine of Mauch Chunk to the neighborhood of Pine 
Grove, where it divides into two branches : the northern one, under the 
name of Wicbnisco mountain, extending westwardly beyond the county 
line to Lyken's valley, in Dauphin county ; and the other embraced be- 
tween the Stony mountain and a continuation of the Sharp mountain, 
reaching nearly to the Susquehanna. This coal-field is about five miles 
in width, between the northern slope of Sharp mountain and the south- 
ern slope of Broad mountain ; and is divided by low ridges, or anticlinal 
axes, caused by subterranean forces, into the minor basins of Broad moun- 
tain. Mine hill, and Pottsville. Professor Rogers, the state geologist, re- 
marks : " FroRi geological evidences, too numerous and striking tp be 



SCHUYLKILL COUNTY. 603 

tjuestioried, we infer that all the coal deposits of our anthracite region 
owe their more or less inclined posture, and their limits, to the influence 
of two grand causes, namely— subterranean elevation, and the superficial 
denuding action of a deluge," " Connected with this violent upheaving ac- 
tion of the coal strata, outside of the coal basins, enormous parallel wrink- 
lings of the coal measures themselves have taken place, causing great intri- 
cacy in the internal structure of many parts of these regions. This is aug- 
mented by the existence of great dislocations, the results of the same 
subterranean movements." To the same cause Prof Rogers attributes 
the peculiar phenomena discovered in Sharp mountain, throughout an 
extent of probably thirty miles, indicating that the coal measures of that 
mountain have been tilted over backwards, or towards the north, break- 
ing the coal up into small flakes, and giving to its strata a dip contrary 
to that which they should naturally have on the southern side of the basin. 

Broad and Sharp mountains, the boundaries of the basin, are cut down 
at various places, by the different streams that take their rise in the coal- 
field, or pass through it. It is penetrated by the Little Schuylkill, at Ta- 
maqua, by the river Schuylkill at Pottsville, by the West Branch at Mi- 
nersville, and by Swatara creek at Pine Grove ; and at the west by the 
Wiconisco and Stony creeks. The northern boundary is also cut through 
by Roush's creek, a branch of Mahantango. These creeks, or passes 
through the mountains, afford outlets for the coal, and favorable sites for 
the location of canals and railroads. The principal of these improve- 
ments are the Schuylkill Navigation, penetrating the first coal-field at 
Pottsville, and terminating at Port Carbon ; the Reading railroad, termi- 
nating, itself, at Pottsville, but connecting there with another railroad up 
the Schuylkill valley, ten miles — with the Danville and Pottsville rail- 
road, and several other small roads diverging from Pottsville — and with 
the West Branch railroad at Schuylkill Haven, and the Little Schuylkill 
railroad at Port Clinton. The Union canal reaches near to the coal-field 
at Pine Grove, from which railroads diverge to the mines. These larger 
railroads have innumerable lateral branches, communicating with each 
diflferent mine. Besides these improvements, there is an excellent stoned 
turnpike leading from Reading, through Orwigsburg and Pottsville, to 
Sunbury. Iron-ore of good quality has been found at a number of the 
coal-mines, and a successful attempt has been made, at Pottsville, in 
reducing iron-ore with the anthracite ; but hitherto the coal business 
has been found the most profitable. The original population of the lower 
part of the county consisted of German farmers from Berks county ; the 
greater part of the miners are Welsh and Irish, with a sprinkling of Scotch 
and Germans ; and the trading classes in the coal-region are from Penn- 
sylvania, New York and New England, and Ireland. 

As early as 1790, a few quiet German farmers, among whom was the 
founder of Orwigsburg, had ventured up from the more thickly settled 
parts of Bucks county, into the red-shale valleys between the Kittatinny 
and Second mountain. These settlements increased, as all German set- 
tlements do, very slowly and surely, until the establishment of the county, 
in 1811, aided to build up the county town, and infused a more vigorous 
growth in the settlement. Still the region above Second mountain re- 
mained a desolate wilderness : a lonely road ran through the wild gorges, 
and over the Broad mountain, to Sunbury ; and here and there was the 



604 SCHUYLKILL COUNTY. 

cabin of some daring backwoodsman, or hardy lumberman, who kept an 
humble house of entertainment for the few who were compelled to go 
over the road. As for the lands that now sell for their $100,000, for a 
small tract, and pour forth annually their thousand tons of coal, if they 
had the honor of being owned at all, they were known only as the value- 
less property of some venerable German, or lone widow, who esteemed 
it a burden to pay the taxes. Some of them had been taken, and some 
of them had been refused, by city merchants, in payment for desperate 
debts. The following history of the discovery and introduction of the 
coal of this region into notice, is from a report made, in 1833, to the Coal 
Mining Association ; and from a report to the state senate, in 1834, by 
Samuel J. Packer, Esq. : — 

So early as 1790, coal was known to abound in this county ; but, it being of a different quality 
from that known to our smiths as bituminous coal, and being hard of ignition, it was deemed 
useless, until about the year 1795, when a blacksmith, named Whetstone, brought it into notice, 
by using it in his smithery. His success induced several to dig for coal, and, when found, to at- 
tempt the burning of it ; but the difficulty was so great that it did not succeed. 

About the year 1800, a Mr. William Morriss, who owned a large tract of land in the neigh- 
borhood of Port Carbon, procured a quantity of coal, and took it to Philadelphia ; but he was 
unable, with all his exertions, to bring it into notice. lie abandoned all his plans, returned, and 
sold his lands to Mr. Pott, the late proprietor. From that time to about the year 1806, no fur- 
ther efforts to use it were made. About that time, in cutting the tail-race for the Valley Forge, 
on the Schuylkill, they struck on a seam of coal, which induced David Berlin, a blacksmith in 
the neighborhood, to make trial of it. His success was complete ; and from that period it has 
been partially used. 

In the year 1812, our fellow-citizen. Col. George Shoemaker, procured a quantity of coal from 
a shaft sunk on a tract he had recently purchased, on the Ndrvifegian, and now owned by the 
North American Coal Company, and known as the Centreville mines. With this he loaded nine 
wagons, and proceeded to Philadelphia. Much time was spent by him in endeavoring to intro- 
duce it to notice ; but all his efforts proved unavailing. Those who deigned to try it declared 
Col. Shofemaker to be an impostor, for attemj)ting to impose stone on them for coal ; and were 
clamorous against him. Not discouraged by the sneers and sarcasms cast upon him, he persistefl 
in the undertaking ; and at last succeeded in disposing of two loads, for the cost of transporta- 
tion. The remaining seven he gave to persons who proniised to try to use it, and lost all the 
coal and charges. Messrs. Mellon and Bishop, at his earnest solicitation, were induced to make 
trial of it in their rolling-mill, in Delaware county ; and finding it to answer fully the character 
given it by Col. Shoemaker, noticed its usefulness in the Philadelphia papers. From that period 
we may date the triumph of reason, aided by perseverance, over prejudice. 

At this period the mountains were but partially explored, and the scant but hardy population 
of the county depended, in a great measure, on hunting, for their immediate wants ; and on lum- 
ber for supplying those articles of foreign product that were required for their comforts or neces- 
sities. The lumber procured during the winter was formed into rafts, and sent down when spring 
freshets rendered the river navigable. By this uncertain and, at all times, precarious mode of 
conveyance, the product of this county was conveyed to market, until the canal was completed, 
in the year 1825. 

In the year 1814, a few of the most enterprising of the citizens projected a canal from Phila- 
delphia to this place, under an impression that the lumber of Schuylkill county, and the grain 
of the counties bordering on the Susquehanna, would find a vent, and ultimately afford a divi- 
dend to the stockholders. At that period there were a few who looked forward to a time when 
the coal from this county would be the principal article of export, and would become an article 
of general use ; but the number was small, and a vast majority looked on the formation of a ca- 
nal, through this wild and mountainous region, as a chimerical scheme, more fitted for specula- 
tors in a stock-market than from an}' benefit that might result to the stockholders or the public. 

In the year 1813, several small openings were made, in different parts of the county, by sink- 
ing shafts ; and the coal taken out was vended to the smiths, and others in the neighborhood, at 
twenty.five cents per bushel, or $3 50 per ton, at the pit's mouth. These shafts were sunk but a 
few feet, in the crop of the vein, and the coal raised by means of the coimmon windlass and 
buckets ; and, so soon as they attained a depth where the water became troublesome, (which sel- 
dom exceeded thirty feet,) the shaft was abandoned and another sunk, and the same process un- 
dergone. 

In the year 1823, an improvement was made in the mode of working, in substituting horse. 
power, by the gin, for the windlass heretofore used ; by which they are enabled to clear the v^atei 



SiCHUYLKILL COUNTY. 605 

ffOm the shafts with greater facility, and to sink further on the yeins. But with this (as it was 
then conceived) great improvement, they were only enabled to run down the vein for a short dis- 
tance ; and the coal, in point of comparison, was inferior — as experience has since taught that 
the crop is not equal to the coal that is taken out lower, and when the roof and floor have at- 
tained the regularity and hardness so necessary to ensure good coah 

As far back as 1814, drifts had been run on the heads of veins, in several places, and the coal 
bi ought from them in wheelbarrows ; but it was not until 1827 that the railroad was introduced 
into drifts. From that period to tlie present, drifts have been the universal mode. Improve- 
ments have been making from that to the present time ; and it is believed they have attained that 
degree of perfection whicli has so long been desired, and such as to enable the miner to work on 
the best and cheapest plan. 

The Schuylkill Navigation Company were incorporated without mining and trading privileges ; 
and hence it was, and of consequence must continue to be, their interest to invite tonnage from 
every quarter, and from every source. This valuable improvement, 108 miles in length, was 
commenced in 1815, and completed at an expense of $2,966,480. Tolls were first taken in 
1818, amounting to $233; and from that time until 1825, it does not appear, from the annual 
reports of the company, that any account was kept of the tolls on the separate articles of ton- 
nage, but that the whole amounted, for the year 1824, to $635. The next year, 1825, at which 
period may be dated the commencement of the coal-trade on the Schuylkill, the tolls increased 
to $15,775. Of this sum, $9,700 were received from coal. Having a free navigation, open to 
all who chose to participate in its facilities, and entering the first coal-field at its centre, individ- 
uals of capital and enterprise were attracted to the scene, and railroads constructed, diverging in 
all directions to the mines. Laborers and mechanics, of all kinds and from all nations, thronged 
to the place, and found ready and constant employment. A new era seemed to have dawned in 
the mountains. The wilderness was subdued. The coal basin seemed to be literally running 
over with active and resolute adventurers ; a rapidly growing population became established : the 
wild animal was driven back to give place to a host of miners, who now pierce its thousand hills. 
Houses, many of which are costly and splendid, and towns, the principal of which is Pottsville, 
sprang up in various parts of the region. Coal-lands, the basis of all this promising superstruc- 
ture, grew rapidly in value. Being owned by numerous individuals, or yet remaining the property 
of the state, and considered until now scarcely worth the taxes, they were eagerly sought after, 
and presented strong inducements for the investment of capital. Sales were made to a large 
amount ; it being now estimated that four millions of dollars have been invested in lands in the 
first coal district. Many individuals purchased lands and removed upon them, with their fami- 
lies, designing to convert them into permanent residences ; and, as the farmer cultivates his farm, 
to prosecute the mining business with their own hands, and their own means. Other lands are 
held by capitalists, some residing in the district, and some at a distance ; the mining operations 
being carried on by tenants. Associations of individuals, forming joint-stock companies, having 
obtained charters for the mining of coal, from the legislatures of other states, also purchased 
lands, which, to evade the statutes of mortmain, declared to be in force in Pennsylvania, were 
held in virtue of deeds of trust, and were used and occupied by those companies. Two of them, 
viz. the Delaware Coal Co. and the North American Coal Co., were incorporated [in 1833] for 
the term of five years. 

Capital was thus introduced, and important public improvements made. The country has 
grown and flourished beyond example. The farmer shared alike the general prosperity, in the 
new, convenient, and certain market for all his produce. In the midst of this hum of industry, 
this tide of prosperity, and flow of capital, it was not to have been expected that a spirit of spec- 
ulation should have remained entirely dormant, or all who purchased lands did so with the bona 
fide intention either of occupying them themselves, by actual resident settlement, or of reaUzing 
their expenditures from the product of the mines. Hence a fictitious value was sometimes given 
to coal.lands. Calculations being made to ascertain the number of square yards of coal con- 
tained in an acre of land, and its value ; and some calculating also the quantity that each acre 
was capable of producing, without either knowing that it contained coal at all, or counting the 
cost, labor, and expense of producing it ; the adventurer considered the sum of one, two, or three 
thousand dollars per acre a very inadequate price. The few Who thus ran into error and extrav- 
agance, and purchased lands under these impressions, and with these expectations, (and it is 
hither a matter of surprise that the number was not greater,) were compelled either to lose money 
themselves, or impose their losses upon others. They were theref jre interested in producing fluc- 
tuations and uncertainty, rather than steadiness and certainty, iri the coal market. Their for. 
tunes csuld not be injured by the most sudden change, but might possibly be benefited ; and if^ 
a supply of coal were one year withheld, in order that the price might advance to ten, twelve, or 
fifteen dollars per ton, data would be afforded for another estimate of the value of their lands, by 
the square yard of coal, and the owner again realize, and perhaps double, the amount of his pur- 
chase money. These, however, are of the things that have been, and it is believed have now 
passed away. It is not now in the power of the speculator seriously to aflfect, nor of the monop- 
olist permanently to control, the coal-trade of Pennsylvania. This mineral is happily too vast, 



606 



SCHUYLKILL COUNTY. 



and the facilities for transporting it to market too numerous and diversified, to be grasped by the 
hand of one or the other. At one time, and but a few years since, this might have been done> 
had the locahties of our coal deposits been accurately known. But this knowledge was imparted 
in proportion as the interest or ambition of one impels him ahead of another, and as necessity 
leads to invention and discovery ; and it is not now probable that such a state of things will ever 
occur. 

The following table exhibits the quantity of coal shipped for the different mining regions of 
Pennsylvania, from the commencement of the trade ; together with the annual amount of in- 
crease and consumption, and quantity remaining over unsold, and disposed of on the Une of the 
canal : — 



Year. 


Schuylkill. 


Lehigh. 


Pine Grove. 


Shamokin. Wilkesbarre. Lackawanna. 


Aggregate. 




Tons. 


Tons. 


Tons. 


Tons. Tons Tons. 


Tons. 


1820.... 




365 










365 


1821.... 
1822... 




1,073 
2,240 










1,073 
• 2,240 


1823.... 




5,523 




.... 






5,523 


1824.... 




9,541 










9,541 


1825.... 


6,500 


28,393 










34,593 


1826.... 


16,776 


31,280 




.... 






48,047 


1827.... 


31,360 


32,074 










63,434 


1828.... 


47,284 


30,232 




.... 






77,516 


1829.... 


79,973 


25,110 




.... 




7,000 


112,083 


1830.... 


89,984 


41,750 




.... 




43,000 


174,734 


1831.... 


81,853 


40,966 








54,000 


176,520 


1832.... 


209,271 


70,000 








84,600 


363,871 


1833.... 


252,971 


123,000 








111,777 


487,748 


1834.... 


226,692 


106,244 




.... 




43,700 


376,636 


1835... 


339,508 


131,250 




.... 




90,000 


560,758 


1836.... 


432,045 


146,522 








103,561 


682,428 


1837.... 


523,152 


225,937 


17,000 






115,387 


881,476 


1838.... 


433,875 


214,211 


13,000 






78,207 


739,293 


1839.... 


442,608 


^2 1,850 


20,639 


11,930 


122,300 


819,327 


1840.... 


452,291 


225,288 


23,860 


15,505 


148,470 


865,444 


1841.... 


584,692 


142,841 


17,653 


21,463 


192,270 


958,899 


1842.... 


540,892 


272,129 


32,381 


10,000 47,346 205,253 


1,108,001 


Totel 


... 4,791,719 


2,128,099 

Unsold 


127,533 


58,6 


98 47,346 1,399,825 

Annual Unsold 


8,550,420 




Sold on 




Sold on 


Year. 


Increase. Consumed. April 1. 


Canal. 


Year. 


Increase. 


Consumed. April 1. 


Canal. 




Tons. Tons. 


Tons. 


Tons. 




Tons. 


Tons. Tons. 


Tons. 


1820 








1832 


187,051 


298,871 None. 


13,429 


1821 


708 






1833 


123,877 


434,986 65,100 


19,429 


1822 


1,167 






1834 


Decr'se. 


415,186 117,762 


18,571 


1823 


3,598 






1835 


184,122 


635,935 79,212 


17,863 


1824 


3,718 






1836 


121,670 


632,428 4,035 


21,749 


1825 


25,352 






1837 


199,048 


680,441 54,035 


28,775 


1826 


13,154 




3,154 


1838 


Decr'se. 


788,968 255,070 


30,390 


1827 


15,837 




3,372 


1839 


80,034 


867,000 205,395 


28,924 


1828 


14,082 




3,322 


1840 


46,087 


973,136 157,622 


41,223 


1829 


34,567 




5,321 


1841 


93,485 


958,899 100,000 


40,564 


1830 


62,651 




6,150 


1842 


149,102 


100,000 


34,619 


1831 


2,086 177,000 


10,048 











Although mining coal for shipment was commenced in the Schuylkill region in 1825, five years 
later than the Lehigh, there has been 1,080,552 tons more sent to market from this region than 
from all the other anthracite regions in the state combined. 

The magnitude of this trade well corresponds with the amount of capital invested in the diiFer- 
ent improvements of the region. Upwards of four millions of dollars have been invested in the 
following manner : 65 miles of incorporated railroads, 40 miles of individual railroads, 50 miles 
do. under ground ; 2000 railroad cars, 1500 drift cars ; 17 collieries below water level, with steam- 
engines, pumps, &c. ; 100 collieries above water level ; 80 landings ; 850 canal boats ; 900 boat 
horses, &c. There are thirty-one steam-engines in the county, including colliery engines, — 
amounting to upwards of one thousand horse power. Twenty-three of these engines were manu- 
factured in Schuylkill county. Previous to 1841, the horse-power was only 350 ; during the last 
two years there was an addition of 370 horse power, making, in the aggregate, 720 horse power 
engaged in collieries. 



SCHUYLKILL COUNTY. 607 

Orwigsburg, the county town, is a rural village, situated on the Read- 
ing and Sunbury turnpike, in a pleasant valley about five miles east of 
Schuylkill Haven, and five miles southeast from Pottsville. The town 
contains a courthouse and other public offices, situated on a spacious 
square in the centre, an academy incorporated in 1813, and a Lutheran 
church, of stone, erected about the year 1831. 

Orwigsburg was laid out by Peter Orwig in 1796, but was not much 
settled until after the separation of the county from Berks, when it was 
made the county seat. It was incorporated as a borough r2th March, 
1813. The population was, in 1820, 600 ; in 1830, 773 ; in 1840, 779. 
The citizens are chiefly of German origin, and speak that language. The 
public and private edifices are well built, and the village has a neat and 
quiet appearance ; while the smiling farms and verdant orchards around 
it denote the thrift of the German farmers. The history of such a people 
is soon told. They have cleared and cultivated their lands, attended to 
their own business, begotten sons and daughters, and been gathered to 
their fathers. Speculation has rattled and roared among the mountains 
beyond them, but has not seduced them from their persevering industry 
and frugal habits. Although the population of Pottsville and its vicinity 
far outnumbers that of the townships around Orwigsburg, yet the latter 
still retains its dignity as the county seat, in consequence of the balanced 
state of political parties. 

It is said that at the junction of the little creek that winds around Or- 
wigsburg with the Schuylkill, was an ancient Indian village, on or near 
Scollop hill. No vestige of it now remains. 

Pottsville, the principal town of the county, and the great mart of the 
coal trade, is situated just above the gorge by which the Schuylkill breaks 
through Sharp mountain. The main branch of the river here comes in 
from the east, and, receiving Norwegian creek from the north, turns sud- 
denly to the south and flows away through the gorge. Pottsville proper, 
as seen in the accompanying view, occupies the northern slope of the 
mountain, and the valley of Norwegian creek. Immediately below it, 
on a narrow neck along the turnpike, is Morrisville ; — near the junction 
of the streams, to the left of the point, is Greenwood ; and below the 
junction, immediately in the gorge, is Mount Carbon. All these were 
incorporated on the 19th Feb. 1828, in the borough of Pottsville, which 
also includes what were once known as Bath, Salem, and Allenville. 

Pottsville is famous for its rapid growth, and the speculations that ac- 
companied its origin. In 1822, the house since known as the White Horse 
tavern was kept by Mr. John Pott, who owned land in the vicinity, as a 
sort of watering-place for the stages on the Sunbury road. In 1824, we 
hear of five scattered dwellings in the vicinity. The causes which led to 
the influx of miners and speculators about the year 1825, have been de- 
scribed above. The town was soon laid out — or rather several towns — 
for each prominent adventurer had his favorite location ; and as each 
successive arrival of greedy adventurers tended to fan the flame of 
speculation, town lots and coal tracts (some with coal and many whose 
coal was but imaginary) doubled, trebled, and quadrupled in value, and 
passed from hand to hand like currency. Houses were rapidly construct- 
ed to accommodate the immense crowds that came to search for lots and 
lands, and in 1828 we hear of several excellent stone houses and stores, 



608 SCHUYLKILL COUNTY. 

others of brick and frame, a weekly newspaper, (the Miner's Journal,) a 
reading room, hotels, &c. Messrs. John and Benjamin Pott had al'so 
erected their Greenwood furnace and forge, and were making iron from 
ore obtained below the Blue mountain. The next year " Clinton row," 
on Mahantango-st., and another row of houses, were erected ; and such 
was the activity in building, that it became necessary to send to Phila- 
delphia for lumber, to use in a region that hitherto had exported little 
else than lumber and coal. A daily stage to Philadelphia was also es- 
tablished in that year, and a trip of 14 hours was " cracked up" as some- 
thing remarkable. A dozen little towns had already risen around Potts- 
ville. Railroads also began then to be introduced, imparting a new im- 
petus to the coal trade. The Schuylkill Valley, the Mill Creek, and the 
Mount Carbon railroads were started in that year. The following ex- 
tract from the Miner's Journal for 1829, will give an idea of the rapid rise 
of coal lands. 

Five years ago, [1824,] the "Peacock" tract of coal-land, belonging to the New York and 
Schuylkill Coal Co., was purchased by theni for the sum of $9,000. Last week it was sold, and 
bought in by the original seller, for the sum of $42,000. The present owner, we understand, 
would not dispose of it for $70,000. 

A tract of 120 acres, on the Broad mountain, was disposed of for the sum of $12,000 ; wkich 
was bought nine months ago for $1,400. 

One fourth of another tract, of 450 acres, on the Broad mountain, has been disposed of for 
$9,000 ; at which rate the whole tract would be worth $36,000. But this estimate is too low : 
the remaining three fourths will bring that sum eilone, at the present time. This tract was pur- 
chased, about six years ago, for $190. 

A tract on the West Branch sold for $6,000, which was purchased nine months ago for $700. 

Another tract sold for $16,000, which was purchased nine months ago for $1,000. 

All these sales have taken place within the last week, besides several others, of which we have 
not heard the particulars. 

In 1831, the number of buildings had increased to 535, of which there 
were 62 of brick, and 68 of stone ; together with an Episcopal church, a 
meeting-house, and a beautiful structure for the Miners' Bank, of which the 
front is of cast-iron ; and the commodious hotels of Mr. Seitzinger and 
Col. Shoemaker. There were also 70 stores, richly stocked, among which 
were those of two booksellers and stationers, and of tailors, milliners, 
and dressmakers. And they boasted too of a circulating library, a me- 
chanics' library, and Exchange Reading-rooms ; two newspapers ; and a 
seminary, under the care of J. Sanderson, Esq. A writer in the Potts- 
ville Advocate, early in 1831, thus speaks of the place. We make the 
extract by way of recording the names, that are contained in it, of some 
of the enterprising men of that day, and giving our readers an opportu- 
nity of comparing the state of things then with present appearances. 

The town of Pottsville, by the late census, contains upwards of 2,500 inhabitants. The fluc- 
tuating population having withdrawn, there may be a trifling decrease ; for, at the time when the 
census was taken, we were thronged with strangers, drawn to the place by the ill-advised and 
premature uproar so foolishly raised about it. That, however, fortunately did no essential harm, 
and is an earnest that, for the futiye, it is not even in the power of our friends to injure us. We 
have now seventy stores, of various kinds, richly stocked, many of them rivalling those of Phil- 
adelphia in appearance. 

Since last spring, about 50 new brick buildings have been erected in the town, more than half 
of which are large three-story houses. Among these are the uniform stores erected by James 
Appleton, at the upper part of Centre-st. Jacob Alter has also erected three handsome stores 
in the neighborhood of the Arcade. 

Nor are our private houses less creditable to us than our public improvements. Among tho3« 
which have lately been completed, we would mention Francis B. Nichols's and Abraham Potts's, 
on Market-st., J. Sanderson's, Burd Patterson's, on Mahantango-st, J. C. Offerraan's, on Centre 




•^ cso a> 



SCHUYLKILL COUNTY. 609 

St., and many others less remarkable ; but imparting an air of neatness and comfort not often 
seen in towns of such rapid growth. In the lower part of the town, we have Thomas Ridge- 
way's, and several others, comprising part of what is usually called Morrisville, which, with 
Mount Carbon, forms a striking entrance to the town from the south. 

We must not omit to mention M. B. Buckley's beautiful addition to Pottsville, distinguished 
by the name of Greenwood ; occupying a point remarkable for its beauty, and the varied scenery 
which it commands. Among the improvements, we remark a large stone hotel, and a row of 
handsome stone houses. In the rear, on the river-road to Port Carbon, there is a large brewery, 
in full operation, established by A. Y. Moore, enabling us to boast of beer fully equal to that of 
Philadelphia. 

Adjoining Morrisville, as we remarked above, stands Mount Carbon, which, under the foster- 
ing care of John White, now fully equals any part of the town in appearance. During the past 
season, many valuable additions have been completed ; particularly a hotel, which would do 
credit to a city, and a row of stores. The Norwegian railroad terminates here. 

Mount Carbon comprises the southern extremity of Pottsville. It stands on the Schuylkill, 
at the foot of the Sharp mountain, lying in the valley between that and Second mountain. 
Its situation is romantic ; the abrupt hills, rising almost perpendicularly around, are strikingly 
grand ; while the Schuylkill, winding through tlie gorges of the mountain, completes a scene of 
picturesque beauty unsurpassed by the points in whose praise our northern tourists are so fluent. 
Sharp mountain itself is a remarkable natural curiosity ; resembling a rampart-boundary to the 
coal region on the south. 

The original town of Mount Carbon received considerable additions during the last year. 
Since the closing of navigation, the lock at the mouth of the canal has been renewed, 
under the superintendence of Mr. Mills, the agent for the Canal Co. In the pool above are the 
docks of Messrs. Ellmaker, Audenreid, and White and Coombc, who have two docks at the rear 
of their storehouses, each 28 feet wide ; and in length one is 100 and the other 150 feet. Beyond 
are Mr. Eldridge's landings, adjoining the range now constructing for Messrs. Thouron and Mac- 
gregor. On the opposite side lie the boat-yards of Mr. Shelly, and the extensive landings of the 
North American Co. Again on the left are Mr. S. J. Pott's wharves ; those of Messrs. Morris ; 
and Mr. C. Storer's boat-yard, on which we perceive he is erecting a screw-dock. The latter lie 
at the foot of Morrisville. 

The pool below the bridge affords wharves to the storehouses of Messrs. Moore and Graham, 
Nathans, Thurston, and others. Several new landings are here constructing, the margin of the 
river presenting every faciHty for works of this nature. The principal buildings lately erected 
are a range of stone stores and dwelling-houses, the hotel on Centre-st. ; and on Market-st. six 
stone and twelve frame buildings. The hotel is a beautiful edifice of stone, 45 feet wide by 82, 
exclusive of the piazza, which presents a promenade to each story, embracing a view of the 
mountainous scenery around. These improvements are owing to the enterprising spirit of Messrs. 
White and Coombe. 

The Mount Carbon railroad, projected as an outlet for the rich coal formations of the Norwe- 
gian creek valleys, was commenced in Oct. 1829, under the superintendence of William R. Hop- 
kins, chief-engineer, and John White, president. At the termination the road is elevated upon 
31 piers of masonry, erected upon the landings ; thence it passes through the gap of Sharp 
mountain, across the landings before mentioned, following the valley of the Schuylkill to Morris- 
ville. At this point we have, on the left, Messrs. Morris's mines, and on the opposite side of the 
river, on the Lippincott and Richards tract, the mines now worked by Mr. Baraclough. The 
road here leaves the Schuylkill, at its junction with the Norwegian creek, stretching up the valley 
of the latter, parallel with the Greenwood improvements, directly through Pottsville, to the forks : 
a distance of 6,208 feet from the piers. Below this are the mines now working by Mr. M'Kech- 
ney, and several openings on land belonging to D. J. Rhoads, Esq. 

On the last branch, which is 14,200 feet in length, the first lateral above the forks belongs to 
the North American Co., and leads to their Centreville collieries, where they have twelve open- 
ings, upon the celebrated Lewis and Spohn veins. This coal is in high estimation, and has 
greatly aided in establishing the reputation of Schuylkill county coal, in the eastern markets. 
Beyond thi-J the road passes through Benjamin Pott's lands, and again strikes the Spohn vein at 
the east mines of the North American Co. The Hillsborough tract comes next, on the right, on 
which are several openings. Here we diverge to the left, through the celebrated Peach mountain 
tract, belonging to J. White, and pass five openings made by him. Next the Rose hill tract, 
owned by L. Ellmaker: on these lands are several mines, leased by the Messrs. Warner, Wade, 
and others, near the town of Wadesville : a thriving little place, laid out by Mr. Ellmaker. Above 
the town, the lateral road from Capt. Wade's mine comes down. The east branch terminates 
upon the Flowery field tract, belonging to Messrs. Bonsall, Wetherill, and Cummings. This land 
has been extensively worked by various individuals. 

The West Branch commences at Marysville, on the Oak hill tract, and is 16,400 feet in length. 
On this estate are the mines leased by Messrs. Smith, Hart, Maxwell, Wade, Hall, Dennis, Gal- 
lagher, and Martin. Among those are the celebrated Diamond and Oak hill veins. We must 

77 



610 SCHUYLKILL COUNTY. 

not omit the hotel kept here, by Mr. B. Gallagher, at a convenient distance from Pottsville for an 
excursion. Below Oak hill are the Green park and Clinton tracts ; the former belonging to John 
White, and the latter to Mrs. Spohn. At Green park there is one opening under the superintend- 
ence of Mr. James Dill. Adjoining this is the Belmont estate — also John White's. Next the 
Thouron tract, a portion of which has been purchased by Benj. Pott ; the Spohn vein passing 
through it. Contiguous are the Spohn, Lewis, and Duncan estates. The railroad here passes 
B. Pott's saw-mill, and extends in a perfectly straight line, a mile in length, nearly to the junc- 
tion with the main road. 

Since the above extract was published, now twelve years, many im- 
portant changes have taken place. Old mines have been exhausted or 
abandoned, and new ones opened ; a great number of new railroads have 
been constructed ; several mines have been explored, and profitably 
worked, below the water level. The geology of the region has been 
fully explored ; the Pottsville, Reading, and Philadelphia railroad has 
been opened, in 1842, affording daily communication in seven hours to 
Philadelphia, and promising to effect a complete revolution in the trans- 
portation of coal ; the speculations of 1836 have expanded and exploded. 
Pottsville has increased its population from 2,424 in 1830, and 3,117 in 
1835, to 4,345 in 1840 ; and is now a compact, bustling place. Its trade, 
no longer driven back and forth by the tide of speculation, has settled, or 
is settling, into a steady channel, well understood, and well managed by 
capitalists, merchants, and miners. The town now contains a handsome 
Episcopal church, and a splendid new Catholic cathedral, both in the 
Gothic style ; a German Catholic church, and neat edifices for the Pres- 
byterian, Baptist, and Methodist denominations ; an academy ; a spacious 
town hall ; a splendid hotel, called Pennsylvania Hall, and several 
other spacious hotels ; a furnace, at which iron has been successfully 
made with anthracite coal ; a forge and rolling-mill ; a large foundry ; a 
steam-engine factory and machine shop ; a boat-yard, brewery, &c. 

The Danville and Pottsville railroad, designed to connect the Schuyl- 
kill Navigation, at Pottsville, with the Susquehanna at Danville and Sun- 
bury, was projected in 1826, and was completed in 1834 as far as Girard- 
ville, a small hamlet of three or four houses, ten miles north of Pottsville. 
Sixteen miles are also completed on the Sunbury end. The death of its 
chief patrons, the late Stephen Girard, and Gen. Daniel Montgomery, of 
Danville, with whom the project originated, has retarded the progress of 
the work. On the ten miles near Pottsville, a tunnel of 700 feet long, 
and four inclined planes, have been constructed at an enormous expense ; 
but the tunnel 2,500 feet long, into the Girard coal-mines, on Mahanoy, 
is but partially completed. Until this is done, this part of the road can- 
not be profitably used, and the superstructure is now rotting in the sun. 
(A notice of the opening of the Reading railroad will be found on page 
142.) 

As the mines in favorable situations, above the water level, become 
exhausted, it is necessary either to seek new ones at a greater dis- 
tance, and an increased cost of transportation, or to dive deeper into the 
bowels of the earth. The latter course has been adopted in several val- 
uable mines, about Pottsville, by Mr. Charles Lawton, Messrs. Potts and 
Bannan, Mr. Charles Ellet, the Delaware Coal Co., Milne and Haywood, 
and Mr. George H. Potts, and others. Mr. Lawton is undermining the 
very town of Pottsville itself These veins are inclined at an inclination 
qf about 40°, A wide shaft, or descending passage, is first sunk, at the 



SCHUYLKILL COUNTY. 611 

Inclination of the vein, wide enough for a double-track railroad, upon 
which the loaded cars are hauled to the top of the mine. The Miners' 
Journal savs, (in 1842) — 

The colliery of Potts and Bannan is one of the most interesting of the kind in the region ; and 
will well repay the trouble, and we might add the fatigues, of a visit. The colliery is better 
known as the Guinea hill, or Black mine, and is one of the deepest in our coal basin. The depth 
of the slope is 400 feet, which, at an inclination of 40 degrees, would give a perpendicular depth 
of 252 feet into the very bowels of the earth. The pitch of the vein, as soon as it loses the in- 
fluence of the hill, is very regular ; and the coal becomes of a purer and better quality, and is 
found in greater masses between the slates. The colliery is worked with two steam-engines — 
One of fifty-horse power, and the other of twenty. The former is used in pumping the water 
which accumulates in the mines, and the latter in hoisting the coal in cars to the mouth of the 
Blope. The pump used in the colliery is of cast-iron, 12 inches in diameter, and extends the en- 
tire depth of the slope — 400 feet. The column of water brought up by the engine, at each lift 
of the pump, is equal in Weight to about 8i tons. 

At the depth of 200 feet of this slope, a tunnel has been driven 90 yards south to the Tunnel 
vein, and 70 yards north to the Lawton vein — both through solid rock ; which enables the pro- 
prietors to work three veins, with the present engines and fixtures. As the visitor leaves the slope, 
and finds himself, lantern in hand, groping his way through the gangway into the heart of the 
mine, he is half bewildered and startled, as the almost indistinct masses of coal, slate, dirt, &.C., 
fashion themselves into something bordering upon a dark, dusky, and even forbidding outline. It 
Bcems as if you had fallen upon a subterranean city, buried by some great convulsion of nature ; 
and the illusion is still further heightened by observing workmen busily engaged, apparently in 
excavating the ruins. Or, if you are highly imaginative, and have read the Odyssey, you might 
readily fancy the feelings of Ulysses, that " godlike and much-enduring man," when he paid a 
visit to the infernal shades, for the purpose of ascertaining the shortest and most direct cut to his 
beloved Ithaca. Homer, however, does not inform ug whether or not the shades carried lamps 
in their caps, without which the pick would be of little use to our miners. 

Port Carbon, (which must not be confounded by our readers with 
Mount Carbon,) is a very busy and thriving village on the main bt-anch 
of the Schuylkill, two miles northeast of Pottsville, and at the head of 
the Schuylkill navigation. This place is happily located, surrounded al- 
most by lofty mountains, well stored with the mineral wealth of the re- 
gion, which can be conveyed to the landings with great facility. The 
town was laid out in 1828 by several enterprising individuals ; the lots 
adjoining the landings by Abraham Pott and Jacob W. Seitzinger : Law- 
tonville, adjoining to the westward, was laid out by Wm. Lawton, Esq. ; 
and Rhoadsville, on the continuation of the river Schuylkill, by Daniel J* 
Rhoades, Esq. : — the whole of which constitute Port Carbon. Mill creek 
enters the Schuylkill here, and a railroad along its valley brings down 
the produce of the mines in the vicinity of St. Clairsville and New Cas- 
tle. The Schuylkill valley railroad, with its numerous lateral intersec- 
tions from the various openings in Mine hill, brings in a vast amount of 
coal. This road passes through the small villages of Patterson, Middle- 
port, New Philadelphia, and Tuscarora. These villages were laid out 
about the year 1828, and have increased more or less according to the 
mining business near them. 

MiNERsviLLE is bcautifully situated, 4 miles N. W. of Pottsville, in the 
bosom of a valley through which meanders the western branch of the 
Schuylkill. It is the most important town on the West Branch. It con- 
tains a flouring-mill, steam saw-mill, foundry, car-manufactory, two or 
three neat churches, and 1,265 inhabitants. The West Branch railroad 
passes through the place. Nearly all the towns in Schuylkill co. were laid 
out by several different speculators, each preferring their own hill or val- 
ley, or landing-place, as the case might be, and each starting with a little 
cluster of frame houses. Consequently all such towns are like Washing 



612 SCHUYLKILL COUNTY. 

ton city in one respect, cities " of magnificent distances." Minersville 
forms no exception to the remark — it consists of three or four once dis- 
tinct settlements, now nearly merged in one. It was laid out in 1829, 
and in 1831 was incorporated as a borough. Its early growth was re- 
markably rapid, as will appear by the following from the Miner's Jour- 
nal of Dec. 1830: 

A little more than a twelvemonth ago, the present site of the town dwelt in all the lonelinesa 
of uncultivated nature, since whien its aspect has undergone a wonderful change in improve- 
ments and population. Along the margin of the stream the West Branch railroad extends, and 
terminates at Schuylkill Haven, distance seven and a half miles from Minersville, affording an 
easy and expeditious mode of transportation. The principal street bears the name of Sunbury, 
on which are situated all the stores and public buildings. It was formerly the old Sunbury road, 
communicating with the rich valleys in the direction of the Susquehanna. The northern portion 
of the village is of firm, dry soil, gradually rising, and affording a southern exposure — of favora- 
ble character for private dwellings. Seven large houses have already been erected during the 
present season on this spot by Messrs. Bennett & Gilmore, together with a number of small 
buildings in the same quarter. Last spring there were but six dwellings in all, since which there 
has been an increase of forty-nine substantial houses. The place contains six taverns, in any 
one of which are to be found respectable accommodations, eight stores, well supplied with every 
article for country consumption, six blacksmith shops, one saddlery, one bakery, two tailors' 
shops, and two butchers — all seeming to be in a thriving way. llie population is estimated at 
500 inhabitants. On Thursday evening, the 9th inst, a concert was given at Minersville by the 
diminutive songstress. Miss Clark, at which a numerous audience attended. Her warblings, a 
year ago, would have found an accompaniment in the uninterrupted solitude of a wilderness, in- 
stead of being listened to with marked pleasure by an animated and numerous assembly. 

On the West Branch, about two miles west of Minersville, is the little 
village of Llewellyn, which obtained its name from the Welsh miners 
employed in the vicinity. Two and a half miles northwest from Llewel- 
lyn is the immense tunnel of the New York company now in progress, 
under the superintendence of Mr. Deforest, the company's agent. This 
tunnel, which is wide enough for a double track railroad, and has al- 
ready been driven about 900 feet directly into Broad mountain, is opened 
for the purpose of cutting the coal veins at right angles to their range. 
From the tunnel drifts are made at right angles to it into each vein of 
coal, and by means of these drifts the miners work out the breast of coal. 
But perhaps the reader who is a stranger to the anthracite region may 
not comprehend these terms. A tunnel among the miners is what has 
been describied above. A drift is a passage barely wide enough for a 
horse and car, or man and car, to pass, — entering generally at the edge 
or end of a eoal vein, and following its range nearly on a level. The 
coal veins irl the anthracite region are generally inclined at angles vary- 
ing from 30 to 60 degrees with the horizon, and usually crop out, or reach 
the surface of the hill, at a greater or less height. Sometimes they bend 
over the hill — or saddle over, as the term is — without coming to the sur- 
face at all. The height between the water level and the place where 
the vein reaches the upper sbrface of the hill, is called a breast ; and a 
vein is said to have more or less breast according to its height in the hill. 
The first practice in mining coal was by quarrying, as at Mauch Chunk ; 
or by opening vast caverns, with columns of coal, as at Carbondale and 
Wilkesbarre ; or by sinking shafts from the top of the hill, and hauling 
up the coal, as at first in Schuylkill co., and as still in use for mines below 
the watei* level ; but all these modes have yielded to the easier and 
cheaper mode of drifting. The gorges of the small streams through 
Mine hill and Broad mountain offered the best sites for drifts. But many 



SCHUYLKILL COUNTY. 613 

of these veins have been exhausted above the water level, as far as the 
owners on the streams have a right to work. Those who have no ac- 
commodating stream to cut through their land for them, are therefore 
obliged to adopt the mode of tunnelling. The lateral drifts are generally 
let out to clubs of three or four miners in each, at so much per ton. These 
men drive their car in along the drift. One of them with his pick digs 
out the breast above the car in the shape of a broad chimney, letting his 
lumps fall against some rails placed at the foot of the breast ; when a 
load is thus accumulated, the miner below draws one of the rails — the 
coal falls into the car, and is trundled out into the world. The miner 
thus keeps working upward till he reaches the out-crop. To prevent the 
mountain falling in where the coal has been taken out, stout props and 
cross-pieces are placed at intervals along the drift and the breast. This 
propping requires an immense quantity of timber, and the hills around 
Pottsville have been consequently despoiled of their original forests. 
When a mine has been long exhausted and abandoned, these props decay, 
and the earth caves in. Lines of these unsightly holes begin to appear 
in many parts of the region about Pottsville — some of them for half a 
mile continuously. 

On the West Branch, about three miles above Minersville, is a little 
miner's hamlet called Coal Castle. A little west of this place, at the 
"jugular vein" in Broad mountain, a coal mine took fire in the winter of 
1838-39, and has since defied all attempts to extinguish it. It has even 
roasted the rocky strata of the mountain above it, destroying every trace 
of vegetation along the line of the breast, and causing vast yawning 
chasms, where the earth has fallen in, from which issue hot and sulphur- 
ous fumes, as from a volcano. The mine was ignited by a careless miner, 
who, to moderate the temperature, placed a hanging grate at the mouth 
of the drift. The fire communicated to the props, and then to the rail* 
road, and such a heat was soon caused that it must have cracked off 
lumps of coal to feed the flames. It seems scarcely possible that the 
compact vein itself can be on fire, although such may be the case. Two 
unfortunate miners perished in the mine. The lessee, Mr. Dougherty, 
after trying various expedients to extinguish it, abandoned it, with a heavy 
loss. 

New Castle, on the Sunbury turnpike, was laid out on the opening of 
the coal trade, and such houses as it has are substantially built of stone ; 
but it has increased very slowly. 

Schuylkill Hav^n is situated on the left bank of the river, four miles 
below Pottsville, and immediately below the junction of the West Branch. 
Fertile farms and very picturesque scenery surround the town, and the 
bright river here meanders among the broad meadows as if delighted 
with being unrestrained by the rocky precipices of the coal region. This 
place was laid out in 1829, by Mr. Daniel J. Rhodes and others. The 
West Branch railroad here communicates with the Schuylkill Navigation, 
and the transhipment of the coal has created a business, upon which the 
town has thrived. It now contains two or three churches, schools, a 
weigh lock for canal boats, a grist and saw mill, and two bridges across 
the Schuylkill. The population may be estimated at about 700. The 
county almshouse, one mile east of Schuylkill Haven, is a spacious brick 
edifice, with a fine farm attached, which does great credit to the county. 



614 



SCHUYLKILL COUNTY. 



At Scollop hill) three miles below Schuylkill Haven, the canal passes 
through a long and expensive tunnel. The West Branch railroad brings 
in the product of many rich mines. It has been constructed in a substan- 
tial manner, and of such dimensions that the heavy cars of the Reading 
railroad, with which it here intersects, may run upon it. What effect 
this circumstance may have upon the welfare of Schuylkill Haven, by 
dispensing with the necessity of transhipment, remains to be determined. 
In the annexed view, part of one of the churches is seen on the left — in 




Schuylkill Haven. 

the foreground is the river and basin, with its numerous boats and rail- 
road tracks, and a little beyond, on the right, is the bridge of the Reading 
railroad. 

Tamaqua was laid out in 1829, by the Lehigh Coal and Navigation Co., 
on the Little Schuylkill river, 17 miles above its junction with the main 
stream, and 15 miles east of Pottsville. It lies in a deep valley, shut in 
by the Sharp and Locust mountains. It is now quite a smart village, 
with some half dozen stores, several taverns, two churches, a car and 
coach manufactory, and 465 inhabitants. It depends for its support upon 
the mines that surround it. Like the other coal towns, it is built on a 
scale of magnificent distances. There are several detachments, or regi- 
ments of houses, on the main road, up the river, down the river, and on 
the hill. Above the village, on a high eminence, stands the Catholic 
church, bidding defiance, as it were, to the Lutheran or Presbyterian 
church, which looks down from another eminence. The annexed view 
was taken at the western entrance of the street, on the Pottsville road. 
On the hill east of the village, the large mansion erected by Mr. Burd 
Patterson, and now occupied by Mr. Franklin, makes quite a conspicuous 
appearance. 

The Lehigh Co. own large tracts of coal-lands in this vicinity. A con- 
tinuation of the Little Schuylkill road, to connect with the Quakake and 
Catawissa railroad, was projected ; but the Catawissa road has not been 
made. A stage-road connects Tamaqua with the Mauch Chunk rail- 



SOMERSET COUNTY 



615 




Tamaqua. 

road, five miles east, and with the Schuylkill Valley railroad, four miles 
west. 

Port Clinton is a thriving place, laid out in 1829, at the mouth of Little 
Schuylkill river. It has grown up by the shipment here of the product 
of the mines around Tamaqua. 

Pine Grove is situated on the right bank of the Swatara creek, in the 
valley between the Kittatinny and Second mountains, about 14 miles 
west of Pottsville. A branch of the Union canal has been extended to 
this place ; and a railroad extends up the Swatara, four or five miles, to 
the coal-mines on Lorberry creek, and the main branch of Swatara, 
above Sharp mountain. About 20,000 tons of coal were shipped from 
this region in 1841. A forge has been established here since 1828. This 
region, before the coal-trade commenced, was settled by a few scattered 
German farmers and lumbermen, from Lebanon co. 



SOMERSET COUNTY. 

Somerset county was taken from Bedford, by the act of 17th April, 1795. 
Length 38 miles, breadth 28; area 1,066 sq, miles. Population in 1800, 
10,188; in 1810, 11,284; in 1820, 13,890 ; in 1830, 17,741 ; and in 1840, 
19,650. The county is composed of a high and rather level table-land, 
between the Great Allegheny mountain and Laurel hill. It abounds in 
what are called glades — level wet lands, about the head-waters of the 
numerous streams that rise in this county. The climate of this elevated 
region is too cold, and the summers too short, for raising corn ; and the 
land is generally too wet for wheat. Oats, rye, hay, and potatoes are the 
principal crops, for which a ready market is found among the numerous 
drovers and wagoners crossing the mountains by the " glades road." This 
road, not being macadamized, affords a softer path to the tender feet 



616 SOMERSET COUNTY. 

of the fat cattle of the west. The glades, when properly managed, form 
productive dairy farms. The well-known glades butter bears the palm in 
Baltimore and Washington. Besides the Allegheny and Laurel Hill 
mountains, the Negro mountain, a bold ridge, runs up from Maryland, 
nearly to the centre of the county ; the Little Allegheny mountain forms 
the southeastern boundary ; and Savage mountain crosses the southern 
boundary from Maryland, and unites with the Little Allegheny near Wills' 
creek. Laurel Hill creek and Castleman's river water the southern end 
of the county, uniting with the Yough'ogheny. Wills' creek drains the 
valley between the Great and Little Allegheny mountains ; and the Que- 
mahoning, Stony, and Shade creeks water the northern end, flowing into 
the Conemaugh, in Cambria co. Seams of coal, from three to five feet in 
thickness, are opened in various townships. In some of the shales be- 
tween the coal-seams occur thin flaggy bands of iron-ore, of considerable 
purity. There likewise exists a bed of limestone, nearly three feet in 
thickness. Iron-ore prevails about Elk Lick creek, near Castleman's 
river, and in many places along the western declivity of the Allegheny 
mountain. Bog-ore is also found, but the deposits rarely give evidence 
of a large supply. 

The citizens of this county are chiefly of German descent, and German 
is the prevailing language. In 1830 this population was divided into the 
following religious sects : the Lutheran, having 17 churches, German 
Reformed 12, Methodists 8, Mennonists 5, Baptists 4, Omish 4, Presby- 
terians 2, and Roman Catholic 1. 

The principal business of the county is grazing. The raising of sheep, 
with a view to wool-growing, for the last few years, has claimed the at- 
tention of the farmers. A furnace and forge were established by Messrs. 
Mark Richards & Co., on Shade creek : the forge only is in operation. 
Another forge was owned by D. Livingston, but is not in operation. 

The national road passes through the southwestern part of the county. 
Glade turnpike, from Washington to Bedford, passes through the centre ; 
a clay turnpike runs seven miles south of the Glade road. The Cham- 
bersburg and Pittsburg turnpike passes ten miles north of Somerset, 
through Stoystovni. The Somerset and Cumberland turnpike opens a 
communication with the Baltimore railroad, at Cumberland. About two 
miles north of the Glade turnpike, 14 miles east of Somerset, is the low- 
est depression in the Allegheny mountain. 

In the southwestern part of the county, about 20 miles from Somerset, 
there are three ancient fortifications, within sight of each other, near 
Castleman's river, erected long before the memory of the oldest settlers. 
They are called M'Clintock's, Jennings's, and Skinner's forts, after the 
farmers on whose lands they are. M'Clintock's is on the left bank of 
Castleman's river, on a rising ground, which has been cultivated for many 
years. On the side of the hill issues a fine spring, and to that spring, 
from the site of the fort, there is said to be a subterranean passage, 
walled up with stone. In a part of the field, near the fort, one of the 
M'Clintocks had, for several successive years, perceived the point of his 
plough to strike a stone, at a particular spot. At last curiosity induced 
him to examine the place, when he found a large, flat, hewn stone, of 
about six feet in diameter, covering a round hole, about fifteen feet deep, 
in which were a great quantity of bones. These forts are in Turkej^s 



SOMERSET COUNTY. 617 

Foot and Addison townships. It is matter of curious speculation by 
whom they were built. 

The first opening through the wilderness of what is now Somerset co., 
was made by no less a personage than Lieut. Col. George Washington, 
in 1754. (See page 331.) This road crossed the southwestern corner of 
the county, passing the Yough'ogheny about two miles north of where 
the present national road crosses. Mr. Sparks, in his Life of Washington, 
says — 

So many obstacles intervenedj that the progress was slow. Trees were to be felled, bridges 
made, marshes filled up, and rocks removed. In the midst of these difficulties the provisions 
failed — the commissaries having neglected to fulfil their engagements — and there was great dis- 
tress for want of bread. At the Yough'ogheny, where they were detained in constructing a 
bridge, Col. Washington was told by the traders and Indians, that, except at one place, a pas- 
sage might be had by water down that river. To ascertain this point — extremely advanta- 
geous, if true — he embarked in a canoe, with five men, on a tour of discovery, leaving the army 
under the command of a subordinate officer. His hopes were disappointed. After navigating 
the river in his canoe near thirty miles, encountering rocks and shoals, he passed between two 
mountains, and came to a fall that arrested his course. He returned, and the project of a convey- 
ance by water was given up. 

The following year, Gen. Braddock — accompanied by Washington, then 
colonel — marched his unfortunate army over this same road. It was for 
many years thereafter known as Braddock's road. (See Fayette and Al- 
legheny counties.) 

In 1758, the wilderness in the northern part of the co. was penetrated 
in a similar manner by Col. Bouquet, and several companies. They con- 
structed a fort at Stony cr., where Stoystown now is ; and it is probable 
that Miller's breastworks, at the forks of the road on the Allegheny 
mountain, were thrown up at the same time. Late in October, Gen. 
Forbes, with an army of six thousand men, marched over the road. 
Washington also held an important station in this expedition. (See 
Westmoreland co.) 

During the memorable invasion by Pontiac in 1763, the little garrison 
at Stoystown was called in to strengthen that at Bedford. 

Bouquet's road continued for years to be the only means of communi- 
cation between Philadelphia and Pittsburg. It is probable that, not long 
after both these roads were opened, traders and pioneers found their way 
to this county, and made settlements ; but their names and adventures, 
if any, have not been recorded. 

During the revolutionary war, and the Indian wars that succeeded it, 
parties of hostile Indians occasionally came down and drove the scattered 
settlers on the outskirts of the co. into the more populous region about 
Berlin, in Brothers' valley. This is one of the oldest places in the co., 
settled originally by Germans, many of whom were Dunkards. The 
name of Brothers' valley was derived from the affectionate appellation 
bestowed upon each other by the Dunkards. (See page 413.) The town 
is situated in a fertile region on the sources of Stony cr., 9 miles south- 
east of the county seat. It contains a Lutheran and a German Reformed 
church, about 100 dwellings, and, by the census of 1840, 524 inhabitants. 

Somerset, the county seat, is a neatly-built town, situated on the sum- 
mit of a hill, near the centre of the co. It was laid out in the year 1795, 
by Mr. Bruner, and for some time was called Brunerstown. It was in- 
corporated as a borough by the act of 1804, and a supplementary act of 

78 



618 



SOMERSET COUNTY. 



1807. It contains three churches — German Reformed, Lutheran, and 
Methodist, — an academy, the usual county buildings, and 638 inhabit- 
ants. The place is eminently healthy, and enjoys the advantages of pure 
mountain air and water. Cox's creek passes the town at the foot of the 
hill. The turnpike between Bedford and Washington passes through the 
centre of the place. The view here annexed shows the entrance into the 




Somerset. 

village on the turnpike from the east. A turnpike is also located, and 
partly completed, from Somerset to the national road at Cumberland. The 
distance to Cumberland is 30 miles, — and to Johnstown, the nearest point 
on the Pennsylvania improvements, 26 miles ; to Bedford, 37 miles. 

The first settlers about Somerset were Mr. Bruner, (the founder of the 
town,) Mr. Philson, and Mr. Husband, whose descendants still reside in 
the vicinity. During the great whiskey rebellion the citizens of this 
county took no very active part, though they were generally secretly op- 
posed to the excise. Mr. Philson and Mr. Husband were more bold in the 
expression of their sentiments, and were, in consequence, arrested, sent 
to Philadelphia, and imprisoned. Mr. Husband died in Philadelphia, 
after endurjng an imprisonment of about eight months. Mr. Philson was 
released. Hon. Judge Black, presiding judge of the district, resides in 
Somerset. His grandfather was one of the early settlers of the co., about 
eight miles east of the town. At his father's place was quite an extensive 
trading establishment. It is said that the distinguished Philip Doddridge, 
for many years the pride of the western bar, was born in this co. 

The following account of a destructive fire which desolated Somerset 
in 1833, is from the Somerset Whig ; — the catalogue of names and occu- 
pations may be interesting for reference at some future day : 



About half-past 2 o'clock on Wednesday morning, 
streets. It was discovered to be in a house owned 
cupied in part as a dwellings, and in part by several 
originated cannot be correctly ascertained — further 
hatter's shop. In a few moments we had presented 
spread with inconceivable rapidity, east, north, and 
getic exertions were made to subdue it, its progress 



(Oct. 16, 1833,) the cry of fire was heard in our 
by J. F. Cox and James Armstrong, and oc- 

mechanics as shops. Where the fire first 
than it was either in a cabinetmaker's or a 
before us an awful conflagration. The flames 

west, and notwithstanding the most ener- 
was not arrested until 20 dwelling-hoiises, 15 



SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY. 619 

Obops and offices^ 3 stores, 2 taverns, in one of which was kept the post-office, and a number of 
Btables, smoke-houses, and other back-buildings were destroyed. From main cross-street in the 
diamond of the town west to the cross street at Jacob Kurtz's, every building in front has been 
consumed, together with the greatest part of the back-buildings. 

The fire reached the diamond about daylight, and for a time all hopes of saving that part 
of the town east of main cross-street, seemed desperate ; there was a strong current of air from 
the southwest, and if one building on the east side of the diamond had taken fire, all must in- 
evitably have been consumed. But here, as with the same impulse, all the citizens made one 
united and powerful effort : nothing that could be done by united strength and concentrated action 
was left undone ; and finally, after a hard struggle, the progress of the flames was arrested by 
the most vigorous and powerful exertions that were perhaps every made under the same circum- 
stances in a case of the kind. It was stopped in the west with less difficulty in consequence of 
the wind not favoring its progress in that direction, and on the north for want of buildings to 
consume. 

A list of sufferers by the conflagration, as far as the undersigned, a committee of distribution, 
&-C., have at present ascertained the same, viz. : 

Samuel Stahl, hatter, loss — one large dwelling-house and hatter-shop ; also some personal prop- 
erty. Samuel Nedrow, blacksmith, loss — all his personal property and tools. Philip Anthony 
and three daughters, loss — all their personal property. Elijah Horner, cabinetmaker, loss — all his 
personal property and tools ; also a small confectionery. John Armstrong's estate, loss — three 
houses. David Williamson, stonecutter, loss — his tools and stone work finished. Neff & Stahl, 
merchants — large store and dwelling-house, barn and granary; also part of their merchandise. 
CJeorge Chorpenning — one large new brick house, intended for a tavern stand, and one frame- 
house and warehouse ; also two offices, and a large amount of personal property. John L. Sny. 
der, merchant and druggist — one large new brick house ; also considerable merchandise and fur- 
niture. Jacob Snyder, Esq. — two frame houses, and a part of his personal property. Charles 
Ogle, Esq. — one large tavern stand occupied as the stage office, &.C., by J. Webster. John Web. 
Bter, postmaster — a variety of personal property. Clifford Elder &, Co. — one dwelling-house ; 
also one saddler, one tinner, and one hatter shop — and part of his personal property. Geo. Pile, 
Esq. — one dwelling-house and tavern stand. Samuel C. Pile, innkeeper — part of his personal 
property. John Houpt, saddler — some personal property and stock. C. W. Michaels, merchant 
— $300 in cash. Michael Hugus' estate — one large dwelling-house, formerly occupied as a tav- 
ern stand ; also one saddler shop and office. John Witt, Esq., sheriff — one dwelling-house, and 
part of his furniture. John Kurtz, Esq. — one dwelling-house and druggist, including medicines. 
Martin Shaffer, hatter — all his personal property. Joshua F. Cox and James Armstrong — one 
large dwelling-house, hatter shop, and stable. Cephas Gillet, hatter — considerable stock and 
hats ; also his account books. Jacob Glcssner, cabinetmaker — a large assortment of tools, and 
a considerable quantity of valuable furniture. William Philson — all his personal property ; also 
notes, accounts, &c. Daniel Bauchman, shoemaker — one dweUing-house and stable ; also part 
of his stock and personal property. John Neff — considerable personal property. Gilbert & Snee, 
shoemakers — all their stock and tools. Rev. John Ticdeman's estate — one dwelling-hOuse and 
stable. Henry Marteeny — one dwelling-house. Thomas Crocket, chairmaker — all his tools. 
Leonard Stahl, chairmaker — a considerable quantity of chairs. 

Committee of distribution. — Isaac Ankeny, Joseph Imhoff, Samuel G. Bailey, Henl^ Benford. 

Stoystown is a flourishing village 10 miles N. E. of Somerset, situated 
on the Bedford and Pittsburg turnpike, where it crosses Stony creek. It 
was incorporated as a borough in 1819 ; it contains a German Reformed 
church, and about sixty dwellings ; population in 1840, 357. This place 
was laid out by an old revolutionary soldier by the name of Stoy. Sev- 
eral years since Mr. Stoy used to point out the ruins of a house built at 
the time of Gen. Porbes's expedition in 1758. 

The other villages of the co. are Smithfield, containing about 200 in- 
habitants, Petersburg 200, Salisbury 150, Milford, and Jennersville. 
Their relative position may be best ascertained by reference to the map. 



SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY. 

Susquehanna county was taken from Luzerne by the act of 1st Feb., 
1810, and received its name from the circumstance that in this coi the 



620 SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY. 

Susquehanna river first enters tlie state. Length 34 miles, breadth 23 ; 
area 797 sq. miles. Population in 1820, 9,960 ; in 1830, 16,787 ; in 1840, 
21,195. 

The county is not very mountainous, but the face of the country is di- 
versified by hills, rather high, but gradual and easy, which lie principally 
in ridges conforming to the course of the streams. Many of these hills 
are cultivated to their very tops, and afford the best land for grain. The 
soil is in general good, especially for grazing. Rye and oats succeed 
better than other grain. There is very little barren or waste land. The 
mountains of the county are, the Ocquago mountain, north of the Sus- 
quehanna, on the northern boundary of the state ; the Moosic mountain, 
at the head of Lackawannock creek ; Mount Ararat, a spur of Moosic 
mountain, near the northeast part of the co. ; and Elk mountain, in the 
eastern part of the co. The latter is the extreme knob of Tunkhannock 
mountain, arid forms the eastern termination of the main Allegheny 
mountain in I'ennsylvania. 

The Susquehanna river makes a very capricious bend out of the state 
of New York into the northern part of the co., and after turning round 
Ocquago mountain, recrosses the boundary. The Susquehanna at the 
bend approaches within ten miles of the Delaware. The other impor- 
tant streams of the co. are, Starucca, Salt Lick, Snake, Choconut, Wya- 
lusing, Meshoppen, Martin's, Tunkhannock, and Lackawannock creeks. 
The first three reach the Susquehanna at the bend ; of the others only 
the head branches water this county. These streams afford fine sites for 
mills ; they take their rise generally in clear, copious springs, or in beau- 
tiful lakes, of which there are many in the county. The west branch of 
Snake creek rises in Silver lake, a beautiful sheet of water nearly a mile 
long, in the northwest part of the county. Its name was conferred by the 
late Dr. Robert H. Rose, who built an elegant country seat near its mar- 
gin. Quaker lake, a little larger, lies two miles north of it. Lathrop's 
and Stevens's lakes lie near together at the sources of the Wyalusing, 
about five miles southwest of Montrose ; and there are two beautiful 
lakes near Dundaff, one of which is on the county line, and the other in 
Luzerne co. 

There is a salt spring on Snake creek, and licks upon Salt Lick creek, 
as its name indicates. The county lies entirely without the coal region, 
unless a small portion of the Lackawannock basin may possibly touch 
the extreme southeast corner of the co. The Milford and Owego turn- 
pike crosses the co. diagonally through the centre : there are also several 
other turnpikes, among which are the Belmont and Oquago road, and 
one from the Great Bend to I^hiladelphia. The great East and West 
State road from the Delaware to Erie, also crosses the county. 

In consequence of the great altitude of this region, the spring is later, 
and the autumnal frosts earlier, than in the country below the Allegheny 
mountain ; but this circumstance, together with the pure running waters, 
contributes greatly to the health of the inhabitants. 

The career of this county has been comparatively tranquil. The origi- 
nal settlers were chiefly from New England, many of whom took up their 
land under color of the Connecticut title : this, however, was many years 
after the violent disputes in the Wyoming valley, and the Pennsylvania 
title was already beginning to gain ground. Mr. Hines, the step-father 



SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY. 621 

of Judge Post, of Montrose, emigrated from Long Island to this county, 
about the year 1799, intending to take up land under the Connecticut 
title ; but, finding it defective, he purchased of the Pennsylvania claim- 
ants. For this he was mobbed by the Yankees, who would not bear that 
their titles should be suspected. Finding him at a distance from home, 
in another township, they insulted him, burnt him in effigy, and threatened 
his life — hoping, by intimidation, to make him accede to their views. 
But the old gentleman had been a revolutionary soldier, and was not to 
be frightened so easily. They released him, threatening his life if he 
complained. He made a complaint the next day ; and although the 
offenders were nominally put in jail, they only remained there during the 
daytime, at night having liberty to go where they chose. Such was the 
state of public feeling, that these outrages were little reprobated ; and 
many of these same men became afterwards sheriffs, justices, and repre- 
sentatives. 

Among the more prominent of the early settlers were Putnam Catlin, 
Esq., of Great Bend, Mr. Hines, Judge Post and his brother, Mr. Chase 
of Montrose, Dr. R. H. Rose, Mr. Carmalt of Friendsville, Mr. Asa La- 
throp, Charles Miner, Esq. — who came out in 1799, then a young man, 
and a zealous advocate for the Connecticut title — and others whose 
names are unknown to us. A small creek of the county bears the singu- 
lar name of Nine-partners' creek, from an association of the early immi- 
grants. 

It is well-known that, soon after the revolution, all the lands in the 
northern part of the state, then a wilderness, became an object of specu- 
lation, and were taken up in immense tracts by Robert Morris, John Nich- 
olson,* George Clymer, John Read, Judge Peters, Tench Francis, and 
others. It was difficult, for some years, to get actual settlers to come in 
under the Pennsylvania title, on account of the opposition from the Yan- 
kees already here. Among those most eminent in sustaining the Penn- 
sylvania title was Dr. Robert H. Rose, from Chester co., who came to this 
county while it was yet a wilderness. He was a man of refined taste, as 
a poet and a scholar, of great enterprise, and indomitable firmness. He 
purchased about 100,000 acres of land, from the widow Francis and 

* John Nicholson was comptroller of the state of Pennsylvania, from 1782 to 1794; during 
which period more than $27,000,000 of public money passed through his hands, under circum^ 
stances of peculiar complication and difficulty, arising from the then state of paper money and 
government credit. He became the object of political persecution, and resigned his office. His 
private transactions were very extensive. At this period he was the owner of about 3,700,000 
acres of land in Pennsylvania, besides large possessions, real and personal, elsewhere. To meet 
his various pecuniary engagements for these lands, he formed joint-stock companies, to which he 
conveyed a large portion of them. His affairs became embarrassed ; he was committed to 
prison, and died in confinement, and insane, during the year 1800. So early as the 17th and 
18th of March, 1797, deeds had been made to the Pennsylvaina Land Co. ; and individual cred- 
itors had obtained judgments against him. 

The commonwealth had an immense claim against him for unsettled land-warrants, stock ac- 
counts, and other items, in liquidation of which the vast amount of lands held in his neune, * 
throughout thirty-nine counties, reverted to the commonwealth, and have since been taken up 
or purchased by others. Conflicting claims, besides that of the state. Were previously existing ; 
and have tended greatly to complicate the title to these lands. The matter has several times 
been closed, and as often re-opened, by legislative enactments, special courts, and new lawsuits ; 
and recently a sweeping claim has been laid, by the individual heirs of Nicholson, to an im. 
mense amount of lands throughout the whole state — attempting to unsettle titles supposed t« 
be quieted many years since. 



622 SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY. 

others, at a low price, and became the agent for a great portion of the 
Pennsylvania claimants. Mr. Caleb Carmalt, too, was of great assistance 
to him, in furnishing him with capital, and joining him in his purchases. 
Mr. Carmalt settled subsequently at Friendsville, a neat and pleasant 
Quaker village, in the northwest part of the county. Dr. Rose, after en- 
tering, with great public spirit, into various enterprises for the establish- 
ment and improvement of the county, erected for himself an elegant man- 
sion, on the bank of Silver lake, surrounded by one of the largest farms 




Silver Lake. 

in the state. In the cultivation of this farm, in the sale of his lands, and 
in the enjoyments of an extensive and well-selected library, he passed 
his later years. He terminated his useful life about two years since. 
Among the most admired of his literary productions was a vivid descrip- 
tion of a panther-hunt, published in the " Port Folio," the scene of which 
was laid near the cabin of Mr. Conrad Sox, an old pioneer, on the head- 
waters of the Lehigh. He also published several poems. 

During the last twenty years, enterprising settlers from New York, 
New Jersey, and the eastern states, have continued to come in ; and the 
county now abounds with well-cultivated farms. There is still room, 
however, for a much larger population ; and many tracts of good land 
can be bought for from $3 to $5 an acre. 

Montrose, the county town, is delightfully situated on a hill above the 
sources of Wyalusing and Meshoppen creeks. From its elevated site it 
commands a fine view of the adjacent country. It contains a neat court- 
house and other county buildings, an academy, the Susquehanna County 
Bank, and Presbyterian, Episcopal, Methodist, Baptist, Universalist, and 
African churchy. Population in 1830,450; in 1840,632. There is a 
striking air of neatness and comfort about this village that denotes a peo- 
ple who love their homes and take a pride in adorning them. The pri- 
vate dwellings are generally of wood painted white, with green blinds — 
many of them displaying architectural elegance, and set back from the 
street amid yards and gardens full of flowers and shrubbery. The streets 
are wide, and well shaded with trees. The whole appearance of the 
town is that of a place which has grown up gradually in the midst of a 



SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY 



623 



thriving and intelligent agricultural population, remote from the expen- 
sive luxur}^ of large cities, and the great highways of speculation. The 
place was laid out in 1811, and received its name of Mont-Rose in honor 
of Dr. Robert H. Rose, who, with the Messrs. Post, and other gentlemen, 
made donations of lots for the use of the county. Previous to that time 
the old frame house, built in 1807, (and now occupied as a tavern by Mr. 
Morse,) and a log cabin, were the only buildings on the site. The bo- 
rough was incorporated 29th March, 1824. The Silver Lake Bank, now 
extinct, was established in 1816. 

The annexed view was taken from Mr. Morse's tavern. On the left, 




Central part of Montrose. 

is the post-ofBce. On the right, about half-way up the street, is the bank, 
the academy, and private dwellings. 

DuNDAFF is a pleasant town situated near Crystal lake, in the south- 
eastern corner of the co,, 22 miles from Montrose, and 7 from Carbondale. 
It contains a Presbyterian church ; a banking house, formerly used by a 
bank now extinct ; a glass factory, established by Messrs. Gould, Phin- 
ney &i Co., in 1831 ; and dwellings, stores, &c., sufficient for the accom- 
modation of 304 inhabitants. Peter Graham, Esq., of Philadelphia, has a 
splendid country seat, with an extensive farm, adjoining the village. 

Great Bend is a village on the Susquehanna, at the mouth of Salt Lick 
creek, about three miles above where the river re-enters the state of 
New York. It is built upon an extensive flat surrounded on all sides by 
hills. A trestle bridge 600 feet long crosses the river here. It was erect- 
ed by individual subscription, in 1814, at an expense* of $6,500. A turn- 
pike runs from here to Coshecton on the Delaware. Wore it not for the 
difficulties attendant upon two different state jurisdictioi^s, the New York 
and Erie railroad would undoubtedly have passed through Great Bend : 
at present it is located about ten miles north of it. When finished, it 
will be of great advantage to this section of the county. Among the 
earlier settlers at Great Bend was Putnam Catlin, Esq., the father of 
George Catlin, the distinguished artist and traveller among the Indians, 
The latter is a native of the county. 



624 TIOGA COUNTY. 

Harmony is another small village on the eastern side of the Great Bend, 
on the left bank of the river, about two miles below the New York line. 
There are several other small but pleasant villages in the county, each 
containing their post-office, tavern, church, stores, and blacksmith's shop, 
with dwellings more or less according to the situation. Such are Friends- 
viLLE, 10 miles N. W. of Montrose ; " the Forks," (of Wyalusing,) 12 
miles west, and Rushville, 14 miles west of Montrose ; Harford, in the 
eastern part of the county ; Herrick, New Milford, Springville, Auburn, 
Jackson, Gibson, Brooklyn, &c. 



TIOGA COUNTY. 

Tioga county was separated from Lycoming by the act of 25th March, 
1804: in 1806 the seat of justice was established at Wellsborough : in 
1808 county commissioners were first elected, and in 1812 the county was 
fully organized for judicial purposes. Length 36 miles, breadth 31 ; area 
1,108 sq. miles. Population in 1810, 1,687 ; in 1820, 4,021 ; in 1830, 9,071 ; 
in 1840, 15,498. 

The county is traversed by the high undulating ridges skirting the 
northwestern base of the Allegheny mountain, or rather of Laurel hill, 
which sweeps past the southeastern corner of the county. These ridges 
pertain generally to the hard sandstone strata of formations X. and XII. 
of our state geologists, and the lower strata of formation XIII., which 
comprehends the coal measures. The uplands in the vicinity of the 
larger streams are well covered with white pines of a superior quality ; 
the sugar-maple abounds in many places, and large quantities of sugar 
are produced from it. The county is well supplied with navigable 
streams, having the Tioga river, a south branch of the Chemung, on the 
east, which is navigable for rafts and arks about 30 miles above the N. 
York line ; the Cowanesque creek on the north, navigable about the same 
distance, and Pine creek on the west, also navigable ; so that no part of 
the county is distant more than ten miles from descending navigation. A 
very extensive lumber business has been done on these streams, especial- 
ly on Pine creek, whence a vast amount has annually been sent down 
the Susquehanna. The recent crisis in monetary affairs has tended in 
some measure to check this trade. Several men from the cities, with 
more capital than industry, and more enterprise than prudence, had em- 
barked in the business, and driven it beyond its profitable limit. 

Until the year 1796-7, Tioga and the neighboring counties were a 
howling wilderness, entirely cut off' from the West Branch settlements by 
the lofty barrier of the Allegheny mountain — and trodden only by the 
beasts of the forest, and the savage on his hostile expedition to the lower 
settlements. About that time a Mr. Williamson of New York, an agent 
for Sir William Pulteney, first opened a rough wagon road through this 
Mdlderness, across the mountains from the mouth of Lycoming cr. to the 
sources of the Tioga, and thence down that river to Painted Post in New 
York. This road was made at the expense of Sir William Pulteney for 



TIOGA COUNTY. 625 

the purpose of rendering his lands in the state of New York accessible 
to German or other emigrants coming up from Philadelphia and Balti- 
more. Old Mr. Covenhoven (Crownover) of Lycoming co., and Mr. Pat- 
terson, superintended the workmen on the road, who were principally 
German redemptioners. This road became a great thoroughfare, and 
was extensively known as the " Blockhouse road," from a log-house, 
(called blockhauss by the Germans,) erected by Williamson near the 
mountains for the accommodation of travellers. 

It is still a tavern stand and the site of a post-office, about 12 miles 
south of Blossburg. This house was kept in the primitive times by one 
Anthonyson, a sort of half French and half Dutchman. Anthony, ac- 
cording to his own story, had spent most of his life as a soldier, during 
the stormy times of the French revolution ; and he had thereby neither 
improved his morals nor his fortune. He made no scruple, by way of 
amusing his guests, of boasting of his bold-faced villany — there was no 
one of the ten commandments which he had not specifically broken, time 
and again. With the habits of the old soldier, he had little disposition 
to get his living by tilling the ground ; and found the military mode of 
pillage much more to his taste. He raised no oats, but always charged 
travellers for the use of his troughs, and for sleeping before his fire. 
Whiskey was the staple commodity at his house, serving both as meat 
and drink. Many of the early emigrants to the Genesee country drove 
their young cattle along. There was a wide track of some fearful tor- 
nado, not far from Anthony's house, in which he had contrived to cut an 
open space, with a narrow passage into it ; making a kind of unseen pen. 
To this spot the cattle of his guests were very apt to stray, in the night. 
In the morning the poor emigrants were hunting, far and near, for their 
cattle, with Anthony for their guide ; but on such occasions he never 
happened to think of the windfall. 

The unsuspecting guests, after two or three days of fruitless search, 
would leave, paying roundly for their detention ; and instructiag the old 
scoundrel to hunt the cattle, and when found, to write to a certain ad- 
dress, with a promise of reward for his trouble. Anthony never had oc- 
casion to write ; but it was always remarked that he kept his smoke- 
house well supplied with what he called elk-meat. When or where he 
caught the elks was never known. Some lone travellers, who stopped 
at his house, it is strongly suspected, never reached their intended desti- 
nation. 

After the opening of this road, many of the pioneers from the Wyoming 
country, and from New England, came into the eastern part of the county, 
and took up lands under the Connecticut title. For quite a number of 
years, the uncertainty of this title gave rise to much wrangling and liti- 
gation. A Mr. Gobin, an assistant-surveyor under the Pennsylvania title, 
was shot in his camp, but not killed. At length the litigation was ended 
by the compromise at Trenton : the settlers quietly acknowledged the va- 
lidity of the Pennsylvania title, and compromised their claims with the 
agents of the landholders from Philadelphia. A large portion of the 
lands, in the eastern section of the county, belongs to the Bingham es- 
tate. 

Soon after the cutting of the Blockhouse road, Mr. John Norris, from 
Philadelphia, first came, about the beginning of the year 1799, to the 

79 



626 



TIOGA COUNTY. 



southwestern part of the county, as an agent for Mr. Benjamin Morns, 
who owned lands in that region. He was accompanied by his brother- 
in-law, Mr. Mordecai Jackson, then a young lad. On Mr. Norris's arri- 
val, he erected a grist and saw mill, on the waters of Little Pine creek, 
just within the boundary of Lycoming county. This establishment was 
generally known as Morris's mills. The country was then a complete 
wilderness, and in traversing its wilds these first adventurers endured the 
many hardships incident to a pioneer's life ; such as sleeping on the ground 
in the open air, often without fire — searching for the blazes on the 
trees, at night, to find the way through the forest — and travelling long 
journeys for their provisions, to the older settlements, for one or two 
years after their first arrival. These hardships were doubly severe to 
young men, reared among the comforts and luxuries of Philadelphia. 
After remaining at Morris's mills for five or six years, and inducing some 
half dozen settlers to immigrate, Mr. Norris removed to the vicinity of 
the Big Marsh; and subsequently, in 1807, to the place where he now 
lives, within a mile of Wellsborough. The mill at that place had been 
built the year previous, (1806,) by Samuel W. Fisher, of Philadelphia ; 
and the same year the county seat was fixed at Wellsborough. Among 
the first settlers, at or near Wellsborough, besides Mr. Norris, were Ben- 
jamin W. Morris, David Linsey, Alpheus Cheney, and Daniel Kelsey, Esq. 




Central part of Wellsborough. 

Wellsborough, the county seat, is located near the centre of the county, 
three miles from the navigable waters of Pine creek, on the great state- 
road, passing through the northern range of counties. The north and 
south road, from the mouth of Lycoming creek to the 109th mile-stone, 
on the state line, also passes through the place. The village is built up- 
on level ground, on a long and wide street, sheltered on the north and 
east by high hills. There existed, for many years, a great strife for the 
removal of the county seat. The towns on the Tioga and Cowanesque, 
appearing to be most favored with the increase of population and im- 
provement, contended for the removal ; and settlers were consequently 



TIOGA COUNTV. 62? 

diverted from selecting a location at or near Wellsborough. This had a 
blighting effect Upon the place; and in 1831 the village paper describes 
the place as containing only " 40 or 50 indifferent dwelling-houses, a court- 
house and jail, of no very reputable appearance," &c., &c. At length, 
in 1835, a majority of the citizens of the county authorized the erection 
of the new stone courthouse and county offices, which confirmed to the 
place its title as the seat of justice. 

Since that time it has greatly improved, and many new frame buildings 
have been erected : among them an Episcopal and a Methodist church, 
in a very neat style of architecture. There is also an academy. The 
private dwellings are built with much taste, and even some of the stores 
and taverns exhibit the tasteful proportions of Grecian architecture. 
Pleasant front yards, gardens, and green blinds indicate the origin of the 
population, from New York and New England. The courthouse, seen 
on the left, in the annexed view, is a fine edifice of white sandstone, sur- 
mounted with a cupola. A tri- weekly stage runs to Covington, 12 miles 
east. Population in 1840. 369. Coal has been discovered about seven 
miles south of the borough. 

Covington is a large and flourishing village, at the intersection of the 
great state-road with the Tioga river. The railroad of the Tioga Navi- 
gation Co. also passes through the village. Mr. Washburn, Mr. Elijah 
Putnam, and Mr. Mallory settled at Covington " corners," previous to 
1806. Mr. Bloss and Mr. Hovey had settled about the year 1801, two 
miles below ; and Mr. Sacket also lived near the same place. The land 
titles were for a long time in dispute between the Connecticut and Penn- 
sylvania claimants. When at last they were settled in favor of the Penn- 
sylvanians, or " Pennamites," as the " Connecticut boys" called them, Mr. 
William Patten came in as their agent, and laid out the town, about the 
year 1822, and started a store and tavern. For some years the place in- 
creased very slowly, and was only known as "The Corners." In 1831 it 
assumed the dignity of a borough ; soon afterwards the great fever of 
internal improvement and speculation began to rise, and Covington, be- 
ing an important point, rose with it. 

Lands both for farming and timber, and town lots, were eagerly taken up, 
and passed from hand to hand, sometimes doubled and trebled in value at 
each transfer ; coal mines and iron mines were opened, and water-powers 
were sought out and improved ; saw-mills, furnaces, houses, stores, and 
taverns, went up as if by magic ; bank notes poured in from New York 
and Towanda, and everybody seemed to be getting rich. But at length, 
in 1841-42, the bubble burst — bank notes melted in the hand, property 
became unsaleable, and the whole community embarrassed. The fever 
had subsided, and left in its place a hard-shaking ague. 

The following tragic tale is copied from the newspapers of Feb. 1842, 
and will serve to explain much of the embarrassment that has overtaken 
Covington and the vicinity. 

Philadelphia, 17th Feb. 1842. This morning, at about 6 o'clock, Mr. J. G. Boyd, late cashier 
and agent of the Towanda Bank, killed himself, at his residence in Schuylkill Seventh-st., by 
firing a loaded pistol into his mouth. Previously to his late dismissal as the casliier of the bank, 
it was ascertained that he had, as the signing officer of the relief issues of that bank, put out 
some thousands of dollars on his own account. The Penn Township Bank, one of the losers by 
this fraudulent issue, and by some of his other transactions, had commenced a suit against him 
and it was while in the custody of the sherifT, and when he saw that the whole fraud must be eZ'' 



628 TIOGA COUNTY 

poSed, that he committed the melancholy act. About two years since he had inamed an inter* 
esting young lady at Trenton, New Jersey, and was keeping house with her at the time of hi* 
suicide in Philadelphia. He had furnished this house splendidly — had settled upon his wife a 
farm near Germantown, worth about ^8000, and had made many munificent presents to her rela- 
tives. But it appears that all this time he had another wife, a most estimable lady, at Covington, 
Tioga CO., by whom he had several children, and with whom he was living on most affectionate 
terms, whenever his business called him to that vicinity. With his Philadelphia wife he passed 
as Mr. Henry Seymour — represented himself as a drover having large transactions with the inte- 
rior counties, and often spoke of his intimate friend Mr. John G. Boyd. So adroitly was the de- 
ception maintained, that neither of these unfortunate ladies ever suspected the least impropriety 
in his conduct, or alienation of his affections. 

Mr. Boyd had come out from the state of New York to Tioga and Bradford counties some 
three or four years since. He was a man of about 35 years of age, with a gentlemanly, but 
plain and business-like exterior, — exhibiting extraordinary tact and readiness in matters of busi- 
ness, and a good degree of common sense, apparently, in the management of his enterprises. 
Although comparatively a stranger, yet so plausible was his address, that he soon gained the con- 
fidence of wealthy men, who intrusted him with means to enter largely into the lumber busi- 
ness, and afterwards into the iron business, and coal land speculations in Tioga county. He had 
several large mills near Covington, a furnace at Blossburg, and was engaged in many of the 
most prominent schemes for improving these two places. His business led him into intimate 
connection with the Towanda Bank ; and he was successively appointed clerk, agent for the 
transaction of the bank's business in Philadelphia, and cashier. The latter office, after the credit 
of the bank began to decline, he was compelled to give up. He still, however, secretly continued 
his fraudulent issues of Towanda relief notes in Philadelphia, until a short time previcnis to the 
tragic close of his career. 

Covington, however, though shocked and thrown back by this calami- 
ty, added to the ordinary embarrassment of the times, still has many ad- 
vantages for becoming a prosperous town, — particularly an extensive 
farming and lumbering country constantly opening to the west of it^ 
which finds here the most convenient depot for its produce and lumber. 
Quite a brisk business is still done. No church has yet been erected in 
the place. The Presbyterians worship in a school-house. The Baptists 
and Methodists have it in contemplation to erect churches soon. The 
extensive lumber establishment of Boyd & Clever is about half a mile 
below the town. 

Blossburg took its name from the aged Mr. Aaron Bloss, (now of Cov- 
ington,) who originally settled here and owned the property. Before Mr. 
Bloss removed here, about the year 1802, one Gaylord, a worthless fellow^ 
had kept a tavern. Mr. Bloss removed from near Covington, and bought 
him out. The place at that time went by the name of " Peter's camp." 
This Peters was a German, who did the baking in an immense oven for 
the large company of German redemptioners at work on the Blockhouse 
road. Peters was not remarkable for cleanliness of person ; and his 
comrades, unable any longer to tolerate his filth, caught him and com- 
menced the necessary ablution by pouring sundry buckets of cold water 
upon his head, stroking and smoothing down his hair in a becoming 
manner, — and were about to complete the process by putting him into 
the river, when the superintendent of the road interfered. 

Blossburg is situated on the Tioga river, at the head of the railroad 
connecting the bituminous coal and iron mines of Tioga co. with the Che- 
mung river and canal, and promises to become a point of some import- 
ance when all the natural resources in its vicinity shall be properly de- 
veloped. 

The railroad from Blossburg, through Covington, to Corning in the state 
of New York, 40 miles, was constructed by the Tioga Navigation Co., 
instead of a canal or slackwater navigation, and was opened for locomo- 



TIOGA COUNTY. 



629 



tjves in July, 1840. This road opens a connection between the coal 
mines of Blossburg and the Chemung canal of New York. The annexed 




Hotel, depot, and coal mine at Blossburg. 

view shows, on the right, the large hotel erected by the late Mr. Boyd ; 
and near it, the extensive depot and workshops of the railroad. Beyond, 
on the hill, is seen the opening of the Arbon company's coal mine, and 
the inclined plane by which the coal descends. These mines are exten- 
sive and valuable. The vein is about five feet in thickness. 

A large iron furnace stands at the upper end of the village, which had 
been leased by Mr. Boyd and another person. It was originally wrought 
with charcoal, but had been altered for coke ; and the workmen were 
conducting a successful blast with the latter, when Mr. Boyd's catastro- 
phe occurred, and the heiirth was allowed " to chill." The same blight- 
ing chill came over many of the enterprises in this region from the same 
cause. Blossburg has become quite a village since the opening of the 
mines and the railroad. Like most other coal towns in Pennsylvania, it 
resembles an army with its tents pitched in different detachments — here 
one row of houses in uniform, and there another. The houses are con- 
structed with good taste, principally of wood. The country around is 
wild and rugged. The Tioga, here but a narrow stream, flows in a deep 
and narrow valley, surrounded on both sides by precipitous hills. 

Tioga, or Willardsburg, situated at the confluence of Crooked creek 
and the Tioga river, was settled about the year 1800 by Mr. Willard. 
The opening of the country to a market has given it an impetus, and it 
has rapidly increased, until it rivals the towns above it on the river. It 
contains Methodist and Baptist churches. 

Mansfield is on the right bank of the Tioga, at the mouth of Canoe 
Camp creek, three miles below Covington. Mainsville is four miles east 
of Mansfield, on the road to Towanda. Not far from this place, in Union 
township, in Sept, 1835, Major Ezra Long is said to have discovered a 
considerable quantity of lead ore, the specimens of which were equal to 
the best lead ores of the west. 

Lawrenceville is a small village just within the state line, at the con- 



630 UNION COUNTY. 

fluence of the Cowanesque with the Tioga river. Furmantown is on the 
state road, 12 miles west of Wellsboro ; and Mixtown lies near the west- 
ern boundary of the co., on a small branch of Pine creek, six or seven 
miles N. W. from Furmantown. 



UNION COUNTY. 

Union county was separated from Northumberland by the act of 22d 
March, 1813 ; and the same act fixed the seat of justice at New Berlin. 
Length 26 miles, breadth 21 ; area, 550 sq. miles. Population in 1820 
18,619 ; in 1830, 20,795 ; and in 1840, 22,787. Several of the prominent 
ranges of the great Apalachian system traverse the county from S. W. to 
N. E., and between these ranges there intervene broad limestone valleys 
of exuberant fertility. The mountains are, commencing on the south, 
Shade mountain. Jack's mountain, and its apparent continuation, Mon- 
tour's ridge ; Path Valley, Buffalo, Nittany, and White Deer mountains ; 
the isolated Blue hill, opposite Sunbury ; and several ridges of less ele- 
vation. The principal valleys are Middle Creek valley, Penn's valley, 
Buffalo valley, and White Deer valley — each watered by a stream of the 
same name. Dry valley, between New Berlin and Northumberland, is 
without a stream. These valleys and mountains present an extensive 
range of geological strata, from formation V. to IX. (of our state geolo- 
gists) inclusive. Iron ore occurs in various localities, principally the hard 
fossiliferous ore, agreeing with that of Montour's ridge, and the brown 
argillaceous honeycomb ore ; but these ores do not exist in sufficient 
quantity to justify the establishment of extensive iron- works. Mr. Brooks, 
of Chester co., had a furnace on Penn's cr., above New Berlin, at the foot 
of Jack's mountain. It is said that lead ore has been found in certain 
places in the co. The Pennsylvania canal passes up the west bank of 
the Susquehanna to Northumberland, and thence the West Branch canal 
pursues the northern side of that branch. A communication is formed 
with it at Lewisburg, which accommodates that part of Union co. 

The population of Union county is perhaps more exclusively of German 
extraction than that of any other in the state, unless Berks and Lebanon 
might be excepted ; and its public men have held high stations in the 
commonwealth, and in congress. Simon Snyder, George Kremer, and 
Ner Middleswarth, were citizens of this co. Agriculture is the chief, and 
almost the only pursuit of the inhabitants ; and for this there is a mutual 
adaptation between the nature of the soil and the steady, persevering in- 
dustry of the German character. 

The early history of Union co. is closely interwoven with that of 
Northumberland, of which it formed a part. The treaty of 1768 at Fort 
Stanwix threw open this region for settlement by the whites ; and al- 
though the peace then established with the Indians was at best precari- 
ous, many bold adventurers, Irish, Germans, and Dutch, pushed for- 
ward upon the newly-acquired lands. The first settlements were made 
along the West Branch, and upon the Susquehanna. But a few years 



UNION COUNTY. 631 

elapsed before the savages again took up the hatchet, in coalition with 
Great Britain during the revolution. The scattered pioneers of Buffalo 
and Penn's valleys placed their families near the forts for protection, and 
stood ready with their rifles to defend their homes — tilling their fields and 
gathering their crops with armed sentinels upon the fence. Several fami- 
lies, who chose to remain on their farms, were murdered or carried into 
captivity by the Indians. 

The following, from the Lancaster Intelligencer, was written by the 
daughter of a revolutionary soldier conversant with the facts. 

James Thompson lived, at the commencement of the revolutionary war, on a beautiful farm 
near Spruce run, in White Deer township. On a contiguous farm lived a family named Young'. 
One morning in march they were surprised by five Indians, who took Thompson and Margaret 
Young prisoners. Thompson was a very active young man, and determined to rescue Miss 
Young, and make his own escape. On the second night of their captivity, while the Indians 
were asleep, — each with his rifle, tomahawk, and scalping-knife wrapped, with himself, in his 
blanket, — Thompson found a stone weighing about two pounds, and kneeling down beside the 
nearest Indian, with his left hand he felt for his temple — his intention being to kill one, and, hav- 
ing secured his tomahawk, he thought he could dispatch the rest successively as they arose. 
The darkness of the night, however, frustrated his plan ; for, not seeing, he did no serious injury. 
The Indian bounded up with a fierce yell, which awoke the others, and springing on the young 
man — who had thrown his stone as far from him as he possibly could — would have put an end to 
his existence, had not the rest interfered and secured Thompson. The Indian immediately ac- 
cused him of endeavoring to kill him — while he signified that he had only struck him with his 
fist — and nothing appearing to induce them to doubt his word, they were highly amused at the 
idea of an Indian making so terrible an outcry at any stroke a paleface could inflict with his 
naked hand. He, however, although he had not an ocular, had certainly a very feeling demon- 
stration that something weightier than a hand had been used — but was shamed into silence by the 
laugh raised at his expense. Our prisoners were now taken up the Susquehanna, crossed the 
river in a canoe, and proceeded up Loyal Sock creek. For five nights he was laid upon his back, 
with his arms extended and tied to stakes. On the seventh night, near the mouth of To- 
wanda creek, the Indians directed Thompson and his companion, as usual, to kindle a fire for 
themselves, while they built anotiier. By this means he had an opportunity of communicating 
to her his intention of leaving the company that very evening. She advised him to go without 
her. He expressed great unwillingness ; but she overruled his objections, declaring that even did 
she now escape, she would not be able to reach home. Accordingly, in gathering the dry sticks 
which were strewn round, he went further from the circle, throwing each stick, as he found it, 
towards the fire, and then wandering slowly, though not unconsciously, still further for the next, 
until he had gone as far as he thought he could without exciting suspicion ; then he precipitately 
fled. They were soon in pursuit, but were unable to overtake him ; and he ran in such a quick 
zig-zag manner, that they could not aim straight enough to shoot him. 

He was obliged to travel principally at night ; and in going down Loyal Sock creek, he fre- 
quently came upon Indian encampments, when he had either to wade the stream, or cross the 
slippery mountains, to avoid them. Sometimes he came to places where they had encamped. 
The bones of deer, &c., which he found at these places, he broke open, and swallowed the mar- 
row. This, with the few roots he could find, was all the food he was able to procure. Once, 
when almost overcome with fatigue and loss of sleep, he thought of getting into a hollow tree to 
rest ; but this would not do, for where he could get in a wild animal might also get, and, although 
naturally possessed of great courage, he did not like to be attacked in that manner, where he had 
no means of defence. In this way he reached the Susquehanna, where he found the canoe as 
they left it. He entered it, and descended the river ; but fatigue, and want of nourishment and 
rest, had so overcome him, that when he reached Fort Freeland — a short distance above where 
Milton now stands — he was unable to rise. He lay in the canoe until discovered by the inhabit- 
ants, who took him ashore ; and by careful treatment he was restored to health. He afterwards 
received a pension from the United States, and died about the year 1838, in the 96th year of his 

The Indians, meantime, pursued their course, taking Miss Young with them, to the neighbor- 
hood of Montreal, in Canada. She had frequently understood them to lament the loss of Thomp- 
son. As he was a fine active young man, they were keeping him as a subject upon which to 
exercise their cruelty. Miss Young was given to an old squaw, who wished to make her work 
sufliciently to maintain them both ; but an old colored man advised her to work as little as pos- 
sible — and what she must do, she should do as badly as she could ; " for," said he, " if you work 
well she will keep you for a slave, — but be lazy, and do your work wrong, and she will get tired of 
you, and sell you to the whites." Poor young girl I away from her home and her friends, she was 



632 



UNION COUNTY. 



grateful for the advice which even an old colored man gave. She acted her part well ; for when 
the corn was ready for hoeing, she would cut up the corn, and neatly dress some weed in its 
stead. The old squaw thought she was too stupid ever to learn — for, notwithstanding all the 
pains she had taken to teach her, she was still as awkward and ignorant as ever ; and think- 
ing her a useless burden, she sent her to Montreal, according to her wisli, and sold her. Her 
purchaser was a man of some distinction, of the name of Young ; and when he discovered her 
name, he began to trace relationship, and found they actually were cousins. This was a happy 
discovery. She lived almost as contentedly, in her cousin's family, as in her father's house. 
Some time after the conclusion of the war, she became very anxious to visit her friends in the 
United States. She came home, where she sickened and died soon after. 

New Berlin, the county seat, is a pleasant village, in the midst of a 
fertile limestone valley, on the left bank of Penn's creek, nine miles from 
Lewisburg, and eleven from Northumberland. It contains about 100 
dwellings, w^ith stores and taverns ; a very handsome courthouse and 
offices, of brick ; a stone prison, and tv^^o handsome churches — German 
Lutheran and German Methodist. The annexed view, taken from the 




New Berlin. 

window of the Evangelical book establishment, shows the public offices, 
courthouse, and German Lutheran church, on the left. In the background 
is seen the round end of Jack's mountain, which terminates abruptly three 
miles west of the town. An English Lutheran and an English Methodist 
church are in progress of erection. Penn's creek is navigable for arks 
and rafts above 50 miles, and yields an abundant water-power. There 
are five valuable mills upon it, within two miles of the town. Great 
quantities of wheat are ground here. The population, which is chiefly 
German, was, in 1 840, 679. Some idea may be formed of the great inte- 
rest taken in polities, by the citizens of this county, from the fact that 
there are four party papers published here — two English and two Ger- 
man — besides one or two at Lewisburg. There is also a German reli- 
gious paper extensively circulated, called the "Christlicke Botschafter," 
or Christian Embassador, published here, by the " Book Concern" of the 
" Evangelical Communion," (sometimes known as the Albright denomina' 
tion.) 

New Berlin was laid out about the commencement of the present cen- 
tury, by a Mr. Long, who afterwards sold out and moved away, about the 



UNION COUNTY 



69S 



year 1813. It was for some years called Longstown. The act establish- 
ing the county, in 1813, changed the name to New Berlin, The town 
was then built exclusively upon the southernmost of the two principal 
streets, of which it now consists, Mr, John Mauch, who came here at 
that time, says there were standing only four frame houses. On the es- 
tablishment of the county, the owners of the outlots north of the town, 
and under Montour's ridge, threw them into common stock, and made a 
lottery of them, at $25 per share of one lot. Many of the drawers have 
never claimed their lots. This township, now Union, was formerly part 
of Buffalo township, (See the proceedings of committee of safety, page 
528.) 




Lewishurg. 

Lewisburg is situated on the right bank of the West branch of Susque- 
hanna, eight miles above Northumberland, and just below the mouth of 
Buffalo creek. It is a remarkably thriving village, and has the appear- 
ance and bustle of a little city. Within the last few years, about 150 
houses have been erected, many of them large brick edifices, whose style 
would do credit to any place. It is the market town for Buffalo valley, 
and a great part of Penn's valley, A dam opposite the town, built in 
1833, forms a basin, which, with a short cross-cut, enables the trade of 
the place to reach the West Branch canal, at a distance of about half a 
mile, A substantial bridge crosses the West Branch. A turnpike leads 
from this place, through Mifflinburg and Hartleystown, to Potter's fort, in 
Penn's valley. There are four churches here — Lutheran, Presbyterian, 
Methodist, and Christian ; two newspapers, a foundry, several large 
warehouses, &c. Population in 1840, 1,220, 

Lewisburg was first laid out by Ludwig or Louis Derr, an old German, 
who owned the land, and had an Indian trading-house here. He left the 
property to his son, who became embarrassed, went to Philadelphia, and 
sold the lots at auction, to various purchasers, who, as the town did not 
at that time increase rapidly, lost sight of their lots. They were occu- 
pied without title, but with mean improvements ; and the uncertainty of 
the title prevented, for a long time, the advancement of the town. These 



634 UNION COUNTY. 

titles, however, were a few years since settled, and the town has since 
grown rapidly. In an old geography, by Scott, published in 1806, Lewis- 
burg is spoken of as " a post-town, containing upwards of 70 houses." 

The following extract is from the numbers by " Kiskiminetas," in the 
" Blairsville Record :" — 

When Capt. John Brady left Shippensburg, he located himself at the Standing-stone, the 
present town of Huntingdon. From thence he removed to the West branch of the Susquehanna, 
opposite to the spot on which Lewisburg, or Derrstown, in Union county, stands. If I mistake 
not, the tract settled on by him now belongs to George Kremer, Esq. Derr had a small mill on 
the run that empties into the river, below the town, and a trading-house, from whence the Indians 
were supplied witii powder, lead, tobacco, and rum. In the commencement of the strife between 
the colonies and the mother country, Brady discovered that the Indians were likely to be tam- 
pered with by the British. The Seneca and Muncy tribes were in considerable force, and Pine 
and Lycoming creeks were navigable, almost to the state line, for canoes. Fort Augusta had 
been built upon the cast side of the North Branch, immediately where it connects with the West, 
about a mile above the present town of Sunbury. It was garrisoned by '* a fearless few," and 
commanded by Capt. (afterwards Maj.) Hunter, a meritorious officer. He had under his com- 
mand about 50 men. In the season for tillage, some attention was paid to farming ; but the 
women and children mostly resided in the fort, or were taken there on the slightest alarm. Capt. 
John Brady suggested to his neighbors and comrades under arms, at Fort Augusta, the propriety 
of making a treaty with the Seneca and Muncy tribes ; knowing them to be at variance with the 
Delawares. This course was approved of, and petitions sent onto the proper authorities, praying 
the appointment of commissioners for the purpose of holding a treaty. Fort Augusta was desig- 
nated as the place of conference. 

On the day appointed for holding the treaty, the Indians appeared, with their wives and chil- 
dren. There were about 100 men, all warriors, and dressed in war costume. Care had been 
taken that the little fort should look as fierce as possible ; and every man was on the alert. 

In former treaties the Indians had received large presents, and were expecting them here ; but 
finding the fort too poor to give any thing of value, (and an Indian never trusts,) all efforts to 
form a treaty with them proved abortive. They left the fort, however, apparently in good-humor, 
and well satisfied with their treatment ; and, taking to their canoes, proceeded homeward. The 
remainder of the day was chiefly spent, by the officers and people of the fort, in devising means 
of protection against the anticipated attacks of the Indians. Late in the day, Brady thought of 
Derr's trading-house ; and, foreboding evil from that point, mounted a small mare he had at the 
fort, and crossed the North Branch, riding with all possible speed. On his way home, he saw the 
canoes of the Indians on the bank of the river, near Derr's. When near enough to observe the 
river, he saw the squaws exerting themselves to the utmost, at their paddles, to work the canoes 
over to his side of the river ; and that, when they landed, they made for thickets of sumach, 
which grew in abundance on his land. He was not slow in conjecturing the cause. He rode on 
to where the squaws were landing, and saw that they were conveying rifles, tomahawks, and 
knives into the sumach thickets, and hiding them. He immediately jumped into a canoe, and 
crossed to Derr's trading-house, where he found the Indians brutally drunk. He saw a barrel of 
rum standing on end, before Derr's door, with the head out. He instantly overset it, and spilled 
the rum ; saying to Derr, " My God I Frederick, what have you done ?" Derr replied, " Dey 
dells me you gif um no dreat town on de fort, so I dinks as I gif um one here, als he go home 
in beace." 

One of the Indians, who saw the rum spilled, but was unable to prevent it, told Brady he would 
one day rue the spilling of that barrel. Being well acquainted with the Indian character, he 
knew death was the penalty of his offence ; and was constantly on his guard, for several years. 

On the 8th April, 1835, amid a solemn and imposing military array, a 
splendid monument was erected, in the Presbyterian cemetery in Lewis- 
burg, to the memory of the late distinguished Col. John Kelly, of Kelly 
township. After the ceremony, James Merrill, Esq., delivered an address, 
from which the following particulars are derived : — 

Col. John Kelly was born in Lancaster county, in Feb. 1774. After the purchase from the In- 
dians, in 1768, and before the opening of the land-office in 1769, he came to Buffalo valley, then 

part of Berks county. Here he suffered the hardships inseparable from the first settlement of 
a new country. He was tall, about six feet two, vigorous and muscular, with a body inured to 
labor, and insensible of fatigue, and a mind fearless of danger. He was a major in the revolu- 
tionary army, at the age of 27, (see proceedings of committee of safety, page 328 ;) and was en- 
gaged in the brffliant actions at Trenton and Princeton 



UNION COUNTY. 683 

In the course of one of their retreats, the commander-in-chief, through Col. Potter, sent an or- 
der to Maj. Kelly to have a certain bridge cut down to prevent the advance of the British, who 
were then in sight. The major sent for an axe, but represented that the enterprise would be very 
hazardous. Still the British advance must be stopped, and the order was not withdrawn. He 
said he could not order another to do what some might say he was afraid to do himself; he would 
cut down the bridge. Before all the logs on which the bridge lay were cut off, he was completely 
within the range of the British fire, and several balls struck the log on which he stood. The last 
log broke down sooner than he expected, and he fell with it into the swollen stream. Our sol- 
diers moved on, not believing it possible for him to make his fescape. He, however, by great ex- 
ertions, reached the shore, through the high water and the floating timber, and followed the 
troops. Encumbered as he must have been with his wet and frozen clothes, he made a prisoner, 
on his road, of a British scout, an armed soldier, and took him into camp. History mentions 
that our army was preserved by the destruction of that bridge ; but the manner in which it was 
done, or the name of the person who did it, is not mentioned. It was but one of a series of he- 
roic acts, which happened every day ; and our soldiers were then more familiar with the sword 
than the pen. 

After his discharge, Maj. Kelly returned to his farm and his family; and during the three suc- 
ceeding years the Indians were troublesome to this then frontier settlerhent. He became colonel 
of the regiment, and it was his duty to keep watch against the incursions of hostile Indians, 
through our mountain passes. Atone time our people were too weak to resist, and our whole 
beautiful country was abandoned. Col. Kelly was among the first to return. For at least two 
harvests, reapers took their rifles to the fields, and some of the company watched while others 
Wrought. Col. Kelly had the principal command of scouting parties in this valley, and very 
often he was out in person. Many and many nights has he laid among the limbs of a fallen tree, 
to keep himself out of the mud, without a fire ; because a fire would indicate his position to the 
enemy. He had become well skilled in their mode of warfare. One circumstance deserves par- 
ticular notice. The Indians seemed to have resolved on his death, without choosing to attack 
him openly. One night he had reason to apprehend that they were near. He rose the next 
morning, and, by looking through the crevices of his log-house, he ascertained that two at least, 
if not more, were lying with their arms, so as to shoot him when he should open his door. He 
fixed his own rifle, and took his position so that, by a string, he could open the door, and watch 
the Indians. The moment he pulled the door open, two balls came into the house, and the In- 
dians rose to advance. He fired and wounded one, and both retreated. After waiting to satisfy 
himself that no others remained, he followed them by blood ; but they escaped. 

For many years Col. Kelly held the office of a magistrate of the county. In the administra- 
tion of justice, he exhibited the same anxiety to do right, and disregard of self, which had char- 
acterized him in the military service of the country. He would at any time forgive his own fees, 
and, if the parties were poor, pay the constable's Cost, to procure a compromise. 

Seling's Grove is a flourishing village on the right bank of Penn's or., 
near its confluence with the Susquehanna. The mouth of Middle creek 
is but a mile or two below, and opposite the two mouths there is, or was, 
a long island called the isle of Q. The passage of the canal along this 
island has closed the upper thoroughfare, and forced both streams to emp- 
ty their waters under the aqueduct, at the lower end of the (now) penin- 
sula. Seling's Grove contains about 100* houses, with the usual stores 
and taverns, and one church. The Northumberland and Harrisburg stage 
passes daily through the place. Charlestown, a small village connected 
with Seling's Grove, has recently grown up on the isle of Q, along the 
canaL Seling's Grove was founded by Anthony Seling, a brother-in-law 
of Gov. Simon Snyder. It is settled chiefly by Germans and their de«^ 
scendants. Population about 500. Gov. Snyder's residence was about 
two miles below. Hon. Henry Snyder's son now occupies the family 
mansion. It is said that during Gov. Snyder's administration, while he 
was residing here, a certain celebrated Mrs. Carson, whose paramour had 
been condemned to death, came up from Philadelphia intending to steal 
away the governor's youngest son, then an infant, and secrete him until 
her paramour was pardoned. Her plot was discovered before it could be 
put in execution. 

October 28th, 1755. Accounts from Faxton, Oct. 20, that some Indians had \)egwa hostili^ 



189 VENANGO COUNTY. 

ties on the Susquehanna, and had killed or drove away all the inhabitants settled in the appe? 
part of Cumberland county, at a place called Penn's creek, about four miles south of Sha- 
mokin. The people (says C. Weiser, Oct. 22,) are in great consternation, coming down, leaving 
fheir plantations and corn behind them. 25 persons, men, women, and children, killed, scalped, 
and carried aWay, on the 16th Oct ; 13 killed, who were men and elderly women, and one child ; 
the rest being young women and children carried away ; a house burnt up. He had raised 300 
people, who marched to a short distance and afterwards returned to defend their own townshipsv 
All requesting relief of the governor. On the 23d, upwards of 40 of the inhabitants of Paxton 
creek went up to bury the dead, but found it done ; they went on to Shamokin, to visit the friend- 
ly Indians there ; .staid there all night, and in returning on the west side of the Susquehanna, 
in crossing the river in the morning of the 25th, at Mahanoy creek, were fired upon by a number 
of Indians that lay in the bushes. Lost several men — they killed 4 of the Indians. These In- 
dians spoke the Delaware tongue. — Provincial Records. 



During the winter of 1767-68, one Frederick Stump, an old Dutchman, and a famous " In- 
dian Killer," or, in other words, a white savage, assisted by one Eirncutter, murdered at his own 
house six friendly Indians, four males and two females, who were hunting or fishing in this re- 
gion, and had sought his hospitality. He cast the bodies of his victims into Middle creek, about 
a mile from where the aqueduct now is, through a hole in the ice, and proceeded to a cabin about 
four miles from his house, where he found two Indian girls and one child, whom he also slew, 
and set fire to the cabin that he might consume their remains. Stump was arrested for this 
crime by the indignant neighbors, and imprisoned at Carlisle to await his trial ; but such was 
the state of public sentiment on the border that even he had his friends : and a party of " black 
boys," or frontier men in disguise, rescued him from prison, and he escaped unhung. (See page 
531.) 

MiFFiJNBURG is a large village in Buffalo valley, 5 miles N. W. of New 
Berlin, and 8 miles from Lewisburg. It contains about 500 inhabitants, 
2 handsome churches, Lutheran and Methodist, and an academy. The 
place was incorporated as a borough 14th April, 1827. 

Hartleystown is 5 miles S. W. of Mifflinburg, on the road to Potters 
fort. It contains about 30 dwellings and a Lutheran church. 

MiDDLEBURG is ou the left bank of Middle cr., about 6 miles S. W. of 
New Berlin. It contains 50 dwellings and a Lutheran church. In the same 
valley are the smaller villages of Freeburg, Beaver, and Adamsburg. 

Centreville is a small village at the end of Jack's mountain, 3 miles 
W. of New Berlin. 

New Columbus is a village containing about 30 dwellings, on the West 
Branch at the mouth of White Deer valley, nearly opposite Milton. 



VENANGO COUNTY. 

Venango* county was taken from Allegheny and Lycoming by act of 
12th March, 1800, and was organized for judicial purposes by act of 1st 
April, 1805. In 1839 its limits were curtailed by the establishment of 
Clarion co., the Clarion river having been previously the S. E. boundary. 
The county now forms a very irregular figure, with an area of about 850 sq. ■ 
miles. Population in 1800, 1,130 ; in 1810, 3,060 ; in 1820, 4,915 ; in 1830. 
9,470 ; in 1840, 17,900. 

The Allegheny river flows through the centre of the co. in a direction 

* Venango river was the name given by the French to French creek. The word Venango is 
& corruption of the Indian word In-nv.n.gah, which had some reference to a rude and indecent 
figure carved upon a tree, Which the Senecas found here when they first came to this region. 



VENANGO COUNTY. 637 

SO very circuitous that there is not a point of the compass to which it does 
not direct its course. The country along its banks is exceedingly wild 
and rugged, the river-hills being high and precipitous. The valley is nar- 
row, but bounded alternately on either side by elevated alluvial lands, 
which furnish excellent sites for farms. French creek, which comes in at 
Franklin, and Oil creek a short distance above, are the other two princi- 
pal streams. Racoon, Tionesta, Pit-hole, Sandy, and Scrubgrass creeks, 
are streams of minor importance. All these streams flow in deeply in- 
dented valleys, rendering the general surface quite hilly : and many of 
the component rocks of these hills pertaining to the lower conglomerates 
of the coal formation, make on the whole a rugged country. Still there 
are large bodies of what may be called good farming land. All the hills 
abound with iron ore of excellent quality. Bituminous coal is plenty in 
the southern part of the co., and some has been found within two or three 
miles of Franklin. Limestone abounds in the southwestern end of the 
CO. A great advantage possessed by this co. is its pure water, which pro- 
motes good health. Fine water-powers exist on all the tributaries of the 
Allegheny, especially on French creek. 

The Susquehanna and Waterford turnpike road, laid out at the early 
settlement of the country, passes diagonally through the county, crossing 
the Allegheny river at Franklin on a splendid new bridge. The French 
Creek Canal and Slackwater Navigation, a division of the public improve- 
ments of the state, opens a communication from Franklin to Meadville, 
and thence by means of the Beaver and Erie extension (nearly completed 
in 1843) to Lake Erie. The principal productions of the co. for export 
are lumber and iron. There are several furnaces in operation in a circle 
of ten or twelve miles around Franklin. This trade for a few years was 
driven with great activity, so much so as to absorb all the agricultural 
produce of the region : but for one or two years past it has been depress- 
ed in common with other departments of industry. 

There are several natural curiosities in the county, the most remarka- 
ble of which is the peculiarly inflammable oil found floating on the sur- 
face of Oil creek. The following interesting extract from one of several 
historical numbers which appeared in the (Franklin) Democr. Arch, in 
1842, relates to this subject: 

" The Seneca oil from the oil springs on Oil creek was used by the Seneca Indians as an un- 
guent, and in their reUgious worship. It is almost as celebrated as the far-famed Naptha of the 
Caspian sea. With it the Senccas mixed their war-paint, which gave them a hideous ghstening 
appearance, and added great permanency to the paint, as it rendered it impervious to water. 
"What a startling spectacle the oil-anointed warrior of the Senecas must have been as he gave 
forth the fearful war-whoop, or paddled his light canoe along the dark blue waters of the Alle- 
gheny and Venango !" 

" The other use made of the oil was for religious worship. Here I cannot better describe it 
than in the imaginative language of the commandant of Fort Duquesne to his Excellency Gen. 
Montcalm, the unfortunate hero of Quebec. ' I would desire,' says the commandant, ' to assure 
your excellency that this is a most delightful land. Some of the most astonishing natural won. 
ders have been discovered by our people. While descending the Allegheny, fifteen leagues below 
the mouth of the Conewango, and three above Fort Venango, we were invited by the chief of 
the Senecas to attend a religious ceremony of his tribe. We landed and drew up our canoes on 
a point where a small stream entered the river. The tribe appeared unusually solemn. We 
marched up the stream about half a league, where the company, a large band it appeared, had 
arrived some days before us. Gigantic hUls begirt us on every side. The scene was really 
sublime. The great chief then recited the conquests and heroism of their ancestors. The sur- 
face of the stream was covered with a thick scum, which burst into a complete conflagration. 
The oil had been gathered and lighted with a torch. At the sight of tlie flames the Indians gave 



638 



VENANGO COUNTY. 



forth a triumphant shout, that made the hills and valley re-echo again !' Here then is revived 
the ancient fire-worship of the East ; — here then are the ' Children of the Sun.' " 

A more appropriate region could hardly be selected for the residence of 
an Indian tribe. The rugged hills, clothed with forests, and abounding 
with game — the pure sparkling streams flowing among these hills, fur- 
nishing both excellent fishing-grounds and the means of communication, 
bordered here and there with fertile bottom lands, as sites for their vil- 
lages and cornfields, and overlooked by remarkable headlands and " high 
places" for their graves and places of worship — some of these hills con- 
taining lead, too, and perhaps other metals greatly prized by them — these 
were strong attractions for the red natives of the forest. Accordingly 
we find in almost every direction traces of a numerous Indian population 
once inhabiting this region. Remains of villages are found at the mouth 
of Oil creek, and about the mouth and along the waters of French 
creek. 

About five miles directly south of Franklin, and nine by the river, on the 
left bank of the Allegheny, is a remarkable rock, known to the present 
inhabitants as " the Indian God." 




The Indian God. 

The above sketch shows its situation and appearance to one de- 
scending the river. The same writer quoted above says : " This rock un- 
doubtedly records the history of many hundred years. Among the figures 
you can distinguish a turtle, a snake, an eye, an arrow, a sun. These are 
symbols or hieroglyphics. They record the exploits and illustrious ac- 
tions of departed and forgotten nations and their battles. Who shall de- 
cipher these wondrous characters ?" 

Here are a few of the more prominent of the figures as they appeared 
to the person who took the sketch, during a hasty examination. He had 
not the above extract with him at the time, which may account for liis 
not having observed and selected all w^hich are there mentioned. They 
are cut, or rather indented, as if with some rude pointed instrument, upon 
the upper face of the rock ; their appearance being much like that of fig- 



VENANGO COUNTY 639 



• 9- 



/r\ 






. /-- ^^J'%/ 



/ 'A 



\|1^^^^ Vfffj i^.-::A 

<<^^" ^ ^ / il i 

Figures on the rock called " the Indian God.^^ 

ures burned upon an old hat by successive applications of a sunglass. 
The same writer, in relation to the Indians, also says : — 

A few rods northeast of the fort, near Frankhn, are a great number of graves. These are the 
long-homes of the soldier and the savage. They are not the graves of vi'hite men alone, for 
some of our citizens a few years since opened several of them, and found Indian remains and 
arms. This custom of burying arms, clothing, or culinary vessels, with the deceased, prevailed 
not among the French or English, but among the Indians alone. It was a pleasant and enchant- 
ing spot to lie down in that " dread sleep which knows no waking." There come the Allegheny 
and French creek, and mingle their waters, like streams of life flowing on to the gulf of eternity. 
Who shall tell the story of the sleepers in these narrow habitations ? None ! No column, no 
stone, however lowly, tells a letter of their history. Yet there sleep men who once engaged in 
the bloody struggle for universal empire, in the eighteenth century, between the Bourbon and the 
Briton. There are many graves scattered throughout the county. On the summit of the hill 
above the dam, there is the grave undoubtedly of some great chief. The excavation is unusually 
deep, and great care and labor have been expended in its construction. It occupies a commanding 
position. The town, and stream, and landscape around, are seen to great advantage from this 
point. With anxious eye the aged chief has cast a dying glance on the home of his childhood 
and age, and the wigwams of his people below, and then composed himself in death on the sum- 
mit of this hill. His grave is like the grave of the great chieftain of Israel, made amidst the 
rocks and the solitude of the mountain. In the wild and poetic religion of the Indian, the spirit 
of the warrior was often seen upon that lonely hill, like some sleepless sentinel pointing out to 
his tribe the path of safety and glory. 

A number have been found in the vicinity of Cooperstown, and some skeletons were dug out 
of the bank near the mill-dam, in that place. Indeed, the whole valley of Sugar creek once 
sustained a dense Indian population. Tradition says that the French, a century ago, worked a 
silver mine on the spot where the village just mentioned now stands. When the dam was being 
erected for the mill, they made quite an excavation in front of the place now occupied by the store 
of Fetterman & Bradley. Some six feet below the surface, a quantity of charcoal was found, 
together with a furnace and smelting vessel. Several specimens of ore were obtained also. The 
vein appears to be under the bed of the stream, as a deep excavation has been made there. It 
created some excitement for awhile, but it soon passed away, as it will always when men are not 
found to analyze the specimens and produce the metal. This tradition exactly corresponds with 
an idea I have for many years entertained, viz. : that an abundance of lead, and perhaps of the 
precious metals, will yet be discovered in this county. The Indians undoubtedly procured theu 
lead somewhere in this vicinity. They have always been exceedingly jealous of their mines, and 
accident alone has revealed them to the white man. The French were equally jealous, because 
they expected to regain tiie empire which they had lost in America. This is evident from the 
various and valuable articles found in the well of the fort at Presqu'isle ; but particularly the 
curious iron chest and its contents, concealed in the vicinity of Fort Le Boeuf. Thus the French, 
too, have been instrumental in concealing the minerals of this country. No nation ever enjoyed 
the confidence of the Indians so entirely as the French, and none used that power so kindly. 
Whence arose these traditions ? Where did the Indians procure their bullet lead ? Indian chiefs 
have been known to take silver ore from this section to Canada, and trade it to British merchants. 



640 VENANGO COUNTY. 

If valuable ore was not found here, why did the French so represent it ? Why this general be- 
lief, more prevalent many years ag^o than now, that treasures were concealed in this county ? 
These are questions that may awake some curiosity, especially in connection with the following 
facts : — 

Some of our old citizens may remember seeing, thirty years ago, an aged Moncey chief of the 
name of Ross. He confidently assured an aged citizen of this county, that there were metals 
found, and mines worked by the Senecas. He and Black Snake, a Seneca chief, concur in sta- 
ting that there were three different mines between this place and Conewango. One of these is 
situated about seven miles from town. Any person who has been up the Warren turnpike to 
Oil creek, will remember a deep, dark ravine, overhung with rocks, hemlock, and pine, about a 
quarter of a mile this side of Holliday's. Ross led the white man up the ravine about a hun- 
dred and twenty rods : there another gulf comes down from the right, up which they passed some 
fifty rods further. The gap here assumes a fearfully dark and forbidding appearance. Vast rocks 
are thrown and piled upon one another, and the hill has the appearance of having been rent by 
an earthquake. The chief bade the white man stop, and after mentioning the awful death in- 
flicted upon one who disclosed the mines to strangers, he said, " I can go no further. This mine is 
within five rods of here — find it for yourself." At the same time he showed many specimens of 
metal procured there. It was of an excellent quality, though poorly refined. The mineral was 
found, as in South America, in crevices of sandstone rock. A tradition says that it was discov- 
ered in the same way as the rich mines of Potosi. An Indian fleeing from a wounded panther, 
caught hold of a laurel-bush as he ascended the hill. The laurel was uprooted, and a shining 
substance was seen among the rocks. After the danger was over, the Indian returned and found 
it to be ore of silver. Any person would have his curiosity awakened and gratified by a ram- 
ble up that wild and romantic glen. 

The second mine was near the mouth of Pit-hole, not far from Mr. Holeman's. It is called 
Gushing, from the Seneca word cush, meaning hog. Black Snake is supposed to have taken 
considerable quantities of the mineral to Canada, and traded with it. The other mine was on 
the east side of the river. Black Snake and other chiefs wore large trinkets got from these mines, 
around their arms and necks. 

I cannot omit a strange page in the history of the Moncey chief, Ross. He and Locke, an- 
other Moncey, were in the employ of the British during the revolution. They together crossed 
the mountains on a trip for massacre and booty. Somewhere on the borders of Huntingdon 
or Franklin county, they murdered, in cold blood, a schoolmaster and twenty-five or thirty chil- 
dren. Taking the scalps, they proceeded to Niagara, disposed of them, and received the " boun- 
ty." Locke was somewhat of a bravado, and on their return to Hickorytown, represented him. 
self as the principal hero of the scene. Ross was mortified, and determined on revenge. In true 
Indian style, he waited years for a suitable opportunity, and at last, in a drunken war-dance, 
murdered Locke. He appeared before a council of the Senecas, and was condemned to support 
Locke's widow for twenty years. At the expiration of that time, he was to be slain by the near 
est relative of Locke then living. This mild sentence was passed on account of his great bravery. 
At the end of twenty years, he surrendered himself up to the council of the tribe assembled near 
Buffalo. In the mean time, the only son of Locke had married the daughter of Ross. His son- 
in-law was unwilling to slay him, for time had long since worn off the edge of his revenge, and 
so the sentence was never executed. He lived to a great age, and died on the banks of his na- 
tive stream, the noble Allegheny. Black Snake has a son, a chief among the Senecas, a man 
of great dignity and worth. He resides among his people. 

This spot has been a familiar one to Cornplanter. The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania 
granted him a tract of about 500 acres of land, situated at the mouth of Oil creek, seven miles 
above this place, and including the oil springs, some time about 1792. He sold it some 20 years 
ago. This spot has been the theatre of many of his actions ; he was frequently here, and had 
traded extensively at this place in 1787, and subsequently, and had, I suppose, also traded with 
the French when they occupied this ground. {See Warren county.) 

The French traders and missionaries were undoubtedly the first white 
men that explored the waters of French creek, and the Upper Allegheny. 
The Monsey Indians, a branch of the Delawares, who had been crowded 
out from the eastern w^aters by the encroachments of the whites, came 
out as early as 1724 to this region, which had been assigned them as a 
home by the Six Nations. The wily Joncaire, the French trader and 
adopted member of the Seneca tribe, soon found his way among them ; 
and no efforts were spared to seduce them from their allegiance to the 
English. The movements of the French in their endeavors to obtain 
command of the Ohio have been so fully described under the heads of 



VHNAXr.O COITXTV. 641 

Allegheny and Erie counties, that it will be only necessary here to touch 
upon those incidents that occurred in this immediate vicinity. 

There are at and near Franklin, the remains of three fortifications. 
One of these, which will be subsequently noticed, adjoins the village, and 
is known to be of American origin. The other two are below the village, 
one of them near the end of the new Allegheny bridge, and the other 
nearly a mile below it. Each of these is near the mouth of a small run, 
by which it was partly protected, and from which, by means of a dam, 
water could be introduced into the ditches surrounding the forts. These 
forts, (although the one near the bridge is known in the obscure traditions 
of the neighborhood as the English fort.) were probably both erected by 
the French; the first one, doubtless about the year 1750, (see page 311,) 
and the other, perhaps, in 1758, after the French had abandoned Fort 
Duquesne. The following extract is from Col. Bouquet's letter to Chief- 
justice Wm. Allen, dated Fort Duquesne, 25th Nov. 1758. After noticing 
the arrival of the provincial army at Fort Duquesne, he says: — 

We marched this morning and found the report true. They have blown up and destroyed all 
their fortifications, houses, ovens, and magazines ; all their Indian goods burnt in the stores, 
which seems to have been very considerable. They seem to have been about 400 men : part is 
gone down the Ohio ; 100 by land, supposed to Presqu'isle, and 200 with the Gov., M. De Lig- 
nery, to Venango, where, he told the Indians, he intended to stay this winter, with an intention 
to dislodge us in the spring. We would soon make him shift his quarters, had we only provis- 
ions, but we are scarcely able to maintain ourselves a few days here to treat with the neighbor- 
ing Indians who are summoned to meet us. The destruction of the fort, the want of victuals, 
and the impossibility of being supplied in time, at this distance and season of the year, obliges 
us to go back and leave a small detachment of 200 men only, by way of keeping possession of 
the ground. 

In 1759, the French withdrew their forces from Venango, Le Boeuf, 
and Presqu'isle, to strengthen Fort Niagara, then vigorously attacked by 
Sir Wm. Johnson. M. De Lignery, the commander, no doubt burned the 
works here as he had done those at Fort Duquesne. It does not appear 
that this post was garrisoned by the British at all, although their engi- 
neers may have taken drawings of its construction. At the time of the 
famous war of Pontiac, in 1763, no mention is made of any garrison at 
Venango by the early writers in their catalogue of places invested by the 
Indian forces.* The writer in the Democratic Arch, thus describes the 
forts : 

Both of these forts, although erected at different periods, were so located as to command the 
Allegheny, (originally called La Belle Riviere by the French,) just below the junction of French 
creek. One of them, and the most ancient of the two, the people of the village call the French 
fort. Its ruins plainly indicate its destruction by fire. Burnt stone, melted glass, and iron, 
leave no doubt of this. All through the ground-works, are to be found great quantities of mould- 
ering bones. Amongst the ruins knives, gun-barrels, locks, and musket-balls have been frequent- 
ly found and still continue to be found. About the centre of the area there is seen the ruins of 
the magazine, in which, with what truth I cannot vouch, is said to be a well. The same tradi- 
tion also adds — " and in that well there is a cannon" — but no examination has been made for it. 

It will be observed that the French evacuated the fortification here ; and I have no doubt that 
the ancient work we call the English fort, was that erected by the French after the destruction 
of the first one. Neither history nor tradition furnishes us with any name or number of Eng- 
lishmen here. That a formal possession was taken of the fort here by the British, and perhaps 

* There is a tradition in the neighborhood that one of these forts was taken from the French, 
during Fontiac's war, by stratagem — that a party of Indians in friendly disguise were playing 
ball without the fort, and, while the garrison were off their guard, rushed in and overpowered 
them. A comparison of dates shows that Fontiac's war took place four years after the French 
had left the country. 

81 



6^ VENANGO COUNTY. 

occupied for a short time by them, I have no doubt ; but that it was erected by them, is quite 
unlikely. The remains of this work, which I will call Fort Venango, are still very distinct. 
From the top of the embankment to the bottom of the ditch is yet about eight feet in depth 
The bastions were four in number, and commanded completely all the angles of the fort. The 
fortification was square — the length of each side was about 100 feet. Inside of the embankment 
was a deep ditch, and within the area formed by the ditch, was situated the blockhouse and 
magazine. From the southeast corner of the fort was a subterranean passage to the little stream 
that passes within 150 feet of it. Here a dam had been erected, the foundation timbers of which 
still exist, and are to be seen. Whether this subterranean passage was made for a cover, by 
means of which water could always be procured in safety, or for the purpose of filling the ditches 
around the blockhouse, thus surrounding it with a formidable barrier of water six or seven feet 
deep and twice that wide, I am not sufficiently military in taste or education to know ; but was 
told by an accomplished ofliicer on the ground, that this had been the object of the ditches and 
the passage to the creek. 

The traveller into our village passes the ruins of this fort on his left, a few rods from the 
western extremity of the bridge. The northern angle of the breastworks has been almost en- 
tirely removed, to construct the embankment at the western end of this bridge. When I first 
saw this, I could not resist the reflection, that corporations, always soulless, have superadded, in 
this instance, to their list of virtues, that of heartlessness. It is true, the old remains could be 
of but httle practical use, still they are part of the evidences on which the history of this place 
rests, and should be preserved. We treasure up, as sacred, the gifts and mementoes of departed 
friends, as well as trophies recovered from vanquished foes — we do it, not because, they are valu- 
able, but because they are the silent but distinct historians of other times and other scenes. 
What will be the fate of the ruins that remain of tliis old fortification ? Experience whispers, 
what the past will justify us in believing, that some enterprising citizen will fill up its ditches, 
harrow down its remaining embankments, obliterate its bastions, and of it make a ■potato patch I 
" Sic transit gloria mundi .'" 

A draft of this fort, I have been informed, was in the hands of the late Judge Shippen, made 
by an uncle, perhaps in 1758 or '59, when the work was perfect. This exhibited the stockade on 
the embankment, the bastions, and gates of the fort, all in order, together with the very strong 
Dlockhouse in the centre, which had no less than sixteen chimneys. Below the southeast cor- 
ner of the fort stood a saw-mill, erected on the little stream that passes it. This draft has no 
notes on it, explaining in whose possession it was, or by whom built. 

That these works had cannon on them, cannot be doubted, as a small one, perhaps a four- 
pounder, was found in the bank of the river some four or five years ago. The old gun, which 
doubtless had withstood the shock of contending foes — had survived the discomfort of savage 
association, and while a century of storm, of sunshine, and of flood and tide, had rolled away, 
had lain snug, hale, and hearty, in its place of- security — was at last discovered by some people, 
who dragged it from its resting-place, and with their advantage in science over its old masters, 
loaded it to the muzzle with powder and sand, and — blew it to pieces J It is a wonder that its 
last loud and parting peal did not awaken from his deep slumber some old friend to avenge the 
indignity ! 

The errand upon which Major George Washington came to this place 
in Dec. 1753, while it was occupied by the French, has been fully stated 
on page 312. The following extracts relate to the incidents which oc- 
curred here : 

" The Half-king told me [at Logstown] he had inquired of the [French] general after two Eng- 
lishmen who were made prisoners, and received this answer : ' Child, you think it a great hard- 
ship that I made prisoners of those two people at Venango. Don't you concern yourself about 
it. We took and carried them to Canada, to get intelligence of what the English were doing in 
Virginia.' " 

We set out [from Logstown, on the Ohio] about nine o'clock, with the half-king, Jeskakake, 
White Thunder, and the Hunter, and travelled on the road to Venango, where we arrived the 4th 
of December, without any thing remarkable happening but a continued series of bad weather. 
This is an old Indian town, situated at the mouth of French creek, on the Ohio, and lies near 
north about 60 miles from Logstown, but more than 70 the way we were obhged to go. 

We found the French colors hoisted at a house from which they had driven Mr. John Frazier, 
an English subject. I immediately repaired to it, to know where the commander resided. There 
were three offi(5ers, one of whom, Capt. Joncaire, informed me that he had the command of the 
Ohio, but that there was a general officer at the- near fort, where he advised me to apply for an 
answer. He invited us to sup with them, and treated us with the greatest complaisance. The 
wine — as they dosed themselves pretty plentifully with it — soon banished the restraint which at 
first appeared in their conversation, and gave a license to their tongues to reveal their sentiments 
piore freely. 



VENA.NGO COUN TY. 643 

They told me that it was their absolute design to take possession of the Oliio, and by G — d 
Ihey would do it ; for that, although they were sensible the EnglisfrtTSuld raise two men for their 
one, yet they knew their motions were too slow and dilatory to prevent any undertaking of theirs. 
They pretend to have an undoubted right to the river, from a discovery made by one La Salle, 
60 years ago ; and the rise of this expedition is to prevent our settling on the river, or waters of 
it, as they heard of some families moving out in order thereto. 

From the best intelligence I could get, there have been 1,500 men on this side Ontario lake; 
but upon the death of the general, all were recalled to about 600 or 700, who were left to garrison 
4 forts, 150 or thereabouts in each. The first of them is on French creek, near a small lake, 
about 60 miles from Venango, near N. N. W. The next lies on Lake Erie, where the greater 
part of their stores are kept, about 15 miles from the other. From this it is 120 miles to the car- 
rying-place, at the falls of Lake Erie, where there is a small fort, at which they lodge their goods 
in bringing them from Montreal — the place from whence all their stores are brought. The next 
fort lies about 20 miles from this, on Ontario lake. Between this fort and Montreal there are 
3 others, the first of which is nearly opposite to the English fort Oswego. From the fort on Lake 
Erie to Montreal is about 600 miles, which, they say, requires no more (if good weather) than 4 
weeks' voyage, if they go in barks, or large vessels, so that they may cross the lake ; but if they 
come in canoes, it will require 5 or 6 weeks, — for they are obliged to keep under the shore. 

Dec. 5th. Rained excessively all day, which prevented our travelling. Capt. Joncairc sent for 
the Half-king, as he had but just heard that he came with me. He affected to be much concerned 
that I did not make free to bring them in before. I excused it in the best manner of which I wa9 
capable, and told him I did not think their company agreeable, as I had heard him say a good 
deal in dispraise of Indians in general. But another motive prevented me from bringing thera 
into his company : I knew that he was an interpreter, and a person of very great influence among 
the Indians, and had lately used all possible means to draw them over to his interest ; therefore, 
I was desirous of giving him no opportunity that could be avoided. 

When they came in, there was great pleasure expressed at seeing them. He wondered ho\<? 
they could be so near without coming to visit him, made several trifling presents, and applied 
liquor so fast that they were soon rendered incapable of the business they came about, notwith- 
standing the caution which was given. 

6th. The Half-king came to my tent, quite sober, and insisted very much that I should stay 
and hear what he had to say to the French. I fain would have prevented him from speaking 
any thing until he came to the commandant, but could not prevail. He told me that at this place 
a council-fire was kindled where all their business with these people was to be transacted, and 
that the management of the Indian affairs was left solely to Monsieur Joncaire. As I was de- 
sirous of knowing the issue of this, I agreed to stay, but sent our horses a little way up French 
creek, to raft over and encamp, which I knew would make it near night. About 10 o'clock they 
met in council. The king spoke much the same as he had before done to the general, and of. 
fered the French speech-belt, which had before been demanded, with the marks of four towns on 
it — which Monsieur Joncaire refused to receive, but desired him to carry it to the fort to the com- 
mander. 

7th. Monsieur La Force, commissary of the French stores, and three other soldiers, came 
over to accompany us up to Le Boeuf. (See, for a continuation of the journal, page 312.) 

We did not reach Venango [on our return] until the 22d, where we met with our horses. This 
creek is extremely crooked. I dare say the distance between the fort and Venango cannot be 
less than 130 miles, to follow the meanders. 

23d. When I got things ready to set off", I sent for the Half-king, to know whether he intended 
to go with us, or by water. He told me that White Thunder had hurt himself much, and was 
sick, and unable to walk ; therefore he was obliged to carry him down in a canoe. As I found 
he intended to stay here a day or two, and knew that Mons. Joncaire would employ every scheme 
to set him against the English, as he had before done, I told him I hoped he would guard against 
this flattery, and let no fine speeches influence him in their favor. He desired I might not be 
concerned, for he knew the French too well for any thing to engage him in their favor ; and that, 
though he could not go down with us, he yet would endeavor to meet at the Forks with Joseph 
Campbell, to deliver a speech for me to carry to his honor the governor. He told me he would 
order the Young Hunter to attend us, and get provision, &c., if wanted. 

Our horses were now so weak and feeble, and the baggage so heavy, (as we were obliged to 
provide all the necessaries which the journey would require,) that we doubted much their per- 
forming it. Therefore myself and others (except the drivers, who were obliged to ride,) gave up 
our horses for packs, to assist along with the baggage. I put myself in an Indian walking-dress, 
and continued with them three days, until I found there was no probability of their getting home 
in any reasonable time. The horses became less able to travel every day, the cold increased very 
fast, and the roads were becoming much worse by a deep snow, continually freezing ; therefore, 
as I was uneasy to get back, to make report of my proceedings to his honor the governor, I de- 
termined to prosecute my journey the nearest way through the woods, on foot. (See continuationt 
of the journey on page 90) 



644 VENANGO COUNTY. 

In April, 1754, Mons, Joncaire evacuated the fort here, and descended 
the Allegheny, under command of Capt. ContrecoBur, with a fleet of CO 
batteaux, and 300 canoes, conveying 1,000 men and 18 pieces of cannon. 
What a brilliant spectacle they must have presented ! This formidable 
force reached the forks of the Ohio just in time to pounce upon Ensign 
Ward and his little party of forty men, who were busily engaged in build- 
ing a British fort. 

After the final departure of the French, in 1759, this region remained 
in the exclusive possession of the Indians, untrodden probably by the foot 
of a white man, until the year 1767; when an unarmed man, of short 
stature, remarkably plain in his dress, and humble and peaceable in his 
demeanor, emerged from the thick forest upon the Allegheny river, in the 
neighborhood of the Seneca to^vns. This was the Moravian missionary, 
Rev. David Zeisberger, who, led by Anthony and John Papanhunk, In- 
dian guides, and assistants in his pious labors, had penetrated the dense 
wilderness of Northern Pennsylvania, from Wyalusing, on the Susque- 
hanna, to preach the gospel to the Indians in this region. His intended 
station was at Goshgoshunk, which appears to have been on the left bank 
of the Allegheny, not far from the mouth of Tionesta. Possibly Goshgo- 
shunk was the same as the Indian name Cush-cush. (See pages 1 03, 1 38, 
and 173.) The following account of the mission in this vicinity is con- 
densed from Loskiel's History of the Moravian Missions : — 

The Seneca chief, beUeving Br. Zeisberger to be a spy, received him roughly at first ; but, soft- 
ened by his mild demeanor, or perhaps by tlie holy truths which he declared to the chief, he at 
length bade him welcome, and pennitted him to go to Goshgoshunk. He warned him, however, 
not to trust the people there ; for they had not their equals in wickedness and thirst for blood. 
This was but another incentive to him who came to preach, " not to the righteous, but to sinners." 
However, on his arrival he was well received, and shared the hospitality of a relative of one of 
his guides. " Goshgoshunk, a town of the Delawares, consisted of three villages on the banks 
of the Ohio." The whole town seemed to reijoice at the novelty of this visit. The missionary 
found, however, that the Seneca chief had told him truly. He was shocked at their heathenish 
and diabolical rites, and especially by their abuse of the holy name of God. An Indian preach- 
er, called Wangomen, strenuously resisted the new doctrines of the missionaries, especially that 
of the incarnation of the Deity, and instigated the jealousy of his people ; but the truth, preached 
in its simplicity and power, by the missionaries, overcame him ; and he yielded his opposition so 
far as to join the other Indians in an invitation to the missionaries to settle among them. The 
old blind chief, Allcmewi, was awakened, and afterwards baptized, with the Christian name of 
Solomon. The missionary went home, to report his progress to his friends in Bethlehem. The 
following year Zeisberger returned, accompanied by Br. Gottlob Senseman, and several Mora- 
vian Indian families from the Susquehanna, to establish a regular mission at Goshgoshunk. They 
built a blockhouse, planted corn, and, gathering round tiieir blockhouse several huts of believing 
Indians, they formed a small hamlet, a little separated from the other towns. " To this a greaJ 
number resorted, and there the brethren ceased not, by day and night, to teach and preach Jesus, 
and God in Christ reconciling the world unto himself." These meetings were fully atttinded, 
" and it was curious to see so many of the audience with their faces painted black and vermilion, 
and heads decorated with clusters of feathers and fox-tails." A violent opposition, however, suc- 
ceeded, occasioned by tiie malicious lies of the magicians and old women — " the corn was blast- 
ed, the deer and game began to retire from the woods, no chestnuts nor bilberries would grow any 
more, merely because the missionaries preached a strange doctrine, and the Indians were chang- 
ing their way of life." Added to this, the grand council at Onondaga and Zeneschio (Ischua) 
looked with extreme jealousy upon this new encroachment of white-men upon their territories, 
and discountenanced the establishment. In consequence of these things the missionaries left 
Goshgoshunk, and retired 15 miles further up the river, to a place called Lawanakanuck, on the 
opposite bank — probably near Hickory-town. Here they again started a new settlement ; built 
at first a hunting hut, and afterwards a chapel and a dwelling-house, " and a bell, which they 
received from Bethlehem, was hung in a convenient place." That bell ! the glad herald of 
Christianity and civilization ; it was the first time the sound of the church-going bell had ever 
reverberated among the wild glens of Venango co. 

Allemewi, and other Indian disciples, took up their abode around the missionary dwclliiijf 



VENANGO COUNTY. 645 

Their pious efforts were prosecuted with alternate success and discourag'emcnt for about two 
years, when a singular circumstance occasioned another emigration. " Lawanakanuck began 
to be much troubled by the warriors who frequently passed througii. The Senecas having broken 
the treaty with the Cherokees, murdered several of the latter. The Cherokecs therefore caught 
two Senecas, cut oft' all their fingers, and sent them home with the following message : " We 
had made a perpetual peace with you ; but the treaty was scarce concluded when you broke it 
again ; you had promised us to hold fast the chain of friendship, but you have not done it. Now, 
because you will not hold the chain of friendship with your hands, we will cut them off, and 
send you herewith a specimen." Upon this hostilities commenced, and as the brethren and their 
Indians wished to withdrav/ from the vicinity of tlie war, and the numbers of those who moved 
to Lawanakanuck to hear the gospel increased so fast that they began to want room, they re- 
solved to accept of the friendly offer repeatedly made by the chiefs in Kaskaskunk, [in Butler co.] 
and to settle in the neighborhood of that town. April 17, 1770, the congregation broke up, and 
set out in 16 canoes, passing down the river Ohio, by Pittsburg, to the mouth of Beaver cr. and 
thence to the interior of what is now Beaver co., where they established the new station of 
Friedenstadt, or Town of Peace. 

Thus closes another scene in the drama of Venango. 

The next important personages who made their appearance upon these 
shifting scenes, were the sires of those who now occupy the soil. A few, 
indeed, of the original settlers still remain. The original adventurers, 
who came in under the act of 1792, were from different sections of the 
country ; some from New England, some from Wyoming valley, and 
many from the middle counties of Pennsylvania. They endured the usual 
hardships of a frontier life until after Wayne's treaty, in 1795, when 
alarms ceased, population flowed in more rapidly, and they continued to 
prosper, especially after the litigation that originated under the land law 
of 1792 had been quieted. (See page 260.) 

The following description of Fort Franklin is from the writer in the 
Democratic Arch : 

In the spring of 1787 a company of United States troops, under the command of Capt. Hart, 
arrived at this place from Fort Pitt, now Pittsburg. They amounted in number to 87, including 
officers. There were, perhaps, a dozen of other persons not immediately connected with the 
corps, and this constituted the whole force at that time. Immediately on their arrival, they com- 
menced erecting what they called Fort Franklin, and from which the name of our town is de- 
rived. In place of locating it at the mouth of French creek, so as to command that stream, as 
well as the Allegheny river, they made their location about 180 rods above the mouth of the 
former, and at a point that would not at all command the latter. The road from Fort Pitt to 
Le BcEuf crossed the creek within a few rods of the fort, and bad as the reason may appear, it 
Was perhaps the only one that induced the selection. It was a mere path then, but the fording 
was good, and the ascent of the opposite hill was the most practicable from it. Indeed, the ex- 
istence of this path, and the erection of the fort near it, induced those who settled here at an 
early period to make their locations also as near as possible to both these supposed advantages. 
The road, or path, was the only inland thoroughfare to the place, and on it, in the town, was 
established the hotel, and near this the merchant erected his stall, and the mechanic his shop. 
Thus was that town in time built upon its present site, far from where strangers think it ought to 
have been located. 

Fort Franklin was located immediately above and west of the south end of the French creek 
bridge, and consequently on the south bank of French creek. Like old Fort Venango, it is a 
parallelogram, the ont-works including about 100 feet square. These works consisted of high 
embankments, outside of which arose tall pine pickets, 16 feet high. There were four bastions, 
surmounted by small cannon. Within the area formed by the ditches was the blockhouse, with 
a huge stack of chimneys in the centre. In this building were the magazine and munitions. 
The huts of the soldiers were in the ditch around the blockhouse, and within the pickets. This 
fort was situated on a bluff bank of the creek, 25 or 30 feet high, and nearly perpendicular. To 
this day is distinctly to be seen a deep ditch running along the top, and near the edge of this 
bank, some 120 feet in length, up the creek. This was intended for a covered way leading from 
the fort to a small redoubt at the very margin of the creek, which was surmounted by two guns — 
4-pounders, I think. The garrison had what they called a green-house, or cave, in which they 
kept vegetables and meat, within a few feet of the excavation now being made at the end of the 
bridge, for the site of a new toll-house. A garrison of near 100, including officers and men, was 
kept at Fort Franklin until 1796, when what is familiarly known as tlie ' Old Garrison,' at the 



VENANGO COUNTY. 

mouth of the creek, was erected by the troops at the fort, at a point more convenient for recel* 
ing provisions and munitions brought up by boats and canoes from Pittsburg. It was a strong 
wooden building, a story and a half high, and perhaps 30 by 34 feet in length. It was picketed 
in, but not calculated to be mounted with cannon. Indeed, the necessity for this had ceased, as 
the treaty of Gen. Wayne with the Indians at Fort Greenville had been made in August, 1795j 
and was then believed, as it turned out to be, a lasting peace. The troops at this position re. 
moved from the fort, which was from that time suffi-red to dilapidate, and occupied the garrison 
This they continued to do until 1803, when they were withdrawn from Franklin altogether 
Fort Franklin soon went entirely to ruin. The stone in the chimneys, like those in Fort Ve- 
nango, were hauled away by the citizens of the place, and used in building foundations and 
chimneys for private dwellings. The " Old Garrison" was occupied from the organization of 
the county, in 1805, until 1819, as a common jail, when the county jail was completed. It re* 
mained standing, though in ruins, until 1824, when the last vestige disappeared. Indeed, I am 
told that the Very foundation on which it stood, has been washed away, and is now part of the 
bed of French Creek. 

Franklin, the county seat, was laid out by the commissioners. Gen. 
Wm. Irvine and Andrew Ellicott, under the act of 1795, at the same time 
with the Waterford turnpike, and the towns of Erie and Waterford. It 
contains the usual county buildings, and Presbyterian, Methodist, and 
Cumberland Presbyterian churches. It is situated upon a broad plain, a 
little above the mouth of French cr., and is surrounded with scenery 
highly picturesque. There are in the vicinity a furnace, a forge, and 
several mills, and the place derives considerable trade from several iron 
works in the surrounding region. The French cr. division of the Penn- 
sylvania canal terminates here, and when the Beaver and Erie canal is 
completed, a communication will be open from here to the lake. The 
Allegheny is navigable, in high water, for steamboats to Pittsburg — dis- 
tance, by water, 124 miles. The distance by land is only 68 miles. Two 
dams on the French cr. navigation, within a mile of the town, afford an 
immense water-power ; and there are several other dams further up the 
creek. A splendid new bridge crosses the Allegheny here, and there is 
also one across French or. Population in 1840, 595. 



Public Square in Franklin. 

Among the first settlers at this place were Mr. George Powers and Mr. 
Wm. Connolly, both still living. Mr. Connolly came from Meadville in 
1800. Mr. Powers came out, in 1787, to assist in erecting the barracks, 
and subsequently came in '93 on his own account, and established a store 



WARREN COUNTY. 647 

for the purpose of trading with the Indians, Col. McDowell came not 
long after. Samuel Ray came in 1795, and John Andrews ; but the latter 
removed to Warren co., where his father, Robert, had settled, near Broken- 
straw. In 1797 there were only three or four white families in the place. 
Many particulars relating to the early history of this place are recited in 
the extracts above. 

Utica is a small but smart village on French cr., 8 miles above Frank- 
lin. It was started about ten years since, (1832,) by Aaron W. Raymond, 
Esq., the proprietor. It contains a fine flouring-mill, woollen and card- 
ing establishment, .a steam distillery, and a Methodist church. 

CooPEESTOwN, a village on Sugar cr., was started about the year 1827, 
by Wm. Cooper, Esq., upon a donation tract belonging to his father, who 
held the rank of ensign in the army. Messrs. Hilliard and Booth have 
a large woollen manufactory here. There are also several other mills. 
The place contains Methodist and Presbyterian churches. 

HicKGRY-TowN is a Small settlement at the mouth of Hickory cr., a little 
below the Warren co. line. The early settlements of the Moravians in 
this region are noticed above in the historical sketch of the co. 

The other villages are Dempseytown, Sunville, and Clintonville. 



WARREN COUNTY. 

Warren county was taken from Lycoming co. by the act of 12th 
March, 1800. By the act of 1805 the co. was annexed to Venango for 
judicial purposes. On the 16th March, 1819, the county was fully organ- 
ized, and the seat of justice fixed at Warren. Length 32 miles east and 
west, breadth 26 ; area, 832 square miles. Population in 1800, only 230 ; 
in 1810, 827 ; in 1820, 1,976 ; in 1830, 4,706 ; in 1840, 9,278. 

The Allegheny river runs, with its meanderings, not less than 50 miles 
within the co., entering at the northeast corner and leaving at the south- 
w^est. It consists of extensive sheets of dead water and short ripples, and 
furnishes power to drive several extensive saw-mills at different points. 
The Conewango creek, which enters the co. from the state of New York 
and meets the Allegheny at Warren, is also a large and navigable stream, 
and turns many valuable mills. The other principal streams are the Bro- 
kenstraw. Little Brokenstraw, Tionesta, I'edioute, Kinjua, Stillwater, 
Coffee, and Fairbank creeks, and Jackson's, Alkley's, Valentine's, and 
Morrison's runs, &c. — on all of which the lumbering business is carried 
on extensively. 

The surface of the county is undulating, and, near the large streams, 
deeply indented, and sometimes rocky. The lands in the townships con- 
tiguous to the state line are generally of good quality, and will admit of 
dense settlements ; and the same may be said of those between Broken- 
straw and Conewango creeks, except the river hills. " The land between 
the two Brokenstraw creeks," says another writer, " for several miles is 
stony and broken indeed. A land speculator from ' the land of steady 
habits,' once travelling over it, where ' stones peep o'er stones, and rocks 
on rocks arise,' remarked, that ' it would never be settled till it was set- 



CAS WARREN COUNTY. 

tied by an airthquake. " Beyond this, near the Crawford co. line, is a 
large body of good land. On all the rivers of the co. are broad alluvial 
margins, producing corn and wheat abundantly vi^hen properly cultivated. 
Previous to the year 1827, that part of the co. southeast of the Allegheny 
river was but little known or explored, and the land abandoned by its 
owners was principally sold for taxes ; but since the titles could be per- 
fected, settlers have moved in, and found the region to be well timbered, 
supplied with abundant water-power, and containing much good arable 
land- 
In a letter written by Gen. Wm. Irvine, of the revolutionary army, to 
Gen. Washington, after the close of the war, concerning the best means 
of opening a water communication between Lake Erie and the Ohio, he 
makes allusion to the traces and traditions then existing of an old road cut 
by the French over the portage between Chautauque lake and Lake Erie, 
and intimates his belief that it was once or twice used by them, and after- 
wards abandoned for the Presqu'isle portage. This must have been be- 
tween the years 1728 and '50. Previous to this, and subsequently, this 
whole region was owned and occupied by the Seneca Indians. In the 
year 1784 the treaty to which Cornplanter was a party was made at Fort 
Stanwix, ceding the whole of Northwestern Pennsylvania to the common- 
wealth, with the exception of a small individual reserve to Cornplanter. 
The frontier, however, was not at peace for some years after that, nor, 
indeed, until Wayne's treaty, in 1795. About the time of Wayne's 
treaty, (and some say even previous to that event, and as early as 
1790, — but it is not at all probable,) several adventurous Irishmen 
started from Philadelphia, and passing up the Susquehanna and Sinne- 
mahoning, penetrated the wilderness of McKean co., built canoes, and 
launched them upon the waters of the Allegheny at the Canoe-place, two 
miles above Port Allegheny. Floating down past Olean to the mouth of 
Conewango, they left the river, and made the first settlement in Warren 
CO., among the beachwoods of Pine Grove and Sugar Grove townships. 
Their names were Robert Miles, John Russel, John Frew, John and Hugh 
Marsh, and Isaiah Jones. When they arrived upon their lands, their 
whole stock of " specie and specie funds" was only three dollars ! 

About the year 1795, the venerable James Morrison (who died m 
1840, at the age of 104 years) came out, and took up the large island 
at the mouth of Kinjua creek. He was also the owner of Morri- 
son's island, at the mouth of Morrison's creek, a few miles above War- 
ren. At Irwinville, James Harriot built the first mills, about the year 
1812 or '13. Messrs Faulkner, Wilson, Smith, and Hall were the first 
settlers near Pine Grove, about the years 1816 to '20. The McKin- 
ney family were also early settlers : John settled on Brokenstraw, and 
Barney and Michael on the Conewango. Major Robert Andrews, and 
Messrs. Hicks, Wilson, Youngs, and Kinnear, were also early settlers on 
Brokenstraw. Most of them were lumbermen. Tomes, an Irishman, and 
Daniel McQuay, also settled on Brokenstraw. 

Among the earlier settlers and most enterprising lumbermen of the county was Jacob Hook, 
better known, perhaps, as " Jake Hook." He emigrated either from Boston or Maine somewhere 
about the year 1798, bringing with him, as his stock in trade, a package of the bills of some 
bank that had failed so recently " down east," that Jake had time to circulate his bills here be- 
fore the failure became known. This served to start him ; and eventually, by dint of sharp bar- 
gains and hard work, rolling saw logs, digging mill-races, and other speculations appurtenant to 



WARREN COUNTY. 649 

a lumber Gountry, Jake arrived to tlic dignity of owning inore mills and running more lumber 
than any other man in the county. In connection with some of his speculations, the charge of 
perjury had been fastened upon him, and he had made himself extremely obnoxious to many of 
the citizens. A party attempted to arrest him for trial, ^nd he killed one of thenj in the affray, 
— was tried for his life, but escaped by an informality in the legal proceedings. The following is 
from the New York Censor, copied into the Conewango Emigrant of 21st July, 1824. " It was 
proved on this trial that seven men, headed by one Asa Scott, went to the house of Hook, about 
4 miles above Warren, on the left bank of the Allegheny, between sunset and dark on the 25th 
March, for the avowed purpose of taking Hook to Warren that night. They all admitted that 
they intended to use force, if necessary. One stated that they meant to take him at all events. 
These persons were inimical to Hook with one or two exceptions, and had with them one or two 
loaded rifles. On arriving at Hook's they found his doors fastened. One of the company endeav- 
ored to prevail on him to surrender ; but he refused, alleging that he feared to trust himself with 
such men. About 9 o'clock, Scott and his followers went to the house and demanded admit- 
tance ; but he persisted in stating that he considered himself in danger, and that he looked upon 
them as a mob. Scott also stated, that on his demanding admittance. Hook informed him, by a 
tokeif pectjliar to a particular society, that he was in danger, and that he (Scott) assured him that 
he would be safe. Scott immediately burst open the outer door with considerable violence ; and 
almost at tl?,e same instant a gun was fired off within the house, by which one of the assailants 
(Caleb Wallace) was killed, and another wounded. On the trial, the counsel for the prosecution 
attempted to show that Scott was a deputy sheriff, and had a legal warrant on Hook for perjury. 
The court, however, on examining the deputation under which he pretended to act, decided that 
it was void, and gave him no authority." Hook was acquitted on that ground. He had always 
been at sword's points with the Warren people, and this affair had no tendency to heal the breach. 
He died about 1829 or '30. 

The settlement of Warren county, more than of any of the neigh- 
boring counties, was greatly retarded by the misconstructions and litiga- 
tion resulting from the land law of 1792, and the peculiar management 
of the Holland Land Co. This company, under the act of '92, had taken 
Vp the greater portion of the best lands in the county, northwest of the 
i^llegheny and Conewango ; and by way of aiding and encouraging set- 
tlers upon their lands, they established a large store at Warren — one of 
the first buildings erected in the place. Daniel McQuay had charge of 
it. Pine lumber, however, was the great object of pursuit in this county, 
and not agriculture, and so long as a lumberman had but the color of a 
title, he would remain long enough on the land to cut the timber, and 
then set up a claim to a new tract. Many thus made entries under the 
act of '92 upon land claimed by the Holland Land Co., and were in con- 
sequence in continual conflict with the company's agents. The latter re- 
fused to sell to such persons any thing from their store, or in any Avay to 
countenance them, without a compromise with the company. During 
this uncertainty the better class of settlers were deterred from purchas- 
ing, and the population in 1810 was only 827, and in 1820 was less than 
2,000. On the southeast of the Allegheny, the Lancaster Land Co. had 
taken up a large tract, which had been disposed of by lottery, or in some 
such other way as to scatter the titles among various unknown and dis- 
tant owners, who came at length to abandon their lands as of no value, 
and they were sold for taxes. This part of the county is still compara- 
tively unsettled. By the great speculations of 1828 to '40, the demand 
for lumber throughout the great West was increased, the value of pine 
lands enhanced, and great activity was infused into the lumber-business 
along the Conewango and Allegheny. 

Warren, the county seat, is situated on a plain of about 300 acres, on 
the right bank of the Allegheny, just below the mouth of Conewango cr. 
The town is principally built along the river bank, which is about 35 ft. 
above the water, and commands a picturesque view above and below. A 

82 



650 



WARREN COUNTY, 



noble bridge here crosses the Allegheny, from which the annexed view 
of a part of the street along the river was taken. 




Warren. 

It is allowed to be one of the most eligible sites on the river. The 
town was laid out and the lots sold by Gen. Wm. Irvine and Andrew El- 
liott, commissioners appointed by the state. The borough was incorpo- 
rated in 1832. Near the centre of the plot is the public square or dia- 
mond, around which are situated the courthouse and public offices, of 
brick ; and the jail, of stone ; a bank, of stone — a solid structure with- 
out, but broken within — and an academy, of brick. The population 
of the place (737 in 1840) is not yet commensurate with its original 
plan, and the consequence is, that the public buildings make rather a 
lonely appearance, separated as they are at some distance from the com^ 
pact business street along the river. There are three churches, Presby- 
terian, Methodist, and German Methodist. There are also Baptist and 
German Lutheran congregations, who have not yet erected houses of wor- 
ship. The dwellings and stores are generally of frame, neatly built, and 
painted white. The place is 120 miles from Pittsburg by land, and 22 
from Jamestown, on the outlet of Chautauque lake. 

Warren, in common with the county, was retarded in its improvement 
by the causes mentioned above, and in 1813 it boasted but five houses. 
The Holland Land Co. at an early day erected their storehouse on the 
river bank, just above the blacksmith's shop ; and Daniel Jackson built 
another house on the corner. Abraham Tanner, Esq., who is still living, 
came to Warren from Trumbull co., Ohio, embarked in the lumber busi- 
ness, and pursued it for some years with success. Robert Falconer, Esq., 
a Scotch gentleman of considerable fortune, came to the place a few years 
after Mr. Tanner. In 1816 Samuel Dale surveyed the Lancaster lands 
opposite the town, across the river. The lands on the hills north of the 
river, and Avest of the Conewango, and one mile from each, are called 
the state's lands ; they extend from one to two miles in width, nearly 
through the co., being lands which the Holland Co. did not include in 
t;heir survey. 

The business of ^^^ swTen varies with the season of the year. In the 



WARREN COUNTY. 651 

midst of winter or summer the place is exceedingly dull ; but at the 
breaking up of the ice in the spring, and during the subsequent floods, 
the town, and the whole country above, on the Conewango and Alleghe- 
ny, is alive with the bustle of preparation among the lumbermen. Large 
rafts are continually coming down the Allegheny, and smaller ones down 
the Conewango, and rounding in at Warren to be coupled into rafts of 
immense area, 60 or 70 feet wide, and from 250 to 300 feet long, in which 
shape they pursue their course to Pittsburg and Cincinnati. Large boats, 
too, or " broad-horns," as they are called, from the width of their oars, 
form part of the fleet. 

These rafts, like immense floating islands, form at once the vehicle and 
the temporary residence of several families on their way dowTi the river. 
Old and young, from the gray-haired pioneer of sixty down to the boy of 
twelve years, are interested in their departure, and compose the crews to 
navig:ate them. There is not probably a boy of twelve years old living 
on any stream in Warren co. who has not made his voyage to Cincinnati, 
perhaps to *' Orleans*" 

It is a cheering sight to see the bright broad raft floating slowly down 
the picturesque passes of the Allegheny, with its little shanties, and busy 
population; some lifting the long heavy oars, some cooking at the great 
lire, some eating their bacon from a broad clean shingle — superior to 
French porcelain — some lounging in the sun, and some practising their 
coarse wit upon the gazers from the shore, and making the wild hills echo 
with their shouts. The unsettled habits induced by these semi-annual 
voyages are far from being congenial to the agricultural interests of the 
county. Among those who have become distinguished in the lumber bu- 
siness, is Guy C. Irvin, Esq., who resides on the Conewango, a short dis- 
tance below Pine Grove. He is a complete Napoleon in the lumber bu- 
siness. His name, person, and character, are known in every large town 
from Olean to New Orleans. He owns, or has owned, more pine lands 
and saw-mills, and " run" more lumber, than any man on the waters of 
the Allegheny. While the business was driven to its fall extent in 1836- 
'38, he frequently sent to market 20 millions of feet of boards in a season. 
The shore for a mile or two above Pittsburg is frequently lined with his 
rafts waiting a rise of the waters. Mr. Irvin came out from the West 
branch of the Susquehanna about the year 1817, with little other capital 
than a strong, comprehensive mind, and an untiring spirit of enterprise. 

The failure of the Lumberman's Bank at Warren, three or four years 
since, was fraught with disaster to the middle and poorer classes of citi- 
zens of Warren co. The history of this bank, could its materials be 
gathered at this day, would be an excellent beacon for similar institutions. 
By means of the great extent of country throughout which the lumber 
trade was prosecuted, its bills were widely circulated, as well at home, 
as at Pittsburg, Cincinnati, and further down. The short and prompt 
loans, originally made, became long ones, and eventually permanent ; the 
borrowers were few, and heavy dealers and land speculators — they soon 
had the bank in their power ; the securities assumed the form of pine 
lands, and unsaleable property — the specie was exhausted — the bank 
failed, with a circulation in the hands of the needy, who sold at a heavy 
discount to the large borrowers, who thus paid their debts at an easy 
rate. 



652 WARREN COUNTY. 

In a note, by the editors of the United States Gazette, referring to the allcient tillage of Epir* 
rata, situated in Lancaster county, in this state, the fact is no-ted that " one of the first printing- 
presses introduced into the state," was located in that village. As a small item of history con- 
nected with our profession we have to add, that the identical press in question, became the prop- 
erty of the editor of this paper in the year 1804. He caused the woodwork to be renewed, an^ 
removed it to Meadville in the fall of that year. It was the first printing-press introduced int« 
this state, northwest of the Allegheny river, and from which the first sheet issued in this regioi> 
All the continental money, issued by congress, while in session at Lancaster and York, during 
the revolutionary war, was struck upon it. This relic of antiquity is now, we believe, the prop, 
erty of Mr. Purviance, of the neighboring county of Warren, and from which the " Union," a 
very respectable sheet, is issued. Long may it continue to administer to the welfare, prosperity, 
and happiness of the Union. — Crawford Messenger, 1830. 



The Hon. Joseph Hackney departed this life at Warren on the 20th of May, 1832, at the age 
of 69 years. 

He was distinguished for stanch integrity, uprightness, and generosity in his intercourse with 
the world ; modest, unobtrusive, amiable, and possessing reliance, for at least the last year of 
his pilgrimage, on the atonement of the blessed Redeemer. 

A development of the murderous outrage upon the happiness of his paternal roof by a savage 
foe would harrow up the feelings of sensibility. He was a soldier with Col. Harmar, at the 
building of Fort Harmar, at the mouth of the Muskingum, in 1785. 

In 1789, he went with Major, afterwards Gen. Doughty, up the Tennessee river, to conciliate 
the Indians in that region by a distribution of presents from the United States. The party, con- 
sisting of 15, landed at the encampment of the first Indian village. The tawny natives seemed 
to manifest great friendship, but the discerning Maj. Doughty descried something which fore- 
boded treachery. He put his men on their guard — and having bestowed the presents designed, 
the Indians all gave them their hands in token of their pretended amicable feelings, but Dough- 
ty and his men had scarcely wheeled their boat in order to proceed to another village, when the 
savages levelled their muskets and killed 11 at the first fire. Mr. Hackney escaped with his 
life, as did the two officers and one more ; but one of his arms was broken by a ball, and hung 
useless to his side. With the other he managed the boat. The enemy pursued, to the number 
of 60, yet by the well-directed fire of the three uninjured warriors, using the loaded guns of their 
fallen brethren, they killed many of their pursuers, beat off the residue — and defeated them ! 

Mr. Haekney then repaired to a Spanish fort on the Mississippi, where, with surgical aid and 
the blessing of Heaven, his limb was fully restored. 

He was afterwards with Harmar on his campaign in 1790. During this memorable period, he 
was sent out under Major Willis and Lieut. Ebenezer Frotliingham, on what may with propriety 
be called a forlorn hope, as one of a battalion intrusted with a duty, in the region of the San- 
dusky. The Indians killed every member of the battalion, except 11, of which Mr. Hackney 
was one. 

In 175^3, he settled in Meadville, diligent in his lawful pursuits, happy in his domestic relations, 
and beloved by all his acquaintance. He was colonel of the first regiment in Crawford county. 

He removed to the banks of the Konnewonggo, in 1817, and gained by his urbanity, hospital- 
ity, and correct conduct, the esteem of his fellow- citizens, and their suffrages for various offices. 
He was appointed an associate judge, on tlie organization of Warren county for judicial purposes, 
and discharged the duties of the office with dignity, establishing his character as an upright and 
useful judge, till the close of his life. — Crawford Messenger. 

Pine Grove is situated on the right bank of the Conewango, 7 miles 
above Warren, at the head of the rapids. It is compactly built — con- 
tains some 40 or 50 dwellings, store, taverns, &c. Russel's mills are 
situated here, on one of the best water-privileges in the county. Three 
saw-mills and a grist-mill, besides other works, are in operation here, and 
nearly a mile below is another large saw-mill. Establishments like these, 
it is said, might be erected on each mile between Pine Grove and Warren. 

YouNGsviLLE is situated on both sides of Big Brokenstraw, 3 miles from 
its mouth. It contains about 20 dwellings, and a Methodist church. 
Some of the largest and best-cultivated farms in the county, surround 
this village. Sugar Grove is situated in the township of that name, one 
and a half miles south of the N. Y. state line. It contains some 20 or 30 
dwellings, a saw and grist-mill. It is pleasantly situated, and surrounded 
with groves of sugar-maple — hence the name. Lottsville is in the samo 



WARREN COUNTY. 653 

township, on the Little Brokenstraw. Fayette is on a branch of the Big 
Brokenstraw, in Columbus township. At all these places there are good 
water-privileges. At each of these villages there is a post-office, as also 
at Deerfield, Kinjua, Spring Valley, and Irvine. 

A colony of German Protestants have recently purchased (May, 1843) 
10,000 acres of land in Limestone township, vs^hich they are about settling 
on the principle of community of property. It is believed, however, that 
they intend to retain the common property organization for only five or 
ten years, or until the land is fully paid for, when they expect to divide 
the shares. A similar colony, of the Catholic denomination, have also 
purchased a tract in the eastern part of the county, near the boundary 
of McKean co. 

About six miles below Warren, near the mouth of Brokenstraw creek, 
the traveller, who has thus far passed the usual plain log or frame cot- 
tages by the roadside, is struck with the appearance of an elegant man- 
sion of stone, of a chaste and neat design, standing a little back from the 
road, with a fine farm around it< A short distance beyond he sees an- 
other, after the same model, adorning a similar farm : a little further on, 
another still, and near it, by the roadside, the " Cornplanter Hotel," built 
of freestone, in a style and of a magnitude that would do honor to Chest- 
nut-st., in Philadelphia. Opposite the hotel is a row of stores, in the 
same style of architecture ; a neat bridge crosses the creek ; on one side 
are the wild rocky hills, and on the other the broad alluvial meadows 
that border the Allegheny. Besides the buildings enumerated above, 
there is a mill and miller's house ; two other elegant stone cottages be- 
low the creek ; and about a mile below, near the Allegheny, is the man- 
sion of the proprietor. This village, intended eventually to become the 
town of Cornplanter, was erected and is owned entirely by Dr. Wm. A. 
'"^Irvine. It stands on a large tract of fine land inherited from his father, 
^ the late Commissary-Gen. Callender Irvine, who was the son of Gen. Wm. 
S Irvine of the revolutionary army. The village was built in anticipation 
^ of the construction of the Sunbury and Erie railroad ; which was located 
^i=directly through it, and was to pass up the Brokenstraw valley. It will 
-! be some years before this road is constructed. 

^ On the flats below the village once stood an Indian village, called 
Z Buckaloon, which was destroyed by a detachment under Col. Broadhead 
!! from Pittsburg, in 1781. It required a siege of some days to drive out 
the Indians, who retreated to the hills in the rear of the village. Several 
days afterwards Major Morrison, (afterwards a distinguished citizen of 
Lexington, Kentucky,) returned to reconnoitre, and had stooped to drink 
at the mouth of the creek, when a rifle ball from an Indian splashed the 
water in his face. This fact was long after confirmed to Dr. Irvine by 
one of Cornplanter's men. Gen. Wm. Irvine was for several years en- 
gaged as commissioner for the state in superintending the surveys of land 
northwest of the Allegheny, under the land law of 1792 ; and either he 
or his son. Gen. Callender Irvine, took up large tracts on Brokenstraw 
creek. The latter came to this place in 1795, erected a cabin, and placed 
in charge of it, by way of perfecting " an actual settlement," a faithful 
old negro servant. A very affectionate intinlacy subsisted between Gen. 
Irvine and Cornplanter, and reciprocal visits were often made by them. 
One day while Gen. Callender Irvine was staying at the cabin, two Mon- 



6$^ WARREN COUNTY. 

sey*s, a small clan of whom lived in the vicinity, came to the cabin foi* 
some salt. Salt in those days was as precious as silver, being packed on 
horses over the mountains. The old negro took out his measure of salt 
to give them a little, but they wanted the whole, and vowed they would 
have it by fair means or foul. Gen. Irvine here interfered and drove 
them off. A lew days afterwards one of Cornplanter's men came down 
to visit and hunt, and spent a fortnight with the general. This was no 
uncommon occurrence at his hospitable cabin, and he thought nothing of 
it. Months afterwards Cornplanter told the general that the Monseys 
had threatened his (the general's) life, and that he had sent the Indian 
down secretly to watch their movements. 

KiNJUA is a small village on the left bank of the Allegheny, at the 
mouth of Kinjua creek, and 12 miles above Warren. Five miles above 
Kinjua, on the right bank of the Allegheny, and four miles below the 
state line, is the reservation, and late residence of Cornplanter, the dis- 
tinguished Seneca chief The Allegheny reservation of the Seneca na- 
tion is above the state line, extending for thirty miles along the river, and 
one mile in breadth. The Senecas were by far the most numerous and 
warlike of the Six Nations. The peculiar organization of that confed- 
eracy, and the rank which the Senecas held in it, have been mentioned 
on page 6 of the Outline History. The history of their wrongs at the 
hands of land speculators, and of the gradual diminution of their num- 
bers, belongs more properly to the history of New- York than to that of 
Pennsylvania. By various treaties they have been deprived of one piece 
of their fair domain after another, until they were crowded upon four 
small reservations, one at Tonawanta, 8 or 10 miles N. W. of Batavia, 
one 3 miles east of Buffalo, one at Cattaraugus creek, 28 miles south of 
Buffalo, and the fourth on the Allegheny, as mentioned above. At each 
of these reservations, except the Tonawanta, the American Board have 
a mission station, with a church and schools. The following is from the 
"Dayspring" of Feb. 1842. 

The whole number of schools on all the reservations is 12, containing 210 pupils. In addition 
to these are eight Sabbath-schools, embracing 155 pupils. To the 4 churches about 50 members 
have been added during the year 1842. And there has been a very great advance in the cause 
of temperance. For three years past there has been great excitement and alienation growing out 
of their political difficulties. In 1838 a treaty was obtained from them, in which the Senecas 
sold all their reservations except the last two, and that portion of the Tuscarora which the Tus- 
caroras held by purchase. By the conditions of this treaty they were to receive $100,000, also 
$102,000 for their improvements; and the United States government were to furnish $400,000 
to remove them west of the Mississippi and support tiicm one year in the west. It has been 
estimated that the allowance made them for their improvements will not be half adequate to 
enable tiiem to make as good houses and fields on the new lands to which they go, as they had 
on those which tiiey leave, and that by this bargain, should it be carried into effect, they would 
lose more than half their available property, ami be for some years to come, comparatively poor 
and destitute. A compromise was eftccted last spring, by which they sell only a part of Tusca. 
rora and the whole Tonawanda and Buffalo reservations, and receive a proportionable part of the 
compensation stipulated in the former treaty ; but they receive nothing for removal and subsist- 
ence. The case at present stands thus. The Indians on the ceded part of the Tuscarora reser- 
vation must remove to that part which is not sold. Here they will have land enough for their 
present wants. The Indians on the Tonawanda and Buffalo reservations must all remove. Cat- 
taraugus and Allegheny remain for the present undisturbed. The Indians from Tonawanda and 
Buffalo intend, most of them, to settle at Cattaraugus. Some say they will go west of the Mis- 
sissippi, some to Canada, and a few will probably go to Allegheny. Two years are allowed by 
the treaty for removing, nearly 18 months of which still remain. The present number of In- 
dians on these reservations is about 3,000. 

Few names are more distinguished in the frontier history of Pennsylvania than that of Com- 



WARREN COUNTY. 655 

planter.* His Indian name was Ga-nio-di-euh, or Handsome Lake. He was bom at Conewan- 
gu8, on the Genesee river ; being a half-breed, the son of a white man named John O'Bail, a 
trader from the Mohawk valley. In a letter written in later years to the governor of Pennsy' 
vania, he thus speaks of his early youth : 

" When I was a child I played with the butterfly, the grasshopper, and the frogs ; and as I 
grew up, I began to pay some attention and play with the Indian boys in the ncighlKjrhood ; and 
they took notice of my skin being of a different color from theirs, and spoke about it. I inquired 
of my mother the cause, and she told me that my father was a resident in Albany. I still ate 
my victuals out of a bark dish. I grew up to be a young man, and married me a wife, and 1 
had no kettle or gun. I then knew where my father lived, and went to see him, and found he 
was a white man and spoke the English language. He gave me victuals while I was at his 
house, but when I started to return home, he gave me no provision to eat on the way. He gave 
me neither kettle nor gun." * * * 

Little further is known of his early life beyond the fact that he was allied with the French in 
the engagement against Gen. Braddock in July, 17.05. He was probably at that time at least 
twenty years old. During the revolution he was a war chief, of high rank, in the full vigor of 
manhood, active, sagacious, eloquent, and brave ; and he most probably participated in th«; prin- 
cipal Indian engagements against the United States during that war. He is supfwsed to have 
been present at the cruelties of Wyoming and Cherry Valley, in which the Senecas tofjk a pro- 
minent part. He was on the war-path with Brant during Gen. Sullivan's campaign, in 1779; 
and in the following year, under Brant and Sir John Johnson, he led the Senecas in sweeping 
through the Schoharie Kill and the Mohawk. On this occasion he took his father a prisoner, 
but with such caution as to avoid an immediate recognition. After marching the old man some 
ten or twelve miles, he stepped before him, faced about, and addressed him in the following 
temis : 

" My name is John O'Bail, commonly called Complanter. I am your son ! You are my fa- 
ther ! You are now my prisoner, and subject to the customs of Indian warfare. But you shall 
not be harmed. You need not fear. I am a warrior ! Many are the scalps which I have 
taken ! many prisoners I have tortured to death I I am your son. I was anxious to see you, 
^nd greet you in friendship. I went to your cabin, and took you by force ; but your life shall be 
spared. Indians love their friends and their kindred, and treat them with kindness. If now you 
choose to follow the fortunes of your yellow son, and to live with our people, I will cherish your 
old age with plenty of venison, and you shall live easy. But if it is your choice to return to your 
fields and live with your white children, I will send a party of rny trusty young men to conduct 
you back in safety. I respect you, my father. You have been friendly to Indians, and they are 
your friends." The elder O'Bail preferred his white children and green fields to his yellow off. 
ppring and the wild woods, and chose to return. 

Notwithstanding his bitter hostility while the war continued, he became the fast friend of the 
U. S. when once the hatchet was buried. His sagacious intellect comprehended at a glance the 
growing power of the U. S., and the abandonment with which Great Britain had requited the 
fidelity of the .Senecas. He therefore threw all his influence, at the treaties of Fort Stanwix arwl 
Fort Harmar, in favor of peace ; and, notwithstanding the vast concessions which he saw his 
people were necessitated to make, still, by his energy and prudence in the negotiation, he retained 
for them an ample and beautiful reservation. For the course which he took on those occasions 
the state of Pennsylvania granted him the fine reservation upon which he resided, on the Alle- 
gheny. The Senecas, however, were never well satisfied with his course in relation to these trea- 
ties ; and Red Jacket, more artful and eloquent than his elder rival, but less frank and honest, 
seized upon this circumstance to promote his own popularity at the expense of Complanter. 

Having buried the hatchet, Complanter sought to make his talents useful to his people by con- 
ciliating the good-will of the whites, and securing from further encroachment the little remnant 
of his national domain. On more than one occasion, when some reckless and bloodthirsty whites 
on the frontier had massacred unoSending Indians in cold blood, did Complanter interfere to re- 
strain the vengeance of his people. During all the Indian wars from 1791 to 1794, which termi- 
nated with Wajme's treaty, Complanter pledged himself that the Senecas should remain friendly 
to the U. S. He often gave notice to the garrison at Fort Franklin of intended attacks from hos- 
tile parties, and even hazarded his life on a mediatorial mission to the Western tribes. He ever 
entertained a high respect and personal friendship for Gen. Washington, " the great councillor of 
the Thirteen Fires," and often visited him, during his presidency, on the business of his tribe. 
His speeches on these occasions exhibit both his talent in composition and his adroitness in di- 
plomacy. Washington fully reciprocated his respect and friendship. They had fought against 
each other on the disastrous day of Braddock's field. Both were then young men. More than 

(* For the facts contained in the first part of this biographical sketch, we are indebted to CoJ. 
Stone's Life of Red Jacket, where a more extended memoir, and a number of Cornplanter'a 
ppeecbes, may be found. 



656 WARREN COUNTY. 

forty years afterwards, when Washington was about retiring from the presidency, Complanter 
made a special visit to Philadelphia to take an affectionate leave of the great benefactor of the 
white man and the red. 

After peace was permanently established between the Indians and the U. S., Complanter re- 
tired from public life and devoted his labors to his own people. He deplored the evils of intem- 
perance, and exerted himself to suppress it. The benevolent efforts of missionaries among his 
tribe always received his encouragement, and at one time his own heart seemed to be softened by 
the words of truth ; yet he preserved, in his later years, many of the peculiar notions of the In- 
dian faith. 

In the war of 1812-14, when the Senecas took up the hatchet in alliance with the United States, 
Complanter appears to have taken no active part ; but his son. Major Henry O'Bail, and his in- 
timate friend and neighbor Halftown, were conspicuous in several engagements on the Niagara 
frontier. 

Rev. Timothy Alden, then president of Allegheny College, who visited Complanter in 1816, 
thus describes the chief and his village : 

" Jennesedaga, Cornplanter's village, is on a handsome piece of bottom land, and comprises 
about a dozen buildings. It was grateful to notice the agricultural habits of the place, and the 
numerous enclosure^ of buckwheat, com, and oats. We also saw a number of oxen, cows, and 
horses ; and many logs designed for the saw-mill and the Pittsburg market. Last year, 1815, 
the Western Missionary Society established a school in the village, under Mr. Samuel Oldham. 
Complanter, as soon as apprised of our arrival, came over to see us, and took charge of our 
horses. Though having many around him to obey his commands, yet, in the ancient patriarchal 
style, he chose to serve us himself, and actually went into the field, cut the oats, and fed our 
beasts. He appears to be about 68 years of age, and 5 feet 10 inches in height. His counte- 
nance is strongly marked with intelligence and reflection. Contrary to the aboriginal custom, his 
chin is covered with a beard three or four inches in length. His house is of princely dimensions 
compared with most Indian huts, and has a piazza in front. He is owner of 1,300 acres of ex- 
cellent land, 600 of which encircle the ground-plot of his little town. He receives an annual sti- 
pend from the United States of $250. Cornplanter's brother, lately deceased, called the prophet, 
was known by the high-sounding name Goskukewanna Konnediu, or Large Beautiful Lake, 
Kinjuquade, the name of another chief, signified the place of many fishes; — hence probably the 
name of Kinjua." 

In 1821-22 the commissioners of Warren co. assumed the right to tax the private property of 
Complanter, and proceeded to enforce its collection. The old chief resisted it, conceiving it not 
only unlawful, but a personal indignity. The sheriff again appeared with a small posse of armed 
men. Complanter took the deputation to a room around which were' ranged about a hundred 
rifles, and, with the sententious brevity of an Indian, intimated that for each rifle a warrior 
would appear at his call. The sheriff and his men speedily withdrew, determined, however, to 
call out the militia. Several prudent citizens, fearing a sanguinary collision, sent for the old 
chief in a friendly way to come to Warren and compromise the matter. He came, and after 
some persuasion, gave his note for the tax, amounting to $43.79. He addressed, however, a re- 
monstrance to the governor of Pennsylvania, soliciting a return of his money, and an exemption 
from such demands against land which the state itself had presented to him. The legislature 
annulled the tax, and sent two commissioners to explain the affair to him. He met them at the 
courthouse in Warren, on which occasion he delivered the following speech, eminently charac- 
teristic of himself and his race : 

" Brothers : Yesterday was appointed for us all to meet here. The talk which the governor 
sent us pleased us very much. I think that the Great Spirit is very much pleased that the white 
people have been induced so to assist the Indians as they have done, and that he is pleased also 
to see the great men of this state and of the United States so friendly to us. We are much 
pleased with what has been done." 

" The Great Spirit first made the world, and next the flying animals, and found all things good 
and prosperous. He is immortal and everlasting. After finishing the flying animals, he came 
down on earth and there stood. Then he made different kinds of trees, and weeds of all sorts, 
and people of every kind. He made the spring and other seasons, and the weather suitable for 
planting. These he did make. But stills to make whiskey to be given to Indians he did not 
make. The Great Spirit bids me tell the white people not to give Indians this kind of liquor. 
When the Great Spirit had made the earth and its animals, he went into the great lakes, where 
he breathed as easily as anywhere else, and then made all the different kinds of fish. The Great 
Spirit looked back on all that he had made. The different kinds he made to be separate, and not 
to mix with and disturb each other. But the white people have broken his command by mixing 
their color with the Indians. The Indians have done better by not doing so. The Great Spirit 
wishes that all wars and fightings should cease." 

" He next told us that there were three things for our people to attend to. First, we ought to 
take care of our wives and children. Secondly, the white people ought to attend to their farms 
and cattle. Thirdly, the Great Spirit has given the bears and dears to the Indians. He is the 



WARREN COUNTY. 6S7 

cause of all things that exist, and it is very wicked to go against his will. The Great Spirit 
wishes me to inform the people that they should <]uit drinking intoxicating drink, as being the 
cause of disease and death. He told us not to sell any more of our lands, for he never sold lands 
to any one. Some of us now keep the seventh day ; but I wish to quit it, for the Great Spirit 
made it for others, but not for the Indians, who ought every day to attend to their business. He 
has ordered me to quit drinking any intoxicating drink, and not to lust after any women but my 
own, and informs me that by doing so I should live the longer. He made known to me that it 
is very wicked to tell lies. Let no one suppose this I have said now is not true." 

" I have now to thank the governor for what he has done. I have informed him what the 
Great Spirit has ordered me to cease from, and I wish the governor to inform others of what I 
have communicated. This is all I have at present to say." 

The old chief appears after this again to have fallen into entire seclusion, taking no part even in 
the politics of his people. He died at his residence on the 7th March, 1836, at the age of 100 years 
and upwards. " Whether at the time of his death he expected to go the fair hunting-grounds of 
his own people or to the heaven of the Christian, is not known." 

" Notwithstanding his profession of Christianity, Cornplanter was very superstitious. ' Not 
long since,' says Mr. Foote, of Chautauque co., ' he said the Good Spirit had told hira not to have 
any thing to do with the white people, or even to preserve any mementoes or relics that had been 
given to him, from time to time, by the pale-faces, — whereupon, among other things, he burnt up his 
belt, and broke his elegant sword." 

In reference to the personal appearance of Cornplanter at the close of his life, a writer in the 
Democratic Arch (Venango co.) says-;— 

" I once saw the aged and venerable chief, and had an interesting interview with him, about a 
year and a half before his death. I thought of many things when seated near him, beneath the 
wide-spreading shade of an old sycamore, on the banks of the Allegheny — many things to ask 
him — the scenes of the revolution, the generals that fought its battles and conquered, the Indians, 
his tribe, the Six Nations, and himself. He was constitutionally sedate, — was never observed to 
smile, much less to indulge in the ' luxury of a laugh.' When I saw him, he estim .ted his age 
to be over 100 years. I think 103 was about his reckoning of it. This would make him near 
,105 years old at the time of his decease. His person was much stooped, and hies stature was far 
short of what it once had been — not being over 5 feet 6 inches at the time I speak of. Mr. John 
Struthers, of Ohio, told me, some years since, that he had seen him near 50 years ago, and at 
that period he was about his height — viz., 6 feet 1 inch. Time and hardship had made dreadful 
impressions upon that ancient form. The chest was sunken, and his shoulders were drawn for- 
ward, making the upper part of his body resemble a trough. His limbs had lost their size and 
become crooked. His feet, too, (for he had taken off his moccasins,) were deformed and haggard 
by injury. I would say that most of the fingers on one hand were useless : the sinews had been 
severed by a blow of the tomahawk or scalping-knife. How I longed to ask him what scene of 
blood and strife had thus stamped the enduring evidence of its existence upon his person ! But 
to have done so would, in all probability, have put an end to all further conversation on any sub- 
ject, — the information desired would certainly not have been received, — and I had to forego my 
curiosity. He had but one eye, and even the socket of the lost organ was hid by the overhang- 
ing brow resting upon the high cheek-bone. His remaining eye was of the brightest and black- 
est hue. Never have I seen one, in young or old, that equalled it in brilliancy. Perhaps it had 
borrowed lustre from the eternal darkness that rested on its neighboring orbit. His ears had been 
dressed in the Indian mode : all but the outside ring had been cut way. On the one ear this ring 
had been torn asunder near the top, and hung down his neck like a useless rag. He had a full 
head of hair, white as the ' driven snow,' which covered a head of ample dimensions and admira- 
ble shape. His face was not swarthy ; but this may be accounted for from the fact, also, that he 
was but half Indian. He told me that he had been at Franklin more than 80 years before the 
period of our conversation, on his passage down the Ohio and Mississippi with the warriors of 
his tribe, on some expedition against the Creeks or Osagcs. He had long been a man of peace, 
and I believe his great characteristics were humanity and truth. It is said that Brant and the 
Cornplanter were never friends after the massacre of Cherry Valley. Some have alleged, because 
the Wyoming massacre was perpetrated by the Senecas, that the Cornplanter was there. Of the 
justice of this suspicion there are many reasons for doubt. It is certain that he was not the chief 
of the Senecas at that time : the name of the chief in that expedition was Ge-en-quah-toh, or 
He-goes-in-the-smoke. As he stood before me — the ancient chief in ruins — how forcibly was I 
struck with the truth of the beautiful figure of the old aboriginal chieftain, who, in describing 
himself, said he was ' like an aged hemlock, dead at the top, and whose branches alone were 
green.' After more than one hundred years of most varied hfe — of strife, of danger, of peace- 
he at last slumbers in deep repose, on the banks of his own beloved Allegheny." 

83 



658 WASHINGTON COUNTY. 



WASHINGTON COUNTY. 

Washington county was the first established by the legislature after 
the declaration of independence. It was taken from Westmoreland by 
the act of 28th March, 1781. Its dimensions were reduced in 1788 and 
1796, by the establishment of Allegheny and Greene counties. Length 
31 miles, breadth 28; area, 888 square miles. Population in 1790, 
23,866; in 1800, 28,293; in 1810, 36,289; in 1020, 40,038; in 1830, 
42,860; and in 1840, 41,279. 

The surface of the county is^ undulating, and in some parts hilly ; but 
there are no mountains, and the hills can be cultivated to the very tops. 
The surface of this region was originally part of one great uniform slope, 
extending from the mountains to the Ohio, and has been brought to its 
present shape by the wearing action of the waters during countless ages. 
These deep indentations of the original surface have laid open and made 
accessible rich beds of coal and limestone. The soil is exceedingly fer- 
tile, producing abundant crops of grain and fruits. Luxuriant meadows 
are found along the streams, and pasturage on the hill-sides. The princi- 
pal river is the Monongahela, w^hich flows through a deep valley along 
the eastern boundary. The centre of the county is a summit level, from 
which flow, in various directions, the sources of Chartiers creek, Buffalo 
creek. Ten Mile creek, and several smaller streams. There are some 15 
or 20 steam-mills in the county, for making flour and carding wool, and 
several woollen manufactories, among which, one at Washington is said 
to consume about 30,000 pounds of wool annually. The predominant 
business, however, is agriculture, and especially the departments of breed- 
ing and grazing cattle, and the raising of wool. Within the last 20 years 
the attention of the farmers has been directed to the latter product, until 
it has become the staple commodity of the county. In 1830, the estimate 
was made that there were in the county about 145,000 sheep ; the census 
of 1840 shows 222,631, yielding annually from 500,000 to 700,000 pounds 
of wool. In the palmy days of 1836, while wool was at 50 cents per 
pound, the business was considered highly profitable ; but at 25 cents, the 
price of 1842, the farmers talk of abandoning it. A writer, in 1828, re- 
marked, in relation to this county — 

Our cleared land is estimated at 250,000 acres, capable of maintaining, on an average, two 
sheep to the acre, without rendering our population dependent on others for those agricultural 
products which we consume, and now produce within ourselves. According to this estimate, we 
can keep 500,000 sheep, yielding 1,500,000 pounds of washed wool, which will leave, after de- 
ducting the quantity necessarily consumed by a population of 50,000, a surplus for sale, of more 
than a million of pounds. We know from experience, that sheep (provided there be suffi- 
cient inducement) may be increased at a ratio of 20 per cent, yearly — which in six years would 
give this county the number we have before estimated it is capable of maintaining. No 
country in the world is better adapted to growing wool than the western parts of Pennsylvania, 
and the adjoining parts of Ohio and Virginia ; and the wool from such flocks as have been judi- 
ciously managed, has been found to improve in quality and increase in quantity ; indeed, much 
of it will bear comparison with the best Saxon wool we have seen. 

The county is intersected by three excellent turnpikes ; the national 
road, passing through the centre, the Washingtoi and Pittsburg turnpike, 
and the Washington and Williamsport, or Mor ongahela city turnpike, 
passing on towards Somerset, and generally kno' tn as the " Glades road.' 



WASHINGTON COUNTY. 659 

This county can boast several excellent literary institutions, the most 
prominent of which are Washington College and the Female Seminary 
at Washington, and Jefferson College, at Canonsburg. 

The county was originally settled by Scotch-Irish from Bedford and 
York counties, from the Kittatinny valley, from Virginia, and directly 
from Ireland ] and although Germans and other races have since come in, 
the descendants of the original settlers still predominate, and their in- 
fluence prevails in the manners and religious and literary institutions of 
the county. 

After the retreat of the French from Fort Duquesne, in 1758, the 
country was, to some extent, free for the entrance of traders and pioneers, 
but their principal attention was then directed to the more prominent 
points on the great rivers. It is possible that a few may have ventured 
across the Monongahela in the immediate neighborhood of Redstone Old 
Fort, (Brownsville,) which was built in 1759. After Pontiac's sanguinary 
war, in 1703, the western settlements enjoyed peace until the spring of 
1774. "During this period," says Mr. Doddridge, " the settlements in- 
creased with great rapidity along the whole extent of the western fron- 
tier. The settlements along the Monongahela commenced in the year 
1772, and in the succeeding year they reached the Ohio river. The shores 
of the Ohio, on the Virginia side, had a considerable population as early 
as the year 1774." 

In April of that year, Capt. Cresap, Daniel Greathouse, and others, 
without the least provocation, first murdered two Indians passing down 
the river, near Wheeling, in a canoe ; they then went down to an Indian 
encampment at the mouth of Captina creek, and killed several there ; 
and a few days afterwards went up with a party of 32 men and mur- 
dered, in cold blood, and under circumstances of most hypocritical 
treachery, another party of Indians at the mouth of Big Yellow creek, 
above Steubenville. These massacres were unquestionably the principal, 
if not the sole causes of "Lord Dunmore's war" of 1774. Although 
this massacre was not within the limits of Pennsylvania, yet, as it had an 
intimate connection with the history of Logan, the Cayuga chief, we ex- 
tract the following details from Rev. Joseph Doddridge's Notes. 

The ostensible object for raising the party under Greathouse, was that of defending the family 
of Baker, whose house was opposite to a large encampment of Indians, at the mouth of Big 
Yellow creek. The party were concealed in ambuscade, while their commander went over the 
river, under the mask of friendship, to the Indian camp, to ascertain their number ; while there, 
an Indian woman advised him to return home speedily, saying that the Indians were drinking, 
and angry on account of the murder of their people down the river, and might do him some 
mischief. On his return to his party he reported that the Indians were too strong for an open 
attack. He returned to Baker's and requested him to give any Indians who might come over, 
in the course of the day, as much rum as they might call for, and get as many of them drunk 
as he possibly could. The plan succeeded. Several Indian men, with two women, came over 
the river to Baker's, who had previously been in the habit of selling rum to the Indians. The 
men drank freely and became intoxicated. In this state they were all killed by Greathouse and 
a few of his party. I say a few of his party, for it is but justice to state, that not more than five 
or six of the whole number had any participation in the slaughter at the house. The rest pro- 
tested against it, as an atrocious murder. From their number, being by far the majority, they 
might have prevented the deed ; but alas ! they did not. A little Indian girl alone was saved 
from the slaughter, by the humanity of some one of the party, whose name is not now known. 

The Indians in the camps, hearing the firing at the house, sent a canoe with two men in it to 
inquire what had happened. These two Indians were both shot down, as soon as they landed 
on the beach. A second and larger canoe was then manned with a number of Indians in arms ; 
but in attempting to reach the shore, some distance below the house, were received by a well- 
directed fire trom the party, which killed the greater number of them, and compelled the 8ur> 



^60 Washington countv. 

Tivors to return. A great number of shots were exchanged across the rirer, but whhoirt damage 
to the white party ; not one of whom was even wounded. The Indian men who were murdered 
were all scalped. 

The woman who gave the friendly advice to the commander of the party, when in the Indian 
camp, Was amongst the slain at Baker's house. 

The massacres of the Indians at Captina and Yellow creek, comprehended the whole of the 
family of the famous, but unfortunate Logan, who, before these events, had been a lover of the 
whites, and a strenuous advocate for peace ; but in the conflict which followed them, by way of 
revenge for the death of his people, he became a brave and sanguinary chief. 

The apprehension of war Was soon realized. In a short time the Indians commenced hostili- 
ties along the whole extent of our frontiers. 

Lord Dunmore led his expedition beyond the Ohio, as far as the 
Scioto, where a treaty was made in Nov. 1 774, at Camp Charlotte. Lo- 
gan assented to the treaty, but, still indignant at the murder of his family, 
he refused to attend with the other chiefs at the camp of Dunmore. Ac- 
cording to the Indian usage, he sent his speech, with a belt of Wampum, 
by an interpreter, to be read at the treaty. (See page 408.) 

The period of the revolution, and the ten years immediately succeed- 
ing it, was rendered memorable along the Ohio valley by a series of san- 
guinary wars and partisan forays, often- as disastrous and as disgraceful 
to the whites as to the Indians. The principal scenes of these bloody 
transactions were beyond the limits of Pennsylvania, along the Ohio, 
Muskingum, and Scioto rivers ; yet their inevitable consequence was the 
constant intrusion of small parties of hostile Indians into the settlements 
of Pennsylvania, whose tracks were marked with fire, devastation, and 
blood. Mcintosh's campaign was in 1778; the Coshocton campaign 
against the Indian villages on the Muskingum, in 1780 ; the Moravian 
campaign in March, 1782 ; Crawford's disastrous, and to himself fatal, 
campaign, in May and June, 1782. After the peace with Great Britain, 
in 1783, a short interval of quiet was enjoyed until 1790, when the Indian 
depredations, incited, probably, by the British traders on the Lakes, had 
increased to such a degree, that Gen. Harmar was dispatched upon an- 
other expedition to destroy the Indian towns. This, and the subsequent 
campaign of Gen. St. Clair, were both alike disastrous to the whites. 
The more triumphant campaign of Gen. Wayne, in 1793-94, closed the 
frontier war with the treaty of Greenville, in Aug. 1795. The details of 
these campaigns, and of the astonishing feats of personal prowess, hair- 
breadth escapes, and murderous exploits of the Cresaps, the Wetzels, 
and other frontier men, belong more properly to the history of Virginia 
and Ohio. 

During the continuance of these wars the labors of the farms along 
the frontier were performed with danger and difficulty. The whole popu- 
lation huddled together in their little forts, and left the country with the 
appearance of a deserted region. Every settler was also a soldier, and 
their work was often carried on by parties, each of whom bore his rifle 
and his warlike equipments. These M'ere deposited in some central part 
of the field. A sentry was stationed on the fence, and on the least alarm 
the whole seized their arms. Among the scenes of those days the fol- 
lowing is related by a writer in the National Intelligencer, probably Wm. 
Darby, Esq., the distinguished geographer. 

" A child between six and seven years of age, I was removed by my parents, in Dec. 1781, 
io Washington co., about 5 miles west of where Washington borough now stands. Capt. Haw- 
kinet and several others were massacred within a few miles of our dwelling, (previous to th«' 



WASHINGTON COUNTY. 661 

Moravian campaign of 1762.) Though so young at the time, the circumstances were too start> 
ling not to make life.long impressions, and in fancy, I see her now, Martha Jolly, the beloved 
Bister of Henry, and who shared no slight heroism with her brother, as she rushed to our cabin 
to warn us of our danger, and to inform us that Henry with others had marched to the scene of 
blood. In three hours we were in Jacob Wolfs fort. Henry Jolly and a still younger brother 
"William, were both there in arms. Lewis Wetzel, Frank M'Guire, Jonathan Lane, and Henry 
Jolly, were the great champions of that bloody ground. True, there were many others as gallant 
and as brave, who shared their dangers, toils, and Watchings, among whom I ought to name Da- 
vid Jolly, still living in the vicinity of Hillsboro', Ohio." 

Another event of similar character was the attack on Rice's fort,* in 
Sept. 1782. Rev. Mr. Doddridge gives the following account of it. 

Three hundred Indians had besieged the fort at Wheeling, but were compelled to retire. To 
revenge this defeat they determined that 100 of their picked warriors should take some fort in 
the interior and massacre all its people. Rice's fort consisted of some cabins and a small block- 
house, and was, in dangerous times, the residence and place of refuge for twelve families of its 
immediate neighborhood. It was situated on Buffalo creek, about 12 or 15 miles from its junc- 
tion with the river Ohio. 

News of the plan adopted by the Indiana, was given by two white men, who had been made 
prisoners when lads, raised among the Indians and taken to war with them. These men desert- 
ed from them soon after their council at the close of the siege of Wheeling. The notice was in- 
deed but short, but it reached Rice's fort about half an hour before the commencement of the 
attack. The intelligence was brought by Mr. Jacob Miller, who received it at Dr. Moore's in 
the neighborhood of Washington. Making all speed home, he fortunately arrived in time to as- 
sist in the defence of the place. On receiving this news, the people of the fort felt assured that 
the blow was intended for them, and in this conjecture they were not mistaken. But little time 
was allowed them for preparation. 

The Indians had surrounded the place before they were discovered ; but they were still at some 
distance. When discovered, the alarm was given, on which every man ran to his cabin for his 
gun and took refuge in the blockhouse. The Indians, answering the alarm with a war-whoop 
from their whole line, commenced firing and running towards the fort from every direction. It 
Was evidently their intention to take the place by assault ; but the fire of the Indians was an- 
swered by that of six brave and skilful sharpshooters. This unexpected reception prevented the 
intended assault and made the Indians take refuge behind logs, stumps, and trees. The firing 
continued with httle intermission for about four hours. 

In the intervals of the firing the Indians frequently called out to the people of the fort, " Give 
up, give up, too many Indian, Indian too big. No kill." They were answered with defiance. 
" Come on, you cowards ; we are ready for you. Show us your yellow hides and we will make 
holes in them for you." 

During the evening, memy of the Indians, at some distance from the fort, amused themselves 

* " The reader will understand by this term, not only a place of defence, but the residence of a 
small number of families belonging to the same neighlwrhood. As the Indian mode of warfare 
was an indiscriminate slaughter of all ages, and both sexes, it was as requisite to provide for 
the safety of the women and children as for that of the men." 

" The fort consisted of cabins, blockhouses, and stockades. A range of cabins commonly form- 
ed one side at least of the fort. Divisions, or partitions of logs separated the cabins from each 
other. The walls on the outside were ten or twelve feet high, the slope of the roof being turned 
wholly inward. A very few of these cabins had puncheon floors, the greater part were earthen. 
The blockhouses were built at the angles of the fort. They projected about two feet beyond the 
outer walls of the cabins and stockades. Their upper stories were about eighteen inches every 
way larger in dimension than the under one, leaving an opening at the commencement of the 
second story to prevent the enemy from making a lodgment under their walls. In some forts, 
instead of blockhouses, the angles of the fort were famished with bastions. A large folding gate 
made of thick slabs, nearest the spring, closed the fort. The stockades, bastions, cabins, and 
blockhouse walls, were furnished with port-holes at proper heights and distances. The whole of 
the outside was made completely bullet-proof." 

" It may be truly said that necessity is the mother of invention ; for the whole of this work was 
made without the aid of a single nail or spike of iron ; zmd for this reason, such things were not 
to be had. In some places, less exposed, a single blockhouse, with a cabin or two, constituted 
the whole fort. Such places of refuge may appear very trifling to those who have been in the 
habit of seeing the formidable military garrisons of Europe and America ; but they answered the 
purpose, as the Indians had no artillery. They seldom attacked, jmd scarcely ever took one of 
them." — Doddridge's Notet. 



662 WASHINGTON COUNTY. 

by shooting the horses, cattle, hogs, and sheep, until the bottom was strewed with their dead 
bodies. 

About 10 o'clock at night the Indians set fire to a barn about 30 yards from the fort. The 
barn was large and full of grain and hay. The flame was frightful, and at first it seemed to en- 
danger the burning of the fort, but the barn stood t)n lower ground than the fort. The night was 
calm, with the exception of a slight breeze up the creek. This carried the flame and burning 
splinters in a different direction, so that the burning of the barn, which at first was regarded as 
a dangerous, if not fatal occurrence, proved in the issue the means of throwing a strong light to 
a great distance in every direction, so that the Indians durst not approach the forf to set fire to 
the cabins, which they might have done at little risk, under the cover of darkness. 

After the barn was set on fire, the Indians collected on the side of the fort opposite the barn, 
so as to have the advantage of the light, and kept up a pretty constant fire, which was as steadily 
answered by that of the fort, until about 2 o'clock, when the Indians left the place and made a 
hasty retreat. 

Thus was this little place defended by a Spartan band of six men, against 100 chosen war- 
riors, exasperated to madness by their failure at Wheeling fort. Their names shall be inscribed 
in the list of the heroes of our early times. They were Jacob Miller, George Lefler, Peter Ful* 
lenweidcr, Daniel Rice, George Felebaum, and Jacob Lefler, jun. George Felebaum was shot 
in the forehead, through a port-hole at the second fire of the Indians, and instantly expired, so 
that in reality the defence of the place was made by only five men. 

The loss of the Indians was four, three of whom were killed at the first fire from the fort, the 
other was killed about sundown. There can be no doubt but that a number more were killed and 
wounded in the engagement, but concealed or carried off. 

A large division of these Indians, on their retreat, passed within a httle distance of my father's 
forti In following their trail, a few days afterwards, I found a large poultice of chewed sassafras 
leaves. This is the dressing which the Indians usually apply to recent gunshot wounds. The 
poultice which I found having become too old and dry, was removed and replaced with a new one. 

Examples of personal bravery, and hairbreadth escapes, are always acceptable to readers of 
history. An instance of both of these happened during the attack on this fort, which may be 
worth recording. Abraham Rice, one of the principal men belonging to the fort, on hearing the 
report of the deserters from the Indians, mounted a strong active mare and rode to another fort, 
about three and a half miles distant, for further news. 

Just as he reached the place, he heard the report of the guns at his own fort. He instantly 
returned, until he arrived within sight of the fort. Finding that it still held out, he determined 
to reach it and assist in its defence, or perish in the attempt. In doing this, he had to cross the 
creek, the fort being some distance from it on the opposite bank. He saw no Indians until his 
mare sprang down the bank of the creek, at wliich instant, about 14 of them jumped up f:om 
among the weeds and bushes, and discharged their guns at him. One bullet wounded him in the 
fleshy part of the right arm above the elbow. By this time several more of the Indians came up 
and shot at him. A second ball wounded him in the thigh a little above the knee, but without 
breaking the bone ; the ball then passed transversely through the neck of the mare ; she, how- 
ever, sprang up the bank of the creek, fell to her knees and stumbled along about a rod before 
she recovered ; during this time several Indians came running up to tomahawk him. He made 
his escape after having about thirty shots fired at him from a very short distance. After riding 
about four miles, he reached Lamb's fort much exhausted with the loss of blood. After getting 
his wounds dressed and resting awhile, he set off" late in the evening with 12 men, determined if 
possible to reach the fort under cover of the night. When they got within about 200 yards of it 
they halted. The firing at the fort stiU continued. Ten Of the men thinking the enterprise too 
hazardous, refused to go any further, and retreated. Rice and two other men crept silently along 
towards the fort ; but had not proceeded far before they came close upon an Indian in his con- 
cealment. He gave the alarm yell, which Was instantly passed round the lines with the utmost 
regularity. This occasioned the Indians to make their last effort to take the place, and make 
their retreat under cover of the night. Rice and his twfl companions returned in safety to 
Lamb's fort. 

The whole region on the Monongahela, and west of it, was supposed 
to belong to Virginia, and was taken up under Virginia warrants, toma- 
hawk rights, and other usages of that province. Lord Dunmore firmly 
oelieved it to be within his jurisdiction, and even sent a party in 1774 to 
occupy Fort Pitt ; but the governor of Pennsylvania soon expelled the 
garrison, and extended his jurisdiction over this section of the province, 
as part of the county of Westmoreland. After this it became necessary 
for settlers to secure their titles under Pennsylvania. Under the head 



WASHINGTON COUNTY. 663 

of Fayette co., on page 337, will be found some interesting notes on the 
subject of taking up the land in this region. 

It is pleasing, after the revolting details of frontier warfare, to contem- 
plate the more peaceful and convivial scenes of the early pioneers, as 
drawn by the graphic pencil of Rev. Mr. Doddridge : 

For a long time after the first settlement of this country, the inhabitants in general married 
young. There was no distinction of rank, and very little of fortune. On these accounts the 
first impression of love resulted in marriage ; and a family establishment cost but a little labor, 
and nothing else. A description of a wedding from the beginning to the end wUl serve to show 
the manners of our forefathers, and mark the grade of civilization which has succeeded to their 
rude state of society in the course of a few years. At an early period, the practice of celebrating 
the marriage at the house of the bride began, and, it should seem, with great propriety. She also 
has the choice of the priest to perform the ceremony. 

A wedding engaged the attention of a whole neighborhood ; and the frolic was anticipated by 
old and young with eager expectation. This is not to be wondered at, when it is lold that a 
wedding was almost the only gathering which was not accompanied with the labor of reaping, 
log-roUmg, building a cabin, or plamiing some scout or campaign. 

In the morning of the wedding-day, the groom and his attendants assembled at the house of 
his father for the purpose of reaching the mansion of his bride by noon, which was the usual 
time for celebrating the nuptials, which for certain must take place before dinner. 

Let the reader imagine an assemblage of people, without a store, tailor, or mantuamaker, 
within a hundred miles ; and an assemblage of horses, without a blacksmith or saddler within 
an equal distance. The gentlemen dressed in shoe-packs, moccasins, leather breeches, leggins, 
linsey hunting-shirts, and all home-made. The ladies dressed in linsey petticoats, and linsey or 
linen bed-gowns, coarse shoes, stockings, handkerchiefs, and buckskin gloves, if any. If there 
were any buckles, rings, buttons, or ruffles, they were the refics of old times ; family pieces from 
parents or grand-parents. The horses were caparisoned with old saddles, old bridles or halters, 
and pack-saddles, with a bag or blanket thrown over them ; a rope or string as often constituted 
the girth, as a piece of leather. / 

The march, in double file, was often interrupted by the narrowness and obstructions of our 
horse-paths, as they were called, for we had no roads ; and these difficulties were often increased, 
sometimes by the good, and sometimes by the iU-will of neighbors, by falling trees, and tying 
grape-vines across the way. Sometimes an ambuscade was forniea by the wayside, and an un- 
expected discharge of several guns took place, so as to cover the wedding party with smoke. Let 
the reader imagine the scene which followed this discharge ; the sudden spring of the horses, the 
shrieks of the girls, and the chivalric bustle of their partners to save them from falling. Some- 
times, in spite of all that could be done to prevent it, some were thrown to the ground. If a 
K-rist, elbow, or ankle, happened to be sprained, it was tied with a handkerchief, and little more 
(vas thought or said about it. 

Another ceremony commonly took place before the party reached the house of the bride, after 
the practice of making whiskey began, which was at an early period ; when the party were about 
a mile from the place of their destination, two young men would single out to run for the bottle ; 
the worse the path, the more logs, brush, and deep hollows, the better, as these obstacles afforded 
an opportunity for the greater display of intrepidity and horsemanship. The English fox-chase, 
in point of danger to the riders and their horses, is nothing to this race for the bottle. The start 
was armounced by an Indian yell ; logs, brush, muddy hollows, hUl and glen, were speedily passed 
by the rival ponies. The bottle was always filled for the occasion, so that there was no use for 
judges ; for the first who reached the door was presented with the prize, with which he return- 
ed m triumph to the company. On approaching them, he announced his victory over his rivjJ 
by a shrill whoop. At the head of the troop, he gave the bottle first to the groom and his atten- 
dants, and then to each pair in succession to the rear of the line, giving each a dram ; and then 
putting the bottle in the bosom of his hunting-shirt, took his station in the company. 

The ceremony of the marriage preceded the dinner, which was a substantial backwoods feast 
of beef, pork, fowls, and sometimes venison and bear-meat, roasted and boiled, with plenty of po- 
tatoes. Cabbage, and other vegetables. During the dinner the greatest hilarity always prevailed, 
although the table might be a large slab of timber, hewed out with a broadaxe, supported by four 
sticks set in auger holes ; and the furniture, some old pewter dishes and plates ; the rest, wooden 
bowls and trenchers : a few pewter spoons, much battered about the edges, were to be seen at 
some tables. The rest were made of horns. If knives were scarce, the deficiency was made 
up by the scalping-knives, which were carried in sheaths suspended to the belt of the hunting- 
shirt 

After dinner the dancing commenced, and generally lasted till the next morning. The figures 
of the dances were three and four-handed reels, or square setts, and jigs. The commencement 
was always a squeire four, which was followed by what was called jigging it off ; that is, two of 



664 WASHINGTON COUNTY. 

the four would single out for a jig, and were followed by the remaining couple. The jigs were 
often accompanied with what was called cutting out ; that is, when either of the parties became 
tired of the dance, on intimation the place was supplied by some one of the company without 
any interruption of the dance. In this way a dance was often continued till the musician was 
heartily tired of his situation. Towards the latter part of the night, if any of the company, through 
weariness, attempted to conceal themselves, for the purpose of sleeping, they were hunted up, 
paraded on the floor, and the fiddler ordered to play " Hang out till to-morrow morning." 

About nine or ten o'clock, a deputation of the young ladies stole ofF the bride, and put her to 
bed. In doing this, it frequently happened that they had to ascend a ladder instead of a pair of 
stairs, leading from the dining and ball-room to the loft, the floor of which was made of clap, 
boards, lying loose and without nails. As the foot of the ladder was commonly behind the door, 
which was purposely opened for the occasion, and its rounds at the inner ends were well hung 
with huntmg-shirts, petticoats, and other articles of clothing, the candles being on the opposite 
side of the house, the exit of the bride was noticed but by few. This done, a deputation of 
young men in like rnanner stole oft" the groom, and placed him snugly by the side of his bride. 
The dance still continued ; and if seats happened to be scarce, which was often the case, every 
young man, when not engaged in the dance, was obliged to offer his lap as a seat for one of the 
girls ; and the offer was sure to be accepted. In the midst of this hilarity the bride and groom 
were not forgotten. Pretty late in the night, some one would remind the company that the new 
couple must stand in need of some refreshment ; black Betty, which was the name of the bottle, 
was called for, and sent up the ladder ; but sometimes black Betty did not go alone. I have 
many times seen as much bread, beef, pork, and cabbage, sent along with her, as would afford a 
good meal for half a dozen hungry men. The young couple were compelled to eat and drink, 
more or less, of whatever was offered them. 

It often happened that some neighbors or relations, not being asked to the wedding, took of- 
fence ; and the mode of revenge adopted by them on such occasions, was that of cutting off the 
manes, foretops, and tails of the horses of the wedding company. 

On returning to the infare, the order of procession, and the race for black Betty was the same 
as before. The feasting and dancing often lasted for several days, at the end of which the whole 
company were so exhausted with loss of sleep, that several days rest were requisite to fit them 
to return to their ordinary labors. 

Should I be asked why I have presented this unpleasant portrait of the rude manners of our 
forefathers — I in my turn would ask my reader, why are you pleased with the histories of the 
blood and carnage of battles ? Why are you delighted with the fictions of poetry, the novel, 
and romance ? I have related truth, and only truth, strange as it may seem. I have depicted a 
state of society and manners which are fast vanishing from the memory of man, with a view to 
give the youth of our coimtry a knowledge of the advantages of civilization, and to give con- 
tentment to the aged, by preventing them from saying " that former times were better than the 
present." 

Washington, the county seat, is a large and flourishing borough, situa- 
ted nearly in the centre of the county. It is pleasantly located on high 
ground, surrounded by a fertile country, and is noted for its salubrity. 
Population in 1840, 2,062. The courthouse, a new and splendid edi- 
fice, completed in 1842, does honor to the county. It is adorned with a 
Doric portico in front, and surmounted with an elegant cupola, upon the 
top of which is a statue of Washington. The churches are generally 
plain, unassuming edifices, pleasantly arranged on the outer skirts of the 
borough. There are the Presbyterian, Methodist, Episcopal, Protestant 
Methodist, Seceders, Baptist, Cumberland Presbyterian, German Lu- 
theran, and African Methodist. The citizens, generally descendants of 
the Scotch-Irish, are noted as an orderly, well-educated, and church-going 
people ; and the best evidence of this is the number and flourishiog state 
of the colleges, seminaries, and benevolent institutions of the town and 
its vicinity. Three great thoroughfares — the National road, the Glades 
road, and the Pittsburg and Washington turnpike — intersect each other 
here, and bring an immense amount of travel daily. Stages on the Na- 
tional road are rattling through the town at almost every hour. There 
is here a large steam woollen manufactory, owned and conducted by Mr. 
Hazlett, which is said to manufacture about 30,000 pounds of wool an- 



WASHINGTON COUNTY. 



665 



nually. The purchase of wool is a principal branch of the trade of the 
town. 

Washington College occupies an elevated site, on the eastern border of 
the borough. The building on the right in the annexed view, partially 




Washington College. 

hidden by the trees, was erected about the year 1821 ; that on the left 
about the year 1837. The latter contains the chapel, the halls and libra- 
ry rooms of the rival literary societies. There are three libraries con- 
nected with the college, containing about 3,000 volumes — together with 
a cabinet of minerals, shells, antiquities, and curiosities. Rev. Daniel 
M'Conaughy, D. D., is president, and Professor of Moral Science. The 
other chairs are well filled, and the schedule of studies is such as to place 
the college on a footing with the most respectable literary institutions of 
the east. A preparatory department is connected with the college. The 
institution contained in 1843, 78 students in the college proper; and 95 
in the "Classical and English departments," "select studies," and "art of 
teaching." There were 130 graduates from 1809 to 1830, among whom 
were many now eminent in public life; from 1830 to 1841, 129 grad- 
uates. 

Washington College was incorporated in the year 1806. It was en- 
grafted upon the Washington Academy, which had been incorporated as 
early as the year 1787, and endowed with 5,000 acres of land by the 
commonwealth. This appropriation, like many others of a similar na- 
ture, remained for years unproductive. In 1797 the legislature granted 
$3,000 to the academy " to complete the buildings for the institution," 
and also provided for the admission of not over ten indigent students, 
gratis, none of them to remain longer than two years. After the institu- 
tion became a college the legislature granted to it $5,000, payable in an- 
nual instalments, commencing with 1820. The number of students in 
1822 was 69, and the college was then considered as in a flourishing state 
by its friends ; but it afterwards languished, and for a time its operations 
were suspended. In the autumn of 1830 it was resuscitated under its 
present direction. By a vote of the trustees, a number of indigent and 
pious youth will be admitted without payment of tuition. 

84 



666 WASHINGTON COUNTY. 

The Washington Female Seminary was established about the year 
1836, commencing with 40 pupils, and the necessary accommodations for 
that number. In 1842, its catalogue numbered 147 ; and it has facilities 
for the instruction and personal accommodation of an increased number. 
Rev. Dr. M'Conaughy is president of the board of trustees. Miss Sarah 
R. Foster is the principal. The new building, erected expressly for th'j 
institution, contains a large hall, recitation rooms, and 40 lodging rooms. 
Five experienced teachers reside in the house. The grounds adjacent are 
tastefully laid off and ornamented, and sufficiently large for exercise and 
recreation. 

The existence and prosperity of such institutions reflects a bright lus- 
tre upon the taste and character of the citizens of the co. 

Catfish run is a small stream passing the southern boundary of the bo- 
rough. This name was derived from a half-breed hidian of that name, 
who had a wigwam on the run, and owned the surrounding land. Mr. 
Hoge, who was sheriff' of Cumberland co. at an early day, was occasion- 
ally out in this region on business, and, some traditions say, became pos- 
sessed of the land here in the settlement of legal claims against Catfish ; 
but his heirs, and others, think that he took up the land by " a tomahawk 
right." Mr. Hoge's two sons, John and William, subsequently came out 
from the Conococheague settlements in Franklin co., occupied the land, 
and laid out the town in 1782. The county was for a long time part of 
Ohio CO. in Virginia, and the old courthouse is said to have stood two 
miles west of Washington. The first court of the present Washington 
CO. was held in a stable, and the next in a log cabin in the lower part of 
the borough. The present courthouse is the third on that site. Judge 
Wilkeson of Buffalo, an early settler, says, in the American Pioneer — 

A more intelligent, virtuous, and resolute class of men never settled any country, than the first 
settlers of Western Pennsylvania ; and the women who shared their sufferings and sacrifices were 
no less worthy. Very many of the settlers in what are now Washington and Allegheny counties 
were professors of religion of the strictest sect of Seceders. At a very early period, a distinguished 
minister of that denomination, Mr. Henderson, was settled near Canonsburgh. It was common 
for families to ride from ten to fifteen miles to meeting. The young people regularly walked five 
or six miles, and in summer carried their stockings and shoes, if they had any, in their hands. I 
believe that no houses of worship were erected in the country until about 1790. Even in winter 
the meetings were held in the open air. A grove was selected, a log pulpit was erected, and logs 
furnished the audience with seats. Among the men who attended public worship in winter, ten 
were obliged to substitute a blanket or coverlet for a great coat, where one enjoyed the luxury of 
that article. So great was the destitution of comfortable clothing, that when the first court of 
Common Pleas was held in Catfish, now Washington, a highly respectable citizen, whose pres- 
ence was required as a magistrate, could not attend court without first borrowing a pair of leather 
breeches from an equally respectable neighbor who was summoned on the grand jury. The latter 
lent them, and, having no others, had to stay at home. This scarcity of clothing will not seem 
surprising when we consider the condition of the country at that time, and that most of tliese 
settlers brought but a scanty supply of clothing and bedding with them. Their stock could not 
be replenished until flax was grown and made into cloth. 

The labor of all the settlers was greatly interrupted by the Indian war. Although the older 
settlers had some sheep, yet their increase was slow, as the country abounded in wolves. It was 
therefore the work of time to secure a supply of wool. Deer-skin was a substitute for cloth for 
men and boys, but not for women and girls, although they were sometimes compelled to resort 
to it. The women had to spin and generally to weave all the cloth for their famifies ; and when 
the wife was feeble, and had a large family, her utmost efforts could not enable her to provide 
them with any thing like comfortable clothing. The wonder is — and I shall never cease to won- 
der — that they did not sink under their burdens. 

In 1777, Mr. David Bradford, who was afterwards conspicuous in the 
W]biskey rebellion, owned the first shingle-roof house in the place 



WASHINGTON COUNTY. 667 

Bradford fled down the Ohio river to Bayou Sara, to avoid arrest for his 
part in the Whiskey Insurrection. The following anecdote, received from 
one of the McLellan family, illustrates the peculiar state of feeling that 
prevailed in relation to the excise law^, and is an instance of nice distinc- 
tion between official and individual conduct : 

Mr. James McLellan, one of the early settlers, lived about three miles out of town at that time. 
Tom Spears, of Canonsburgh, a friend of his, who had been active in the rebellion, was closely 
pursued by the federal officers, and was in tlie habit of taking refuge at McLellan's house. Wm. 
McLellan, formerly sheriff of York co., was sent out here by the government with a troop of light- 
horse, to arrest offenders and enforce the excise law. The sheriff and one of his officers had 
called at James Mcl<ellan's on a friendly visit — both being of the same name, and old friends. 
They were sitting together over the bottle, when who should dash into the house but Tom Spears, 
in breathless haste, crying, " I've got clearof them at last !" His eye caught the officers in their 
uniform, and he thought it a gone case ; but the superior officer, Wm. McLellan, rose, and bade 
him be tranquil, saying, " You are perfectly safe, sir, — you are in the house of your friend, and 
So am I." The troop of horse soon galloped up in chase ; but Capt. McLellan gave the " right 
about," and they returned to town without their game. 

Among the early settlers in or near the place were Mr. Wilson, Mr. 
Carr, Mr. Darby the geographer's family, Mr. Leet, Mr. Moore, Rev. 
Dr. Brown, the first Presbyterian preacher, and now president of Jeffer- 
son College, and Dr. Murdock — many of whom are still living. In those 
early days no daily stages rattled along stone roads at the rate of ten 
miles an hour — no commodious Conestoga wagon, even, creaked along 
the national road with its three tons of goods — no steamboats came up 
from New Orleans in two or three weeks' passage — no whizzing iron 
horse dragged his hundreds of passengers, with frightful velocity, among 
the mountains of Cumberland. But let Mr. Doddridge tell the story : 

The acquisition of the indispensable articles of salt, iron, steel, and castings, presented great 
difficulties to the first settlers of the western country. They had no stores of any kind — no salt, 
iron, nor iron works ; nor had they money to make purchases where those articles could be ob- 
tained. Peltry and furs were their only resources before they had time to raise cattle and horses 
for sale in the Atlantic states. 

Every family collected what peltry and fur they could obtain throughout the year, for the pur- 
pose of sending them over the mountains for barter. In the fall of the year, after seeding time, 
every family formed an association with some of their neighbors for starting the little caravan. 
A master-driver was selected from among them, who was to be assisted by one or more young 
men and sometimes a boy or two. The horses were fitted out with pack-saddles, to the hinder 
part of which was fastened a pair of hobbles made of hickory withes. A bell and collar oma. 
mented his neck. The bags provided for the conveyance of the salt were filled with feed for the 
horses. On the journey, a part of this feed was left at convenient stages on the way down, to 
support the return of the caravan. Large wallets, well filled with bread, jirk, boiled ham, and 
cheese, furnished provision for the drivers. At night, after feeding, the horses (whether put il 
pasture or turned out into the woods) were hobbled, and the bells were opened. 

The barter for salt and iron was first made at Baltimore. Frederick, Hagerstown, Oldtown, 
and Fort Cumberland, in succession became the place ot exchange. Each horse carried two 
bushels of alum salt, weighing 84 lbs. the bushel. This, to be sure, was not a heavy load for the 
horses ; but it was enough, considering the scanty subsistence allowed them on the journey. Tha 
common price of a bushel of alum salt, at an early period, was a cow and calf ; and, until weights 
were introduced, the salt was measured into the half-bushel by hand, as lightly as possible. Nf 
one was permitted to walk heavily over the floor while the operation of measuring was going on. 

The following anecdote will serve to show how little the native sons of the forest knew of tha 
etiquette of the Atlantic cities : 

A neighbor of my father, some years after the settlement of the country, had collected a smab 
drove of cattle for the Baltimore market. Among the hands employed to drive them was one who 
never had seen any condition of society but that of woodsmen. At one of their lodging-places 
in the mountain, the landlord and his hired man, in the course of the night, stole two of the bells 
belonging to the drove, and hid them in a piece of woods. The drove had not gone far in the 
inornljig, before flic bells were missed ; and a detaehmcnt went back to recover them. The 
men were found reaping in the field of the landlord. They were accused of the theft, but they 
denied the charge. The torture of sweating according to the custom of that time — that is, of 



({68 WASHINGTON COUNTY. 

suspension by the arms pinioned behind their backs — brought a confession. The bells were pO 
cured, and hung around the necks of the thieves. In this condition they were driven on foot be 
fore the detachment, until they overtook the drove, which by this time had gone nine miles. A 
halt was called and a jury selected to try the culprits. They were condemned to receive a cer- 
tain number of lashes on the bare back from the hand of each drover. The man above alluded 
to was the owner of one of the bells. When it came to his turn to use the hickory, " Now, (says 
he to the thief,) you infernal scoundrel, I'll work your jacket nineteen to the dozen. Only think 
what a rascally figure I should make in the streets of Baltimore without a bell on my horse !" 
The man was in earnest. Having seen no horses used without bells, he thought they were requi- 
Bite in every situation. 

Canonsburgh is a pleasant town 7 miles north of Washington and 18 
from Pittsburg. It is surrounded by a fertile and highly cultivated coun- 
try. It was incorporated as a borough in Feb. 1802. Population in 
1840, 687. Among the first settlers here were Mr. Canon, who gave 
name to the place, Mr. Thomas Spears, Rev. Dr. McMillan, Rev. Mr, 
Henderson, and others; Ganon and SpeafS took a prominent part in the 
Whiskey Insurrection. 

From the first settlement of this vicinity the ordinances of the gospel 
were enjoyed to a considerable degree. The Rev. Dr. McMillan, justly 
called the father of the Presbyterian church here, settled in the county 
about the year 1773, and was for more than 50 years the pastor of the 
Chartier congregation, which he collected. With the commencement of 
his labors he began to lay the foundation of a literary institution at Can- 
onsburgh, and which, with the blessing of God, he intended should be a 
nursery for the church as well as the state; This was the first literary 
institution west of the mountains. It originated in a small log cabin, 
where the first Latin school was taught by the Hon. James Ross of Pitts- 
burg, under the patronage of Rev. Dr. McMillan. The number of stu- 
dents having increased, a comfortable stone building w^as erected in 1790. 
The Canonsburgh academy was then instituted, and respectable profes- 
sors were appointed in various departments. Here many of the most 
distinguished men in the western country received their education, 
although their names do not appear as graduates under the college 
charter. 

Jefferson College, in which the academy was merged, was chartered 
by the state, and regularly organized in 1802. The legislature at that 
time gt-anted to it $3,000, and afterwards $5,000 ; but it has been chiefly 
indebted to private benefactions, and the exertions of its friends, for its 
prosperit}^ The first president, after the act of incorporation, was Rev.^ 
Thomas Watson. Mr. Watson was a self-made man, but of extraordi- 
nary talents. He was poor in his youth, and attended the bar of the vil- 
lage tavern. During his leisure moments he picked up a knowledge of 
Latin : he was noticed and patronised by Judge Addison, Dr. McMillan, 
and others ; and was sent to Princeton College, where he was the first 
scholar in his class. He was elected president soon after he graduated ; 
but he lived only a year or two after entering upon the duties of the office. 
He was succeeded by the late Dr. Dunlap, who, after several years, re- 
signed, and was succeeded by Rev. Dr. Andrew Wylie : who was after, 
wards president of Washington College, and since of the Indiana Stato 
University. Dr. Wylie was succeeded by Rev. Mr. McMillan, since presi- 
dent of a college in Ohio ; and he was succeeded by Rev. Matthew Brown, 
D. D., still at the head of the institution, (in 1843.) In 1839, 618 had 
graduated at this college, of whom 309 were ministers of the gospel. 



WASHINGTON COUNTY. 



if69 



Number of students, in 1842, in the college proper, 149; irregulars 22; 
preparatory 37. 

The annexed view was taken from the post-office. The president's 
house is seen among the shrubbery, beyond the college buildings. The 




Jefferson College, at Canonshurg. 

building in the centre, which has been erected but a few years, contains 
the chapel, recitation rooms, refectory, halls for the literary societies, cab- 
inet of minerals and curiosities. The edifice on the left is the old col- 
lege building, containing 24 lodging-rooms. A valuable farm of 200 
acres is connected with the institution, affording facilities for reducing 
the expenses and promoting the health of the students. 

There is also at this place a Theological Seminary, under the direction 
of the Associate church. The building is large and commodious, con- 
taining a large hall, rooms for library, recitation, students' lodgings, &c. 
There are two professors, Rev. Dr. James Ramsey, and Rev. Thomas 
Berridge, A. M. There are also in the town two churches, the Associate 
and Associate Reformed. 

MoNONGAHELA CiTY, (lately Williamsport, and formerly Parkinson's 
Ferry,) is situated 18 miles east of Washington, on the left bank of the 
Monongahela, at the mouth of Pigeon creek. The town occupies a beau- 
tiful alluvial plain, gradually ascending from the river. Iron-ore, salt- 
Wells, and coal, for manufacturing purposes, and rich land for farming, 
abound in the vicinity. The Glades turnpike-road here crosses the river. 
The place was settled at an early day, being famous as a crossing-place ; 
and still more famous as the place where the insurgents held a great 
meeting, in 1794, during the Whiskey Insurrection. Until 1830 its ad- 
vantages appear to have been overlooked ; but since that time it has rap- 
idly increased. It contains two glass manufactories, two steam saw-mills, 
two steam carding-machines, and tnany mechanics' shops ; besides Meth- 



670 WASHINGTON COUNTY. 

odist, Presbyterian, Baptist, and Cumberland Presbyterian churches. Pop- 
ulation in 1840, 752. 

The other villages and boroughs of Washington county are Florence, 
a smart place on the Pittsburgh and Steubenville turnpike, 12 miles east 
of the latter — ^population about 270 ; Claysville, on the National road, 
10 miles west of Washington — population 292 ; Middleborough, 312 in- 
habitants ; West MmoLEBORoucH, 260 ; Greenfield, 264 ; West Alexan- 
dria, Hillsborough, Bentleyville, Amity, Mount Pleasant, Eldersville, 
Burgetstown, and other places of less note. 

Washington county took a leading part in the great Whiskey Insurrec- 
tion, of 1791-94. Gen. Hamilton, then secretary of the treasury, says — 
" This county uniformly distinguished its resistance by a more excessive 
spirit than had appeared in the other counties, and w^as chiefly instru- 
mental in kindling and keeping alive the flame." That part of the county 
contiguous to Mingo creek was justly entitled the cradle of the insurrec- 
tion.* 

The province of Pennsylvania, as early as 1756, had looked to the excise on ardent spirits for 
the means of sustaining its bills of credit. The original law, passed to continue only ten years, 
was from time to time continued, as necessities pressed upon the treasury. During the revolu 
tion, the law was generally evaded, in the west, by considering all spirits as for domestic use, 
such being excepted from excise ; but when the debts of the revolution began to press upon the 
states, they became more vigilant in the enforcement of the law. Opposition arose at once in 
the western counties. Liberty-poles were erected, and people, assembled in arms, chased off the 
officers appointed to enforce the law, tarred and feathered some of them, singed their wigs, cut 
off the tails of their horses, put coals in their boots, and compelled others to resign. " Their ob- 
ject was to compel a repeal of the law, but they had not the least idea of subverting the govern- 
ment." 

The pioneers of this region, descended as they were from the people of North Britain and Ire- 
land, had come very honestly by their love of whiskey ; and many of them had brought their 
hatred of an exciseman directly from the old country. The western insurgents followed, as they sup. 
posed, the recent example of the American revolution. The first attempt of the British parliament — 
the very cause of the revolution — had been an excise law. There was nothing at that day dis- 
reputable in either drinking or making whiskey. No temperance societies then existed : to drink 
whiskey was as common and honorable as to eat bread ; and the fame of " old Monongahela" 
was proverbial, both at the east and the west. Distilling was then esteemed as moral and re- 
spectable as any other business. It was early commenced, and extensively carried on, in West- 
ern Pennsylvania. There was neither home nor foreign market for rye, their principal crop ; the 
grain would not bear packing across the mountains. A horse could carry but four bushels ; but 
he could take the product of 24 bushels in the shape of alcohol. Whiskey, therefore, was the 
most important item of remittance, to pay for their salt, sugar, and iron. " The people had cul- 
tivated their land, for years, at the peril of their lives, with little or no protection from the federal 
government ; and when, by extraordinary efforts, they were enabled to raise a little more grain 
than their immediate wants required, they were met with a law restraining them in the liberty of 
doing what they pleased with the surplus. The people of Western Pennsylvania, therefore, re- 
garded a tax on whiskey in the same light as the citizens of Ohio would now regard a United 
States tax on lard, pork, or flour." 

It should be remembered also in this connection, that the new federal government was but re- 
cently organized ; its powers were but little understood in the west ; and the people of that sec- 
tion generally, for the previous twenty years, had been much more in the habit of opposing a 
foreign government, than of sustaining one of their own. 

The state excise law, after remaining for years a dead letter, was repealed, a circumstance not 
likely to incline the people to submit to a similar law passed by Congress on the 3d March, 1791, 
at the suggestion of Gen. Hamilton, secretary of the treasury. Tliis law laid an excise of four 

* The facts for this brief sketch have been derived principally from the following sources : — 
Hugh H Breckenridge's Incidents of the Western Insurrection ; William Findlay's History of 
the Insurrection ; Gen. Hamilton's official report, in the American State Papers ; a recent bio- 
graphical memoir of Judge Breckenridge, in the Southern Literary Messenger for Jan. 1 842; 
Judge Lobingeir's address, in 1842, before the temperance societies of Mount Pleasant; and a 
communication, by Judge Wilkeson of Buffalo, in the American Pioneer, May, 1843. Many 
passages from these works have been copied verbatim. 



WASHINGTON COUNTY. 671 

pence per gallon on all distilled spirits. The members from Western Penn., Smiley of Fayette, 
and Findley of Westmoreland, stoutly opposed the passage of the law, and on their return among 
their constituents loudly and openly disapproved of it. Albert Gallatin, then residing in Fayette 
•CO., also opposed the law by all constitutional methods. It was with some difficulty that any one 
could be found to accept the office of inspector in the western district on account of its unpopu- 
larity.* In this inflammatory state of the public mind, all that was necessary to kindle a blaze, 
was to apply the torch. 

The first public meeting was held at Redstone Old Fort, 27th July, 1791, where it was con- 
certed that county committees should meet at the four county seats of Fayette, Allegheny, West- 
moreland, and Washington. On the 23d Aug., the committee of Washington co. passed resolu- 
tions, and published them in the Pittsburg Gazette, to the effect that " any person who had ac- 
cepted or might accept an office under Congress, in order to carry the law into effect, should be 
considered inimical to the interests of the coimtry ; and recommending to the citizens of Wash- 
ington CO. to treat every person accepting such office with contempt, and absolutely to refuse all 
kind of communication or intercourse with him, and withhold from him all aid, support, or 
comfort." Delegates from the four counties met at Pittsburg 7th Sept., 1791, and passed severe 
resolutions against the law. These meetings, composed of influential citizens, served to give 
consistency to the opposition. 

On titli Sept. 1791, a party, armed and disguised, waylaid Robert Johnson, collector for Alle- 
gheny and Washington, near Pigeon creek, in Washington co., tarred and feathered him, cut off 
his hair, and took away his horse, leaving him to travel on foot in that mortifying condition. 
John Robertson, John Hamilton, and Thomas McComb, were proceeded against for the outrage, 
but Joseph Fox, the deputy-marshal, dared not serve the process ; and " if he had attempted it, 
believes he should not have returned alive." Clement Biddle was the chief-marshal. The man 
sent privately with the process, was seized, whipped, tarred and feathered, his money and horse 
taken from him — blindfolded, and tied in the woods, where he remained five hours. 

In Oct. 1791, an unhappy person named Wilson, who was in some measure disordered in his 
intellects, and affected to be, perhaps thought he was, an exciseman, and was making inquiry for 
distillers, was pursued by a party in disguise, taken out of his bed, and carried several miles to 
a blacksmith's shop. There they stripped off his clothes and burned them ; and having burned 
him with a hot iron in several places, they tarred and feathered him, and dismissed him, naked 
and wounded. The imhappy man conceived himself to be a martyr to the discharge of an im- 
portant duty. Not long afterward, one Roseberry was tarred and feathered for speaking in favor 
of the government. 

In Congress, 8th May, 1792, material modifications were made in the law, lightening the du- 
ty, allowing monthly payments, &c. 

In Aug. 1792, government succeeded in getting the use of Wm. Faulkner's house, a captain 
in the U. S. army, for an inspection office. He was threatened with scalping, tarring and feath- 
ering, and compelled to promise not to let his house for that purpose, and to publish his promise 
in the Pittsburg Gazette. The Pittsburg Gazette dared not refuse the publication of these no- 
tices. 

The president issued a proclamation 15th Sept. 1792, enjoining all persons to submit to the 
law, and desist from all unlawful proceedings. Government determined, 1st, to prosecute de- 
linquents ; 2d, to seize unexcised spirits on their way to market ; and 3d, to make no purchases 
for the army except of such spirits as had paid duty. 

In April, 1793, a party in disguise attacked in the night the house of Benjamin Wells, collec- 
tor in Fayette co., (at Connellsville ;) but he being from home, they broke open his house, threat- 
ened, terrified, and abused his family. Warrants were issued against the offenders by Judges 
Isaac Meason and James Findlay, but the sheriff refused to execute them; whereupon he was 
indicted. On the 22d Nov. they again attacked the house of Benjamin Wells in the night; 

* In order to allay opposition as far as possible. Gen. John Neville, a man of the most deserved 
popularity, was appointed [chief inspector] for Western Pennsylvania. He accepted the appoint- 
ment from a sense of duty to his country. He was one of the few men of great wealth, who 
had put his all at hazard for independence. At his own expense he raised and equipped a com- 
pany of soldiers, marched them to Boston, and placed them witii his son under the command of 
Gen. Washington. He was the brother-in-law to the distinguished Gen. Morgan, and father-in- 
law to Majors Craig and Kirkpatrick, officers highly respected in the western country. Besides 
Gen. Neville's claims as a soldier and a patriot, he had contributed greatly to relieve the suffer- 
ings of the settlers in his vicinity. He divided his last loaf with the needy ; and in a season of 
more than ordinary scarcity, as soon as his wheat was sufficiently matured to be converted into 
food, he opened his fields to those who were suffering with hunger. If any man could have ex- 
ecuted this odious law, Gen. Neville was that man. He entered upon the duties of his office, 
and appointed his deputies from among the most popular citizens. The first attempts, however, 
to enforce the law, were resisted. — Judge Wilkeson. 



672 WASHINGTON COUNTY 

They compelled him to surrender his commission and books, and required him to publish a leag- 
nation of his office ■within two weeks in the papers, on pain of havinj his house bamed. 

Notwithstanding these excesses, the law appeared during the latter part of 1793 to be rather 
gaining ground. Several principal distillers comphed, and others showed a disposition, but were 
restrained by fear. 

In Jan'y, 1794, farther violence commenced. Wm. Richmond, who had informed in the aSair 
of Wilson, the maniac,^ had his bam, grain, and hay burnt ; and Robert Strawhan, a comply- 
ing distiller, also had his bam burnt. James Baddoe, a complying distiller, had his still-house 
broken open ; balls were fired under the still, and parts of his grist-mill carried away. Wm. 
Coughran's still was destroyed; the saw of his saw.mill stolen, and his grist-mill greatly injured 
He was threatened, in a figurative but expressive note, with having his property burned, if he 
did not himself publish in the Pittsburg Gazette the wrongs already inflicted on him. 

In June, 1794, John Wells, the collector for Westmoreland, opened his office at the house of 
Philip Reagan, in that co. The house was at different times attacked in the ni^ht by armed 
men, who frequently fired on it ; but they were always repulsed by Reagan and Weils, and the 
office was maintained during the remainder of the month.* 

The office in Washington opened to receive the annual entries of stills, after repeated attempts 
was suppressed. At first the sign was pulled down. On the 6th of June, twelve persons, armed 
and painted black, broke into the house of John Lynn, where the office was kept, and. beguilmg 
him by a promise of safety to come down stairs, they seized and tied him, threatened to hang 
him, took him into the woods, cut off his hair, tarred and feathered him, and swore him never 
again to allow the use of his house for an office, never to disclose their names, and never again 
to aid the excise ; having done this, they bound him, naked, to a tree, and left him. He ex- 
tricated himself next morning. They afterwards pulled down part of his house, and compelled 
him to seek an asylum elsewhere. 

A term had come into popular use to designate the opposition to the excise law ; it was that 
of Tom the Tinker. It was not given by adversaries as a term of reproach, but assumed by the 
insurgents in disguise at an early period. " A certain John Holcroft," says Mr. Breckenridge, 
" was thought to have made the first apphcation of it at the attack on Wm. Coughran, whose 
stiU was cat to pieces. This was humorously called mending his stilL The menders of course 
must be tinkers, and the name collectively became Tom the Tinker." Advertisements were put 
up on trees, and other conspicuous places, with the signature of Tom the Tinker, threatening' in- 
dividuals, admonishing, or commanding them. Menacing letters with the same signature were 
sent to the Pittsburg Gazette, with orders to publish them — and the editor did not dare refuse. 
'• At Braddock's field the acclamation was, • Hurrah for Tom the Tinker 1' — ' Are you a Tom 

* Such is Findlay's and Hamilton's account. Judge Lobingeir, who has recently refreshed 
his recollections, by a conversation with Mr. Reagan, still Uving. gives the story more in detail, 
as fbUows : — The attack was made in the night by a numerous body of men. Reagan eij>ected 
them and had prepared himself with guns, and one or two men. The firing commenced from 
the house, and the assailants fired at it for some time, without effect on either side. The insur. 
gents then set fire to Reagan's bam, which thev bumed, and retired. In the course of a day or 
two, 150 men returned to renew the attack. After some parleying. Reagan, rather than shed 
blood, proposed to capitulate, provided thev would do it on honorable terms, and give him assur- 
ance that they would neither abuse his person, nor destroy his property ; and he would agree, on 
his part, to give up his commission, and never again act as an exciseman. These stipulations 
were agreed to, reduced to writing, and signed by the parties. Reagan then opened his door, 
and came out with a keg of whiskey and treated them. However, after the whiskey was drunk, 
some of them began to say that the old rascal was let off too easy, and that he ought to be set 
up as a target to be shot at. Some were for tarring and feathering him, but others took his part, 
and said he had acted manfully, and that after capitulating they were bound to treat him honor- 
ably. At length they got to fighting amongst themselves. After this it was proposed and carried, 
that Reagan should be court-martiaLlled. and that they would march off right away to Ben. WeUs, 
of Fayette co., the excise officer there, and catch him and try him and Reagan both together. 
They set out accordingly, taking Reagan along, but when they arrived at WeUs's house he was 
not there, so they set fire to it and burned it to the ground with all its contents. They left an 
ambush near the ruins, in order to seize Wells. Next morning he was taken, but during the 
night, as Reagan had escaped, and Wells was very submissive with them, they let him off with- 
out further molestation. 

The next attack was made on Capt. Webster, the excise officer tor Somerset county, by a 
company of about 150 men from Westmoreland. Thev took his commission from him, and made 
him promise never again to act as a collector of excise. An attempt was made by some of the 
party to fire his haystacks, but it was prevented by others. They marched homeward, taking 
Webster a few miles. Seeing him very submissive, they ordered him to mount a stump, and re- 
peat his promise never again to act as a collector of excise, and to hurrah three times tor Ton 
the Tinker, after wiiich they dismissed him. 



WASHINGTON COUNTY 673 

Tinker's man ?' Every man was willing to be thought so, and some had great trouble to wipe 
oft' imputations to the contrary." Mr. Fintllay says, " it afterwards appeared that the letters did 
not originate with Holcroft, though the inventor of them has never been discovered." 

In Congress, on the 5th June, 1794, the excise law was amended. Those, however, who de- 
sired not amendment, but absolute repeal, were thereby incited to push matters to a more violent 
crisis. It became indispensable for the government to meet the opposition with more decision. 
Process issued against a number of non-complying distillers in Fayette and Allegheny. Indict- 
ments were found against Robert Smilie and John McCulloch, rioters, and process issued ac- 
cordingly. 

It was cause of great and just complaint in the western counties, that the federal courts sat 
only on the eastern side of the mountains, and that individuals were subjected to ruinous ex- 
penses when forced to attend them. The processes, requiring the delinquent distillers to appear 
at Philadelphia, arrived in the west at the period of harvest, when small parties of men were 
likely to be assembled together in the fields. In Fayette county the marshal executed his pro- 
cesses without interruption, though under discouraging circumstances. In that county the most 
influential citizens and distillers had, at a meeting in the winter or spring previous, agreed to 
promote submission to the laws, on condition that a change should be made in the officers. 

In Allegheny, the marshal had successfully served all the processes except the last, when, un- 
fortunately, he went into Pittsburg. The next day, 15th July, 1794, he went in company with 
Gen. Neville, the inspector, to serve the last writ on a distiller named Miller, near Peter's creek. 
After the writ was served, a number of men from the harvest-field pursued the officers and fired 
upon them. Miller afterwards told H. H. Breckenridge, "that he was mad with passion when 
he reflected that being obliged to pay $250, and the expense of going to Philadelphia, would ruin 
him ; and his blood boiled at seeing Gen. Neville along, to pilot the officer to his very door." 

Early next morning, John Holcroft, the reputed Tom the Tinker, and about 36 others, ap- 
peared at Gen. Neville's house, (about seven miles southwest from Pittsburg.) Their conduct 
was suspicious ; they were fired on from the house, and after returning the fire, they were fired 
on from the negro houses adjoining. They retired with six wounded — one, Oliver Miller, mor- 
tally. The family received no injury. Gen. Neville was prepared, and had armed his negroes. 
Tiie next morning not less than 500 men, mostly armed, attended at Couch's fort, a few miles from 
Gen. Neville's house; many of them probably because they had not sufficient firmness to refuse, 
liev. Mr. Clark, a venerable clergyman, endeavored to dissuade tiicm from their purpose, but in 
vain. From Couch's fort they marched to Gen. Neville's house. Major James M'Farlane, who 
had been an officer in the revolution, of good standing and character, was appointed to com- 
mand the attack. 

On the other hand, Maj. Abraham Kirkpatrlck, with a detachment of 11 men, from the garri- 
son at Pittsburg, had arrived that morning, to assist Gen. Neville. The latter, when informed 
of the force coming against him, had prudently withdrawn to a place of concealm»nt, leaving 
his house in charge of his kinsman Kirkpatrlck. The females were permitted to retire before the 
attack was made. A deputation was sent from the Insurgents to demand the commission of the 
inspector ; they supposing that without the commission he would be compelled to cease from his 
official duties. The commission was refused. The attack commenced and continued but fifteen 
minutes, when it was thought a flag had been exhibited from the house ; on which Maj. McFar- 
lane stepped out from behind a tree, with a white handkerchief on the end of a stick. He was 
mortally wounded by a shot from the house. The attack was renewed with fury, and the prop- 
erty burnt down and destroyed. Maj. Kirkpatrlck was compelled by the fire to surrender, but 
no one was injured after the surrender. Judge Wllkeson says : " At about eight o'clock in the 
evening, I witnessed the commencement of the fire, at a distance of two miles, and saw the 
flames ascend from the burning houses, until the actors in the scene became visible in the in- 
creasing light. It was a painful sight, especially to those who had experienced the hospitality 
of the only fine mansion in the country, to see it destroyed by a lawless mob, and its inmates ex- 
posed to their fury. Even those who were opposed to the measures of the administration, and 
had countenanced resistance to the execution of the excise law, were overwhelmed by this ap- 
palling commencement of open insurrection." 

A meeting was held in the latter part of July, by the insurgents, at the Mingo Creek meeting, 
house. At this meeting, Messrs. Bradford, Parkinson, Cookj Marshall, and Breckenridge, whose 
names became so conspicuous afterwards, appeared on the scene publicly, for the first time. Da- 
vid Bradford was a rash and headstrong attorney, from Washington county. He openly advo- 
cated what had been done, and urged the necessity of unanimity. Breckenridge, whose object 
was to gain their confidence, that he might, under a disguise, eventually beguile them into mode- 
ration, seemed to countenance their conduct, but ventured to suggest that, though what they had 
done might be morally right, yet it was legally wrong ; and suggested the propriety of consult- 
ng their fellow-citizens. A meeting of delegates from the four counties was, therefore, re- 
commended at Parkinson's ferry, (now WlUlamsport, or Monongahela City,) on the 14th August. 

Soon after the Mingo meeting, Bradford and some of his hot-headed coadjutors caused the 
United States mail, from Pittsburg, to be robbed, near Greensburg, by a kinsman and namesake 

85 



674 WASHINGTON COUNTY. 

of Bradford, and a man named Mitchell, both of Washington county. They found therein let- 
ters from Gen. Gibson, Col. Presley Neville, (son of the inspector,) Mr. Bryson, and Mr. Edward 
Day, which gave great offence to the insurgents. The letter-writers were, in consequence, obliged 
to leave Pittsburg, by some circuitous route, or conceal themselves, that it might be given out 
publicly that they were gone. 

In the mean time, Bradford and others, without a semblance of authority, issued a circular, or 
order, to the colonels of militia in the western counties, requiring them to assemble in arms at 
Braddock's field, for the ostensible purpose of pulling down the inspector's office, and banishing 
the traitors from Pittsburg. This order was signed I. Canon, B. Parkinson, D. Bradford, A. 
Fulton, T. Speers, J. Lochry, J. Marshall. Strange to say, it was in many instances promptly 
obeyed : many, who despised it at heart, did not dare to disobey it. Bradford afterwards denied 
that he gave such an order. 

There were but three days between the date of the orders, and the time of assemblage ; yet a 
vast and excited multitude was brought together, many in companies, under arms. Some were 
well-disposed towards the government, but came for fear of being proscribed ; others as mere 
spectators — others, such as Hugh H. Breckenridge, and several from Pittsburg, to put themselves, 
if possible, under the mask of insurrection, at the head of the multitude, and restrain them, by 
organization and management, from proceeding to open outrage and rebellion. Great apprehen- 
sion was entertained that the insurgents might proceed to Pittsburg, and burn the town. The 
obnoxious persons had been banished, as if by authority, in deference to the demands of the Tom 
Tinker men ; and the Pittsburg delegation were careful to announce the fact at Braddock's field. 
Probably the majority of those assembled were secretly well disposed towards the government, 
but afraid to come out and avow it. Mr. Breckenridge thus describes the feeling that prevailed 
there, and throughout the western counties : " A breath in favor of the law was sufficient to ruin 
any man. It was considered as a badge of toryism. A clergyman was not thought orthodox in 
the pulpit, unless against the law. A physician was not capable of administering medicine, un- 
less his principles were right in this respect. A lawyer could have got no practice without at 
least concealing his sentiments, if for the law ; nor could a merchant at a country store get cus- 
tom. On the contrary, to talk against the law was the way to office and emolument. To go to 
the legislature or to congress, you must make a noise against it. It was the Shibboleth of safe- 
ty, and the ladder of ambition." 

It was proposed by Bradford to march and attack the garrison at Pittsburg ; but this was 
abandoned. Bradford now moved that the troops should go on to Pittsburg. " Yes," said 
Breckenridge, " by all means ; at least to give a proof that the strictest order can be observed, 
and no damage done. We will just march through, and, taking a turn, come out upon the plain, 
on the banks of the Monongahela ; and after taking a little whiskey with the inhabitants, the troops 
will embark, and cross the river." Officers having been appointed — Edward Cook, and Brad- 
ford, generals, and Col. Blakenay officer of the day — the insurgents marched in a bod}', by the 
Monongahela road, to Pittsburg. By the wily management of some of the Pittsburg gentlemen, 
the greater part of the company, after being diverted by a treat, were got across the Mononga- 
hela. A few, however, remained ; determined to bum Gen. Neville's house, in town, and Gen. 
Gibson's, and others. By the influence of Col. Cook, Marshall, and others of the insurgent par- 
ty, this outrage was prevented. Major Kirkpatrick's barn, across the river, was burned. If they 
had succeeded in burning two or three houses, the whole town must have been consumed. " The 
people," says Mr. Breckenridge, " were mad. It never came into my head to use force on the 
occasion. I thought it safest to give good words and good drink, rather than balls and powder. 
It cost me four barrels of old whiskey that day ; and I would rather spare that than a quart of 
blood." 

The meeting at Parkinson's ferry was composed of 260 delegates from the four western coun- 
ties — from Bedford, also, and from Ohio co. in Virginia. Many had been sent with a view to 
stem the current of disorder until it had time to cool down. This, however, was only to be ac- 
complished, as some thought, not by open opposition, but by covert management. Col. Cook was 
appointed chairman, and Albert Gallatin secretary. Gallatin, Breckenridge, and Judge Edgar 
of Washington co., took a prominent part in the discussions. The intemperate resolutions and 
treasonable plans of Bradford and Marshall were gradually softened down or explained away. 
The organic force of the insurrection was condensed into a committee of 60, one from each 
township ; and this committee was again represented by a standing executive committee of 12. 
The committee of 60 was to meet at Redstone Old Fort, on the 2d Sept. ; and the standing 3om- 
mittee were in the mean time to confer with the U. S. commissioners, whose arrival had been 
announced at Pittsburg. To gain time and restore quietness was the great object with Gallatin 
and his friends. " Mr. Gallatin," says Judge Wilkeson, " although a foreigner, who could with 
difficulty make himself understood in English, yet presented with great force the folly of past re- 
sistance, and the ruinous consequences to the country of the continuance of the insurrection. He 
urged that the government was bound to vindicate the laws, and that it would surely send an 
overwhelming force against them. He placed the subject in a new light, and showed the insur- 
rrxtion to be a much more serious affair than it had before appeared." 



WASHINGTON COUNTY. 675 

Breckenridge was actuated by the same motives, but he supported the measures In a different 
Vvay — often appearing to act with Bradford's party, and oppose Gallatin. Yet he always con- 
tributed to bring the proceedings to the same issue with the latter. 

The commissioners of the government proposed an amnesty, and certain favorable methods for 
adjusting delinquencies, on condition that the meeting at Redstone should declare their determi- 
nation to comply with the laws, and cease opposition and intimidation of others. 

On the 28th Aug. the committee of 60 met at Redstone. While they were collecting, the af- 
fair occurred with Samuel Jackson the Quaker, which has been described on page 344. Not- 
withstanding violent threats and denunciations had been circulated by Tom the Tinker against 
the twelve conferees, (the standing committee,) they all, except Bradford, recommended the ac- 
ceptance of the propositions of the commissioners. The meeting was opened by a long, sensible, 
and eloquent speech by Mr. Gallatin, in favor of law and order. Mr. Breckenridge now threw 
off his mask, and enforced and enlarged upon the arguments already advanced by Gallatin. 
Bradford, in opposition, let off a most intemperate harangue ; but when he found the vote, 34 to 
23, was against him, he retired in disgust. Afterwards, alleging that he was not supported by his 
friends, he signed the terms of submission, and advised others to do it. But this did not wipe out 
his offences. He was excepted from the amnesty, and when the army came he fled down the 
Mississippi into the Spanish territory. Judge Edgar summed up the argument foi" submission, 
and, by his pious and respectable character and his venerable appearance, won many over to his 
side. 

Such was the fear of the popular phrensy that it was with difficulty a vote could be had at this 
meeting. No one would vote by standing up. None would write a yea or nay, lest his hand- 
writing should be recognized. At last it was determined that yea and nay should be written by 
the secretary on the same pieces of paper, and be distributed, leaving each member to chew up 
or destroy one of the words, while he put the other in the box. 

This meeting virtually closed the insurrection. Although their propositions did not exactly 
meet the views of the commissioners, yet the existence of a decided majority on the side of law 
and order was here fully exposed. 

The commissioners — of whom Hon. James Ross, of Pittsburgh, was one — now put forth a test 
«f submission, to be subscribed individually by the citizens throughout the country. Only six 
days remained for signing this promise over a country containing 70,000 people and nearly as 
large as the state of Connecticut. Many came forward readily and signed, encouraged others, 
and associated for their defence. Tom the Tinker, with his men, refused outright, and threat- 
ened the signers with death, by which many were intimidated. Some came forward after the 
time was expired, soliciting, with tears, the privilege of signing. Many refused to sign, conscious 
of having done no wrong. The people of Fayette were of this class — though, at a meeting of 
citizens collectively, they passed resolutions tantamount to the test. 

On the whole, however, there were enough malcontents left to render it necessary, in the opin- 
ion of the president, to send forward the army which had been collected at the east. This army 
consisted of 15,000 men, and was composed of troops and volunteers from Maryland, Virginia, 
New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. Gov. Lee, of Virginia, had the chief command of the army. 
The other generals w«re Gov. Mifflin of Pennsylvania, Gov. Howell of New Jersey, Gen. Daniel 
Morgan, and Adj. Gen. Hand. Gen. Knox, Secretary of War, and Gen. Hamilton, Secretary of 
the Treasury, and Judge Peters of the U. S. Court, also went out to Pittsburg. The army ar- 
rived in November, but met with no opposition and shed no blood. At Pittsburg, a kind of in- 
quisitorial court was held at the quarters of the Secretary of the Treasury, in which testimony 
was taken against citizens denounced for treasonable acts or expressions. " Many of the inform- 
ers, influenced by prejudice, implicated those who had been guilty of no ofTence against the gov- 
ernment. After a few days spent in these " Star Chamber'''' proceedings, the dragoons were put 
in requisition, and officers sent with guides to arrest the ofTenders. Such of the proscribed as 
apprehended no danger were soon taken, and, without any intimation of the offence with which 
they stood charged, were carried to Pittsburg. Here many found acquaintances or influential 
friends, who interposed in their behalf and obtained their release. Others less fortunate were sent 
to Philadelphia for trial, where they were imprisoned for ten or twelve months without even an 
indictment being found against them." Only two or three were tried and convicted, and these 
were afterwards pardoned. 

The peculiar course which Mr. Breckenridge had taken placed him, for a time, in a very awk- 
ward predicament, as well as in per.sonal danger. He was denoimced to the goverrunent as hav- 
ing been one of the leaders of the insurrection. He had certainly taken an active part in the 
public meetings, and apparently acted with the insurgents. The turning point in his case was 
the quo animo, the motive for his peculiar conduct. Fortunately, his motives had been fully 
known, throughout his whole course, to Hon. James Ross, who explained his conduct to the Sec- 
retary of the Treasury. At the close of the examination the secretary. Gen. Hamilton, said to 
him, " In the course of yesterday I had uneasy feelings. I was Concerned for you as for a man 
»i talents. My impressions were unfavorable. You may have observed it. I now think it my 
4uty to inform you that not a single one remains. Had we listened to some people, I do not know 



676 WAYNE COUNTY. 

what might have been done. There is a side to your account. Your ccfnduct has been horribly 
misrepresented, owing to misconception. I will announce you in this point to Gen. Lee, who 
represents the Executive. You are in no personal danger. You will not be troubled even by a 
simple inquisition by the judge. What may be due to yourself with the public, is another ques- 
tion." (See page 88.) 

The army returned to their homes. Gen. Morgan was left with a few battaUons to preserve 
quiet during the winter. In the spring the military was withdrawn, order bad been fully restored^ 
the law was acquiesced in, and business resumed its wonted course 



WAYNE COUNTY. 

Wayne county was taken from Northampton co. by act of 21st March, 
1798, and its size was diminished by the formation of Pike co., in 1814, 
The ancient southern boundary was a straight line from Geo. M'Michael's 
farm on the Delaware, (below Coolbaughs,) to the mouth of Trout run^ 
on the Lehigh. This line now passes through Monroe co. The co. wa& 
named in honor of Gen. Anthony Wayne. Length 53 miles, breadth 22i ^ 
area 720 sq. miles. Population in 1800, 2,562 ; in 1810, 4,125 ; in 1820, 
(Pike off,) 4,127 ; in 1830, 7,663; in 1840, 11,848. 

A continuous upland, with a general elevation above tide of about 
1,600 feet, occupies the greater portion of the county, comprising the 
usual variety of surface peculiar to mountainous regions. This upland 
is indented with long narrow valleys. Moosic mountain rises above the 
upland about 600 feet, forming for some distance a barrier between 
Wayne and the adjacent counties on the west. Mount Ararat, of about 
equal height, continues the range towards the N. E. a short distance ; and 
beyond this, on the north, is the smaller eminence of Sugar Loaf. The 
inequalities of surface present no serious obstacle to agricultural opera- 
tions ; the slopes are generally gradual, and, with a few exceptions, every 
part is susceptible of cultivation. The greater part of the co. is yet 
overshadowed by its native forest, with interspersed patches of clearing ; 
and the citizens find their greatest source of wealth in the productions 
of this forest. The " open woods," without underbrush, afford pine, oak, 
chestnut, and hemlock ; the " beech woods" furnish cherry, white- wood, 
or poplar, bass, white pine, ash, maple, beech, and hemlock. It is esti- 
mated that 50,000,000 of feet of lumber annually descend the Delaware, 
of which Wayne county and two adjoining counties in New York furnish 
the greater portion. Much maple-sugar is also made in the county. 
Both the soil and climate are more congenial for grazing-farms than for 
corn and wheat ; but the latter are raised to some extent. Lakes are 
found in every township except Sterling. These elegant little sheets of 
water, clear as crystal, comprise from 50 to 300 acres each, and con- 
tribute much to the natural beauty of the landscape. Their outlets 
afford excellent mill sites. The Delaware river bounds the northeastern 
side of the co., receiving from it a number of small tributaries, of which 
the great Equinunk and Corkins' creek are the most important. The 
Delaware and Susquehanna rivers here approach within 10 miles of each 
other, and in wet seasons, the nearest sources of their small tributaries 
are said to form a complete union. The Lackawaxen, with its branches, 



WAYNE COUNTY. 677 

Dyberry, Middle cr., and Waullenpaupack, water the southeastern and 
central parts of the co. 

The great falls of the Wallenpaupack are of sufficient importance to merit a notice. From the 
head of the Wallenpaupack flats, the creek, after a previous rapid course, flows in a sinuoua 
channel for a distance of 15 miles with scarcely any sensible motion. Arrived at the head of 
the falls, the bed of the creek appears suddenly depressed, and forms a chasm, into which the 
water pours down a depth of near 70 feet, and then rushing furiously in a deep rocky channel, 
is precipitated over three successive cataracts within a distance of a mile and a half of the 
mouth of the creek, producing a total fall in that distance of 150 feet. The width of the creek 
above the falls is 70 feet. The site of the upper fall is improved by two saw-mills and a grist- 
mill, a short distance above which a wooden bridge crosses and connects the route of the Mil- 
ford and Owego turnpike road. The remains of Wilsonville, the ancient seat of justice of 
Wayne county, are situated near this place. But local policy has transferred the scene of public 
business to other places, and the creek is now the common boundary of Wayne and Pike co's. — 
Davis^s Sketches of Wayne co.* 

This CO. abounds in turnpikes. There are the Cochecten and Great 
Bend turnpike, incorporated 29th March, 1804 ; the Milford and Owego, 
incorporated 26th Jan., 1807 ; the Bethany and Dingman's Choice, incor- 
porated 2d April, 1811; the Belmont and Easton, incorporated 13th March, 
1812; Belmont and Oghquaga, incorporated 2Gth Feb., 1817; the Lu- 
zerne and Wayne co., incorporated 24th Feb., 1820. In addition to these 
facilities for locomotion, there are the natural descending highways of 
the rivers, and the Hudson and Del. canal, and the Honesdale and Car- 
bondale railroad. The route of the great New York and Erie railroad 
passes along the New York side of the Delaware river. 

Wayne co. is settled by people of all races, and from different sections 
of the country ; perhaps those from New York and New England pre- 
dominate. 

Concerning the early settlement of the co. little has been preserved. 
From its position, it fell of course within the territory so long in dispute 
between Connecticut and Pennsylvania ; and from a document still on 
file in Northampton co., it would appear that here was made the first 
actual attempt to settle under the Connecticut title. This document, 
dated 8th June, 1761, issued by William Allen, chief-justice of the pro- 
vince, orders the sheriff of Northampton co. to arrest Daniel Skinner, 
Timothy Skinner, Simon Corkins, John Smith, Jedediah Willis, James 
Adams, Irwin Evan, and others, for having intruded upon the Indian lands 
about Cushetunk. The warrant is endorsed, " Warrant to the sheriff of 
Northampton co., to take up such Connecticut men and others as have 
settled at Cushetunk, &c., without leave." Cushetunk was doubtless the 
Indian name from which the modern Cochecton is derived ; and the fact 
that Simon Corkins was one of the early settlers, leaves no doubt that 
this settlement was made about the mouth of Corkins' creek. Chapman 
states, in his history of Wyoming, that in the summer of 1757, the Dela- 
ware Co. commenced a settlement at Cushetunk, on the Delaware river; 
and again, that in 1760 the settlement contained thirty dwelling-houses, 
three large log-houses, a blockhouse for defence, one grist-mill, and one 
saw-mill. The settlers were driven off, but subsequently returned and 
penetrated further into the state, and took up the valley of Wyoming, 
where their history has been traced in letters of blood. 

* For the topography of this co. we are indebted to a sketch by the late Jacob S. Davis, Esq., 
who made a careful survey, with the intention of publishing separate maps of each townshif , 
for the guidance of the proprietors of land ; but the publication was never completed. 



678 WAYNE COUNTY. 

The north boundary line of the state was ascertained and fixed in December, 1774, by David 
Rittenhouse, on the part of Pennsylvania, and Samuel Holland, on the part of New York, who 
set a stone in a small island in the western or Mohawk branch of the Delaware, for the N. E. 
corner of Pennsylvania, marked with the letters and figures. New York, 1774, cut on the north 
side, and the letters and figures, Lat. 42°, Var. 4" 20', cut on the top of said stone ; and in a 
direction due west from thence, on the west side of the river, collected and placed a heap of 
stones at the water-mark, and proceeding further west four perches, planted another stone in the 
said line, marked with the letters and figures PENNSYLVANIA, Lat. 42°, Var. 4° 20', cut on 
the top. The rigor of the season prevented them from proceeding. The further prosecution of 
this business was deferred until 1786 and 1787, during which years the line was completed by 
Andrew Ellicot, on the part of Pennsylvania, and James Clinton and Simeon Dewitt, on the part 
of New York. The western line of this county was run in pursuance of an act passed April 
17, 1795. — Davis^s Sketches. 

Within the territory now forming Wayne co., there were in the year 
1800, but about 800 inhabitants, viz.: Buckingham 110, Canaan 183, 
Damascus 145, Mount Pleasant 188, and say one half of Palmyra 179 ; 
total, 805. The townships now in Pike co. were then, one half of Pal- 
myra, with 179 inhabitants, Lackawaxen 103, Delaware 380, Middle 
Smithfield 499, Upper Smithfield 585 — showing that the bulk of the popu- 
lation at that time was along the Delaware. 

HoNESDALE, which has recently been made the county seat, is situated 
on a level plain, at the confluence of the Dyberry with the Lackawaxen. 
It takes its name from Philip Hone, Esq., of New York, who richly mer- 
ited the honor by his early and efficient patronage of the Delaware and 
Hudson Canal. 

The town was first laid out about the year 1826, on the commencement 
of active operations at the upper termination of the canal. Previously 
the site had been covered by the primitive forest. It increased rapidly 
with the progress of the public improvements, and is now a beautiful 
village. It was incorporated as a borough 26th Jan., 1831. Population 
in 1840, 1,086. It is laid out with broad streets at right angles ; and 
there are none of those filthy alleys which disfigure some villages. The 
courthouse, erected in 1842, is surrounded by a spacious square, enclosed 
and adorned with shade-trees. Both public and private dwellings evince 
good taste in their construction. The latter are generally of wood, paint- 
ed white, with green blinds, and their gable ends turned to the street, af- 
ter the fashion of New England ; with their front-yards adorned with 
flowers and shrubbery, and shaded with trees. Every house seems to be 
a neat and pleasant home, which its inmates delight to embellish. The 
sidewalks are well protected with railings. Besides the county buildings, 
Honesdale contains Presbyterian, Episcopal, Methodist, Baptist, and Cath- 
olic churches. In the rear of the town, to the northeast, rises a high pre- 
cipitous hill, surmounted on two of its knobs with beetling cliffs, bearing 
the appearance of two fortresses commanding the valley below. Along 
the foot of this hill flows the Lackawaxen creek, turning several mills, a 
foundry, &c., in its course. In front of the village to the southeast, rises 
another hill, along the side of which passes the railroad from which the 
coal is conveniently discharged into the boats in the canal at the foot of 
the hill. The annexed view was taken from this hill. In the foreground 
is the railroad with its apparatus. Below it is seen the principal hotel — 
an excellent one, kept by Mr. Field in 1842 — and beyond are the court- 
house, churches, &c., with the fortress-like hill in the background. The 
dark object resembling a volcano in front of the hotel, is an immense 



WAYNE COUNTY. 



679 




Honesdale. 

heap of siftings accumulated by the coal company. In the busy season 
the company ships about 700 tons of coal per day. 

Maurice and John Wurts, in 1823 and 1825, obtained acts of incorporation, and succeeded in 
forming the Delaware and Hudson Canal Company. This company undertook and completed 
the Herculean task of constructing a railroad over the Moosic mountain, and a canal from Hones- 
dale to the Hudson river, thus connecting the Lackawanna coal field with the city of New York. 
The county was then a wilderness. In 1840 Carbondale contained a population of 2,398, and 
Honesdale of 1,086. The whole length of the canal and railroad is 123 miles ; and cost about 
^2,000,000, when first completed. From Honesdale the railroad extends up the valley of the 
West branch of Lackawaxen, and crossing near the mouth of Vanorba brook, continues in a 
western direction towards Rix's gap, where it crosses Moosic mountain and descends to Carbon- 
dale. Its length is 16 1-2 miles, overcoming an elevation and descent of 1,812 feet, or a summit 
of about 900 feet, by 8 inclined planes. On 5 of these planes stationary steam-engines are 
used ; the others are managed by gravitation and horse-power. A new route is now in progress 
which will obviate the use of many of the horses or mules. The Lackawaxen canal extends 25 
miles from Honesdale down the valley of that creek to its mouth, where it crosses the Delaware 
into New York, and takes the name of the Delaware and Hudson canal. From the mouth of 
the Lackawaxen to the Hudson at Rondout, near Kingston, (94 miles above New York city,) is 
about 92 miles. The canal and locks are adapted for boats of about 30 tons. The cost of min- 
mg and placing a ton of coal at Rondout by this route, including every thing except the profit to 
the company, was estimated, in 1840, at $3.82, and in 1841, at $3.50. 

Bethany, the seat of justice of the county until 1842, is situated three 
and a half miles north of Honesdale, on a commanding eminence which 
declines on every side except the north, and overlooks the adjacent coun- 
try for a considerable distance. It is a pretty village, distinguished for 
the taste displayed in many of the buildings. It contains a population 
of about 300, a Presbyterian church and an academy. About a mile 
and a half from Bethany are the extensive glassworks of Messrs. Greele 
& Taatz : they manufacture window-glass chiefly. 

Damascus and Stockport are small villages on the Delaware river. At 
the former a bridge crosses the river to Cochecton. 

The other villages of the co. are, Belmont, Centrevuxe, Clarksville, 

or Canaan Corners, Weymart, Pompton, Salem Corners, and Naglesville 

in the w^estern tier of townships, and Leonardsville on the canal. These 

villages contain each a church or two, some dozen or twenty houses, with 

. the usual stores and taverns to accommodate the surrounding country. 



680 WESTMORELAND COUNTY. 



WESTMORELAND COUNTY. 

Westmoreland county was taken from Bedford co. by the act of 26th 
Feb. 1773. It then included the whole of the southwestern corner of the 
state. Its length is at present 37 miles, breadth 29; area 1,004 sq. miles. 
The population in 1790 was 16,018; in 1800,22,726; in 1810, 26,492; in 
1820, 30,540 ; in 1830, 38,500; and in 1840, 42,699. 

The county is separated from Somerset and Cambria on the east by 
the lofty and well-defined range of Laurel hill ; parallel to this, is the 
lower range of Chestnut ridge ; and between them, the long and elevated 
Ligonier valley, about ten miles wide. West of Chestnut ridge the coun- 
ty assumes the surface common to all the western counties, that of an 
original table-land or inclined plane, scooped out into hills and valleys by 
the action of water. Near the larger streams the hills are higher and 
more precipitous ; between the sources of the smaller streams, they rise 
in gentle undulations, nicely suited to the purposes of agriculture. From 
the summit of Chestnut ridge the country seems to spread out into a vast 
verdant plain. The soil, except in the mountainous regions, is very fer- 
tile ; limestone and coal are accessible in nearly all parts of the county ; 
iron ore at several points. Along the Kiskiminetas and Allegheny rivers 
are some 20 or 30 salt-wells, generally in operation. (See Indiana co.) 
The county is abundantly watered. The Kiskiminetas flows along the 
northeast boundary ; the Yough'ogheny crosses the southwest corner. 
Tributary to these are the Loyalhanna, Big and Little Se widely, Jacob's 
creek, Turtle creek, Beaver Dam creek, and others of less note. There 
are one or two iron works, and a few other manufactories, but the pre- 
dominant pursuit of the inhabitants is agriculture. Wheat and live-stock 
are the principal articles of export. The county was originally settled 
by Irish and German emigrants, whose descendants still occupy the soil. 

The German population is gradually augmenting in numbers. Schools 
and churches are well patronized. The appearance of the farms exhibits 
the industrious and thriving character of the people. The Bedford and 
Pittsburg turnpike passes through the centre ; the Northern turnpike, be- 
tween Pittsburg and Blairsville, and another from Somerset, through Mt. 
Pleasant to Washington, also cross the county. 

It is said by Scott, in his Gazetteer, published in 1806, that "in Wheat- 
field township there is a remarkable mound, from which several antiques 
have been dug, consisting of a sort of stone serpent, five inches in diame- 
ter ; part of the entablature of a column — both rudely carved, in the form 
of diamonds and leaves ; an earthen urn with ashes ; and many others, 
of which we have no account. It is thought that it was the ruins of an 
ancient Indian temple." 

Previous to the year 1758, Westmoreland was a wilderness, trodden 
only by the wild beast, the savage, and an occasional white trader, or 
frontier-man. The access to the Forks of the Ohio, in those days, was 
either up the Juniata, and then by water down the Kiskiminetas, or by 
Braddock's road from Virginia, and thence down the Monongahela. The 
first opening through the wilderness of Westmoreland county was cut by 
Gen. Forbes's army, in 1758. The details of his march, as far as Bed- 



WESTMORELAND COUNTY. 681 

ford, are given on page 118. While the main body of the army was de- 
layed at Raystown, (Bedford,) Col. Bouquet pushed forward, in July, 
with 2,500 men towards Loyalhanna, cutting the road as he went. While 
on his way, he dispatched Maj. Grant, with 800 men, to reconnoitre Fort 
Duquesne. The disastrous issue of Grant's expedition is well known, 
(See page 76.) While Bouquet was still at Loyalhanna, in October, the 
French and Indians, in considerable force, attacked him, with vigor ; but 
he repulsed them, after a combat of some hours. A second attack was 
equally unsuccessful. Col. Bouquet's loss, in killed and wounded, amounted 
to 67. The intrenchment thrown up at this place, to secure the deposit 
of provisions for the army, was afterwards called Fort Ligonier. 

Col. Washington joined the advanced corps at Loyalhanna, in October ; 
and, with the temporary rank of brigadier, was advanced with a division 
to cut out the road still further — to throw up intrenchments for the secu- 
rity of provisions, and to keep out scouts and patrolling guards, to pre- 
vent surprise. His letters represent the party as " encountering every 
hardship that an advanced season, want of clothes, and a small stock of 
provisions" (jpuld expose them to. Gen. Forbes, with the main army, 
reached Loyalhanna late in October; and a council of war, called soon 
after, determined that it was not advisable to proceed further that sea- 
son. But on learning, through some prisoners taken by Col. Washington, 
the weak state of the garrison at Fort Duquesne, they resolved to pro- 
ceed; and the array took up its march from Loyalhanna about the 17th 
Nov. When they arrived at the Ohio, the French had abandoned the 
fort, and fled down the river. 

This road opened the way for numerous pioneers into this region ; but 
it was only safe for them to live under the protection of the forts. For 
five years they enjoyed comparative quiet and security ; but during Pon- 
tiac's war, in 1763, (see pages 28 and 314.) the Indians had invested Fort 
Pitt with a strong force, and, by attacking Fort Ligonier at the same 
time, had completely cut off all communication between Fort Pitt and 
the lower settlements. When the news reached Lord Amherst, then in 
command, CcJl. Bouquet, with two regiments of regulars, lately returned 
from Cuba in a shattered condition, was ordered to march to the relief 
of Fort Pitt, with a quantity of military stores and provisions. Fort Li- 
gonier had been bravely defended by Lieut. Blane and his resolute little 
garrison ; and the savages were repulsed. The following extract is con- 
densed from the historical account of Bouquet's expedition, published in 
Philadelphia, by William Bradford, in 1765, and more recently copied in- 
to Hazard's Register : — 

Twenty volunteers, all good woodsmen, had been sent to Ligonier from Bedford, and Bouquet 
also sent forward a party of 30 regulars, who succeeded in reaching the fort through a running 
fire from the enemy. Bouquet reached Ligonier near the close of July, left his wagons there, and 
proceeded only with the pack-horses. He was still without the least intelligence from Fort Pitt, 
so eflFectually had the frontier been scoured by the Indians. The latter had better intelligence, 
and no sooner learned the march of Bouquet than they broke up the siege of Fort Pitt, to way- 
lay the advancing regiments. The army moved forward. Before them lay a dangerous defile at 
Turtle creek, several miles in length, commanded the whole way by craggy hills. This defile he 
intended to have passed the ensuing night, by a forced march ; and with that intent, proposed to 
refresh the troops a short time during the day at Bushy run. 

When they came within half a mile of that place, about one in the afternoon, (August 5th, 
1763,) after a harassing march of 17 miles, and just as they were expecting to relax from their 
fatigue, they were suddenly attacked by the Lidians, on their advanced guard ; which being 
speedily and finnly supported, the enemy was beat off, and even pursued. But the flight of theaa 

86 



682 WESTMORELAND COUNTY. 

barbarians must often be considered as a part of the engagement, (if we may use the expression, 
rather than a dereliction of the field. The moment the pursuit ended, they returned with renew- 
ed vigor to the attack. Several other parties, who had been in ambush in some high grounds 
which lay along the flanks of the army, now started up at once, and falling with a resolution 
equal to that of their companions, galled our troops with a most obstinate fire. 

It was necessary to make a general charge with the whole line to dislodge them from these 
heights. This charge succeeded ; but still the success produced no decisive advantage ; for as 
soon as the savages were driven from one post, they still appeared on another, till by constant 
reinforcements they were at length able to surroimd the whole detachment, and attack the con- 
voy which had been left in the -rear. This manoeuvre obhged the mam body to fall back in order 
to protect it. The action, which grew every moment hotter and hotter, now became general. 
Our troops were attacked on every side ; the savages supported their spirit throughout ; but the 
steady behavior of the English troops, who were not thrown into the least confusion by the very 
discouraging nature of this service, in the end prevailed ; they repulsed the enemy, and drove 
them from all the posts with fixed bayonets. The engagement ended only with the day, having 
continued from one o'clock without any intermission. 

The ground on which the action ended, was not altogether inconvenient for an encampment. 
The convoy and the wounded were in the middle, and the troops, disposed in a circle, encom- 
passed the whole. In this manner, and with little repose, they passed an anxious night, obliged 
to the strictest vigilance by an enterprising enemy. 

At the first dawn of light the savages began to declare themselves all about the camp, at the 
distance of about 500 yards, by shouting and yelling in the most horrid manner. After this 
alarming preparative, they made several bold efforts to penetrate the camp. They were repulsed 
in every attempt, but by no means discouraged from new ones. Our troops igtTQ extremely fa- 
tigued with a long march, and with the equally long action of the preceding day ; and distressed 
by total want of water, much more intolerable than the enemy's fire. 

Tied to their convoy, thej' could not lose sight of it for a moment, without exposing, not only 
that, but their wounded men, to fall a prey to the savages. To move was impracticable. Many 
of the horses were lost, and many of the drivers, stupefied by their fears, hid themselves in the 
bushes, and were incapable of hearing or obeying orders. Their situation became extremely 
critical. The fate of Braddock was every moment before their eyes ; but they were more ably 
conducted. 

The commander was sensible that every thing depended upon bringing the savages to a close 
engagement, and to stand their ground when attacked. Their audacity, which had increased 
with their success, seemed favorable to this design. He endeavored, therefore, to increase their 
confidence as much as possible, and contrived the following stratagem. Our troops were posted 
on an eminence, and formed a circle round their convoy from the preceding night, which order 
they still retained. Col. Bouquet gave directions that two companies of his troops, who had 
been posted in the most advanced situations, should fall within the circle ; the troops on the 
right and left immediately opened their files, and filled up the vacant space, that they might seem 
to cover their retreat Another company of light infantry, with one of grenadiers, were ordered 
to lie in ambuscade, to support the first two companies of grenadiers, who moved on the feigned 
retreat, and were intended to begin the real attack. * 

The savages gave entirely into the snare. The thin line of troops, which took possession of 
lue ground which the two companies of light-foot had left, being brought in nearer to the centre 
of the circle, the Indians mistook those motions for a retreat, abandoned the woods which cov- 
ered them, hurried headlong on, and advancing with the most daring intrepidity, galled the Eng- 
lish troops with their heavy fire. But at the very moment when they thought themselves mas- 
ters of the camp, the first two companies sallying out from a part of the hill which could not be 
observed, fell furiously upon their right flank. The savages, though disappointed and exposed, 
preserved their recollection, and resolutely returned the fire. Then it was the superiority of com- 
bined strength and discipline appeared. On the second charge they could no longer sustain the 
irresistible shock of the regular troops, who rushing upon them, killed many, and put the rest to 
flight. 

At the instant when the savages betook themselves to flight, the other two companies, which 
had been ordered to support the first, rose from the ambuscade, marched to the enemy, smd gave 
them their full fire. T^is accomplished their defeat. The four companies, now united, did not 
give the enemy time to look behind them, but pursued them till they were totally dispersed. The 
other bodies of the savages attempted nothing. They were kept in awe, during the engagement, 
by the rest of the British troops, who were so posted, as to be ready to fall on them upon the 
least motion. 

The enemy lost about 60 men on this occasion, some of them their chief warriors. The Eng- 
lish lost about 50 men, and had about 60 wounded. The savages, thus signally defeated in all 
their attempts, began to retreat to their remote settlements, giving up their designs against Fort 
Pitt, at which place Col. Bouquet arrived safe with his convoy, four days after tlie action ; re 
ceiving no further molestation on the road than a few scattered shot from a flying enemy. 



WESTMORELAND COUNTY. 683 

The following graphic sketch of the burning of Hanna's town is from 
the Greensburg Argus of 1836 : 

About three miles from Greensburg, on the old road to New Alexandria, there stand two mod- 
em-built log tenements, to one of which a eign-post and a sign is appended, giving due notice 
that at the seven yellow stars, the wayfarer may partake of the good things of this world. Be- 
tween the tavern and the Indian gallows hill on the west, once stood Hanna's town, the first 
place west of the Allegheny mountains where justice was dispensed according to the legal forms 
by the white man. The county of Westmoreland was established by the provincial legislature 
on the 26th of Feb. 1773, and the courts directed to be held at Hanna's town. It consisted of 
about thirty habitations, some of them cabins, but most of them aspiring to the name of houses, 
having two stories, of hewed logs. There were a wooden courthouse and a jail of the like con- 
struction. A fort stockaded with logs, completed the civil and military arrangements of the 
town. The first prothonotary and clerk of the courts was Arthur St. Clair, Esq., afterwards 
general in the revolutionary army. Robert Hanna, Esq., was the first presiding justice in the 
courts; and the first Court of Common Pleas was held in April, 1773. Thomas Smith, Esq., 
afterwards one of the judges on the supreme bench, brought quarterly, from the east, the most 
abstruse learning of the profession, to puzzle the backwoods lawyers ; and it was here that Hugh 
Henry Breckenridge, afterwards also a judge on the supreme bench, made his debut, in the pro- 
fession which he afterwards illustrated and adorned by his genius and learning. The road first 
opened to Fort Pitt by Gen. Forbes and his army, passed through the town. The periodical re- 
turn of the court brought together a hardy, adventurous, frank, and open-hearted set of men from 
the Redstone, the Georges creek, the Yough'ogheny, the Monongahela, and the Catfish settle- 
ments, as well as from the region, now in its circumscribed limits, still called " Old Westmore- 
land." It may well be supposed that on such occasions, there was many an uproarious merry- 
making. Such men, when they occasionally met at courts, met joyously. But the plough has 
long since gone over the place of merry-making ; and no log or mound of earth remains to tell 
where justice had her scales. 

On the 13th July, 1782, a party of the townsfolk went to O'Connor's fields, about a mile and 
a half north of the village, to cut the harvest of Michael HufFuagle. * * * * The summer 
of '82 was a sorrowful one to the frontier inhabitants. The blood of many a family had sprink- 
led their own fields. The frontier northwest of the town was almost deserted ; the inhabitants 
had fled for safety and repose towards the Sewickly settlement. At this very time there were a 
number of families at Miller's station, about two miles south of the town. There was, therefore, 
little impediment to the Indians, either by way of resistance, or even of giving warning of their 
approach. When the reapers had cut down one field, one of the number who had crossed to the 
side next to the woods, returned in great alarm, and reported that he had seen a number of In- 
dians approaching. The whole reaping party ran for the town, each one intent upon his own 
safety. The scene which then presented itself may more readily be conceived than described. 
Fathers seeking for their wives and children, and children calling upon their parents and friends, 
and all hurrying in a state of consternation to the fort. Some criminals were confined in jail, 
the doors of which were thrown open. After some time it was proposed that some person should 
reconnoitre, and relieve them from uncertainty. Four young men, David Shaw, James Brison, 
and two others, with their rifles, started on foot through the highlands, between that and Crab- 
tree creek, pursuing a direct course towards O'Connor's fields ; whilst Capt. J , who happen- 
ed to be in the town, pursued a more circuitous route on horseback. 

The captain was the first to arrive at the fields, and his eye was not long in doubt, for the 
whole force of the savages was there mustered. He turned his horse to fly, but was observed 
and pursued. When he had proceeded a short distance, he met the four on foot — told them to fly 
for their lives — that the savages were coming in great force — that he would take a circuitous 
route and alarm the settlements. He went to Love's, where Frederick Beaver now lives, about 
a mUe and a quarter east of the town, and assisted the family to fly, taking Mrs. Love on the 
horse behind him. The four made all speed for the town, but the foremost Indians obtained sight 
of them, and gave them hot pursuit. By the time they had reached the Crab-tree creek, they 
could hear the distinct footfalls of their pursuers, and see the sunbeams glistening through the 
foliage of the trees upon their naked skins. When, however, they got into the mouth of the ra- 
vine that led up from the creek to the town, they felt almost secure. The Indians, wlio knew 
nothing of the previous alarm given to the town, and supposed that they would take it by sur- 
prise, did not fire, lest that might give notice of their approach ; this saved the lives of David 
Shaw and his companions. When they got to the top of the hill, the strong instinct of nature 
impelled Shaw to go first into the town, and see whether his kindred had gone into the fort, be- 
fore he entered it himself. As he reached his father's threshold and saw all within desolate, he 
turned and saw the savages, with their tufts of hair flying in the wind, and their brandished tom- 
ahawks, for they had emerged into the open space around the town, and commenced the war- 
whoop. He resolved to make one of them give his death halloo, and raising his rifle to his eye, 
his bullet whizzed true, for the stout savage at whom he aimed bounded into the air and fell up- 



684 WESTMORELAND COUNTY, 

on his face. Then, with the speed of an arrow, he fled for the fort, which he entered in safety. 
The Indians were exasperated when they found the town deserted, and after pillaging the houses, 
they set them on fire. Although a considerable part of the town was within rifle range of the 
fort, the whites did but little execution, being more intent on their own safety than solicitous 
about destroying the enemy. One savage, who had put on the military coat of one of the inhab- 
itants, paraded himself so ostentatiously that he was shat down. Except this one, and the one 
laid low by Shaw, there was no evidence of any other execution, but some human bones found 
among the ashes of one of the houses, where they, it was supposed, burnt those that were killed. 
There were not more than 14 or 15 rifles in the fort ; and a company having marched from the town 
some time before, in Lochry's ill-fated campaign, many of the most efficient men were absent ; not 
more than 20 or 25 remained. A maiden. Jennet Shaw, was killed in the fort; a child having 
jrun opposite the gate, in which there were some apertures through which a bullet from the In- 
dians occasionally whistled, she followed it, and as she stooped to pick it up, a bullet entered hcF 
bosom — she thus fell a victim to her kindness of heart. The savages, with their wild yells and 
hideous gesticulations, exulted as the flames spread, and looked like demoniacs rejoicing over the 
lost hopes of mortals. 

Soon after the arrival of the marauders, a large party of them was observed to break off", by what 
seemed concerted signals, and march towards Miller's station. At that place there had been a 
wedding the day before. Love is a delicate plant, but will take root in the midst of perils in 
gentle bosoms. A young couple, fugitives from the frontier, fell in love and were married. Among 

those who visited the bridal festivity, were Mrs. H and her two beautiful daughters, from 

the town. John Brownlee, who then owned what is now the fine farm of Frederick J. Cope, and 
his family, were also there. This individual was well known in frontier forage and scouting par- 
ties. His coiu-age, activity, generosity, and manly form, won for him among his associates, as 
they win everywhere, confidence and attachment. Many of the Indians were acquainted with 
his character, some of them probably had seen his person. There were in addition to the man- 
sion a number of cabins, rudely constructed, in which those families who had been driven from 
their homes resided. The station was generally called Miller's town. The bridal party were en- 
joying themselves in the principal mansion, without the least shadow of approaching danger. 
Some men were mowing in the meadow — people in the cabins were variously occupied — when 
suddenly the war-whoop, like a clap of thunder from a cloudless skv, broke upon their astonish- 
ed ears. The people in the cabins and those in the meadow, mostly made their escape. One 
incident always excites emotions in my bosom when I have heard it related. Many who fled 
took an east course, over the long steep hills which ascend towards Peter George's farm. One 
man was carrying his child, and assisting his mother in the flight, and when they got towards 
the top of the hill, the mother exclaimed they would be murdered, that the savages were gaining 
space upon them. The son and father put down and abandoned his child that he might more 
effectually assist his mother. Let those disposed to condemn, keep silence until the same strug- 
gle of nature takes place in their own bosotns. Perhaps he thought the savages would be more 
apt to spare the innocenceof infancy than the weakness of age. But most likely it was the instinct 
of feeling, and even a brave man had hardly time to think under such circumstances. At all 
events. Providence seemed to smile on the act, for at the dawn of the next morning, when the 
father returned to the cabin, he found his little innocent curled upon his bed, sound asleep, the 
only human thing left amidst the desolation. Let fathers appreciate his feelings : whether the 
Indians had found the child and took compassion on it, and carried it back, or whether the little 
creature had been unobserved, and when it became tired of its solitude, had wandered home 
through brush and over briers, will never be known. The latter supposition would seem most 
probable from being found in its own cabin and on its own bed. At the principal mansion, the 
j)arty were so agitated by the cries of women and children, mingling with the yell of the savage, 
that all were for a moment irresolute, and that moment sealed their fate. One young man of 
powerful frame grasped a child near him, which happened to be Brownlee's, and effected his es- 
cape. He was pursued by three or four savages. But his strength enabled him to gain slightly 
upon his followers, when he came to a rye-field, and taking advantage of a thick copse, which 
by a sudden turn intervened between him and them, he got on the fence and leaped far into the 
rye, where he lay down with the child. He heard the quick tread of the savages as they passed, 
and their slower steps as they returned, muttering their guttural disappointment. That man 
lived to an honored old age, but is now no more. Brownlee made his way to the door, having 
seized a rifle ; he saw however that it was a desperate game, but made a rush at some Indians 
who were entering the gate. The shrill clear voice of his wife, exclaiming, " Jack, will you 
leave me ?" instantly recalled him, and he sat down beside her at the door, yielding himself a 
wilUng victim. The party were made prisoners, including the bridegroom and bride, and several 

of the family of Miller, At this point of time, Capt. J was seen coming up the lane in 

full gallop. The Indians were certain of their prey, and the prisoners were dismayed at his rash- 
ness. Fortunately he noticed the peril in which he was placed in time to save himself. Eagerly 
bent upon giving warning to the people, his mind was so engrossed with that idea, that he did 
not see the enemy until he was within full gun-shot. When he did see them, and turned to fl> 



WESTMORELAND COUNTY. 685 

several bullets whistled by him, one of which cut his bridle-rein, but he escaped. When those 
of the marauders who had pursued the fugitives returned, and when they had safely secured their 
prisoners and loaded them with plunder, they commenced their retreat. 

Heavy were the hearts of the women and maidens as they were led into captivity. Who can 
tell the bitterness of their sorrow ? They looked, as they thought, for the last time upon the 
dear fields of their country, and of civilized life. They thought of their fathers, their husbands, 
their brothers, and, as their eyes streamed with tears, the cruelty and uncertainty which hung over 
their fate as prisoners of savages overwhelmed them in despair. They liad proceeded about half a 
mile, and 4 or 5 Indians near the group of prisoners in which was Brownlee were observed to ex- 
change rapid sentences among eadh other and look earnestly at him. Some of the prisoners had 
named him ; and, whether it was from that circumstance or because some of tlic Indians had 
recognized his person, it was evident that he was a doomed man. He stooped slightly to adjust 
his child on his back, which he carried in addition to the luggage which they had put on him ; 
and, as he did so, one of the Indians who had looked so earnestly at him stepped to him hastily 
and buried a tomahawk in his head. When he fell, the child was quickly dispatched by the same 
individual. One of the women captives screamed at this butchery, and the same bloody instru- 
ment and ferocious hand immediately ended her agony of spirit. God tempers the wind to the 
shorn lamb, and he enabled Mrs. Brownlee to bear that scene in speechless agony of wo. Their 
bodies were found the next day by the settlers, and interred where they fell. The spot is marked 
to this day in Mechling's field. As the shades of evening began to fall, the marauders met again 
on the plains of Hanna's town. They retired into the low grounds about the Crabtree creek, 
and there regaled themselves on what they had stolen. It was their intention to attack the fort 
the next morning before the dawn of day. 

At nightfall thirty yeomen, good and true, had assembled at George's farm, not far from Mil- 
ler's, determined to give, that night, what succor they could to the people in the fort. They set 
off for the town, each with his trusty rifle, some on horseback and some on foot. As soon as 
they came near the fort the greatest caution and circumspection was observed. Experienced 
woodsmen soon ascertained that the enemy was in the crab-tree bottom, and that they might enter 
the fort. Accordingly, they all marched to the gate, and were most joyfully welcomed by those 
within. After some consultation, it was the general opinion that the Indians intended to make 
an attack the next morning ; and, as there were but about 45 rifles in the fort, and about 55 or 
60 men, the contest was considered extremely doubtful, considering the great superiority of num- 
bers on the part of the savages. It became, therefore, a matter of the first importance to impress 
the enemy with a belief that large reinforcements were arriving; f'or that purpose the horses 
were mounted by active men and brought full trot over the bridge of plank that was across the 
ditch which surrounded the stockading. This was frequently repeated. Two old drums were 
found in the fort, which were new braced, and music on the fife and drum was kept occasionally 
going during the night. While marching and counter-marching, the bridge was frequently 
crossed on foot by the whole garrison. These measures had the desired effect. The military 
music from the fort, the trampling of the horses, and the marching over the bridge, were borne on 
the silence of night over the low lands of the crab-tree, and the sounds carried terror into the bo- 
soms of the cowardly savages. They feared the retribution which they deserved, and fled shortly 
after midnight in their stealthy and wolf-like habits. 300 Indians, and about 60 white savages 
in the shape of refugees, (as they werethen called,) crossed the crab-tree that day, with the in- 
tention of destroying Hanna's town and Miller's station. 

The next day a number of the whites pursued the trail as far as the Kiskiminetas without 
being able to overtake them. 

The little community, which had now no homes but what the fort supplied, looked out on the 
ruins of the town with the deepest sorrow. It had been to them the scene of heartfelt joys — em- 
bracing the intensity and tenderness of all which renders the domestic hearth and family altar 
sacred. By degrees they all sought themselves places where they might, like Noah's dove, find 
rest for the soles of their feet. The lots of the town, either by sale or abandonment, became 
merged in the adjoining farm ; and the labors of the husbandman soon effaced what time might 
have spared. Many a tall harvest have I seen growing upon the ground ; but never did I look 
upon its waving luxuriance without thinking of the severe trials, the patient fortitude, the high 
courage which characterized the early settlers. 

The prisoners were surrendered by the Indians to the British in Canada. The beauty and 

misfortune of the Misses H attracted attention ; and art English officer — perhaps moved by 

beauty in distress to love her for the dangers she had passed — wooed and won the fair and gentle 
Marian. After the peace of '83 the rest of the captives were delivered up, and returned to their 
country. 

Greensburg, the county seat, is situated on the Pittsburg and Bedford 
turnpike, 31 miles east from Pittsburg, in the midst of a fertile and well- 
cultivated country. It contains a very neat courthouse, jail, market- 



686 WESTMORELAND COUNTY. 

house, and public offices ; an academy, and German Reformed, Lutheran. 
Episcopal, Methodist, Presbyterian, and Covenanters churches. The 
town is situated on elevated ground, and compactly built ; the houses are 
principally of brick. 

Greensburg was laid out not long after the burning of Hanna's towrv 
It was incorporated as a borough in Feb. 1799. The original owners of 
the place were Gen. Wm. Jack, and Col. Christopher Trueby. The ven- 
erable Mr. McLellan, still living, about 90 years old. Judge Lobengeir, 
the Campbell family, and Dr. Postlethwaite, were early settlers in the 
town or its vicinity. The annexed view was taken from near the big 
spring north of the turnpike, about half a mile west of the town. 




Crreenshurg. 

Greensburg has been one of those tranquil places that furnish little 
of historical incident. Its growth has been gradual, corresponding to the 
progress of the surrounding agricultural region : having no manufactur- 
ing facilities, and in mercantile business obliged to compete with a num- 
ber of similar towns, it will probably not increase with great rapidity. 
Population in 1840, 800. The society of the place is said to be highly 
intelligent and moral. 

General Arthur St. Clair was interred in the Presbyterian churchyard. 
For years the spot where repose the ashes of this brave but unfortunate 
general, had been marked by nothing save thorns and thistles, which had 
profusely grown over it. In 1832 the Masonic fraternity placed what 
they modestly call " an humble monument" over the grave, with the fol< 
lowing inscriptions : 

On the South side. — The earthly remains of Major-General Arthur St. Clair, are deposited 
beneath this humble monument, which is erected to supply the place of a nobler one, due from 
his country. He died Aug. 31, 1818, in the 84th year of his age. 

On the North side. — This stone is erected over the remains of their departed brother, by mem- 
bers of the Masonic Society. 

A blank is left on one of the panels, on which it is intended to place a suitable inscription to 
the memory of the wife of the deceased, who lies buried by his side. 

Gen. St. Clair was born at Edinburgh, in Scotland, and accompanied the fleet under Admiral 
Boscawen to America in 1755. He was a lieutenant in the British army under Gen. Wolfe 
When the French war was closed, he had the command of Fort Ligonier assigned to him ; and 



WESTMORELAND COUNTY. 



687 




Gen. St. Clair's Monument, 

also received a grant of 1,000 acres of land in that vicinity, which he fancifully chose to lay out 
in the form of a circle. Here he settled, and was appointed to several civil offices under the gov 
emment of Pennsylvania. When the revolution commenced he embraced the American cause, 
and in Jan. 1776 was appointed to command a battalion of Pennsylvania militia. He was en- 
gaged in the expedition to Canada, and was second in command in the proposed attack on the 
British post at Trois Rivieres. He was afterwards in the battle of Trenton, and had the credit 
of suggesting the attack on the British at Princeton, which proved so fortunate. In Aug. 1776 
he was appointed a brigadier, and in P'eb. '77 major-general. He was the commanding officer at 
Ticonderoga when that post was invested by the British, and evacuated it July 6, 1777, with 
such secrecy that a considerable part of the public stores were safely conveyed away. Charges 
of cowardice, treachery, and incapacity were brought against him in consequence, but a court of 
inquiry honorably acquitted him. He afterwards joined the army under Gen. Greene, in the 
south, and at the close of the war returned to his former residence. In 1783 he was a member 
of the Executive Council of Pennsylvania, and the same year was elected president of the Cin- 
cinnati Society of that state. In 1785 he was elected to Congress, and in Feb. '87 was appoint- 
ed president of that body. In Oct. following he was appointed governor of the territory of the 
United States northwest of the Ohio, an office which he retained until Nov. 1803, when he was 
removed by Jefferson in consequence of the too free expression of his political opinions. He had 
previously, in 1790, been the unsuccessful candidate of the federal party, against Gen. Mifflin for 
the office of governor of Pennsylvania, under the new constitution. In 1791 he commanded an 
army against the Miami Indians, and was defeated on the 4th of Nov. with the loss of 6 or 700 
men. He was on that occasion worn down by a fever, but nevertheless exerted himself with a 
courage and presence of mind worthy of a better fate. He was borne on a litter to the different 
points of the battle-ground, and in tins condition directed the movements of the troops. On 
this occasion a portion of the citizens were loud in their erasures of his conduct ; but a commit- 
tee of inquiry of the House of Representatives acquitted him from blame. He resigned his com- 
mission as major-general in 1792. With the profuse liberality of a soldier, he became reduced 
in his old age to poverty, and resided in a dreary part of Westmoreland co., on Chestnut ridge, 
a little south of the turnpike. He applied to Congress for relief. His claims on the sympathy 
of his country were listened to with indifference, and admitted with reluctance. After a long 
suspense he obtained a pension, of $60 per month. He died Aug. 31st, 1818, in his 84th year. 

Mount Pleas.\nt is a smart and flourishing borough, on the Bedford 
and Washington turnpike, 10 miles south of Greensburg. As its name 
would indicate, it has an elevated site, from which is obtained a pictur- 
esque view of a beautiful country. It has Methodist, Presbyterian, Bap- 
tist, United Brethren, and Unionist churches, and there is a small Mennon- 
ist settlement in the vicinity. The place was started some thirty years 
since. The Messrs. Neal and McCredy were the original owners of the 



688 WYOMING COUNTY 

site. The central street has quite a lively, business-like air. Population 
554. 

New Alexandria is a large borough on the Northern turnpike, 10 miles 
northeast from Greensburg, and 8 from Blairsville. It contains 427 in- 
habitants. 

YouNGSTowN is on the Pittsburg and Bedford turnpike, 1 1 miles east of 
Greensburg, near the western base of Chestnut ridge. There are two 
churches in the place, Methodist and Lutheran. One mile east from this 
place stands the residence of Gen. St. Clair : and three miles north the 
former residence of Gov. Findley, now the residence of Mr. Geo. Lemer. 
Gov. Findley is still living in Philadelphia. Population 415. 

The other villages of the county are, Stewartsville, Jacksonville, Ad- 
AMSBURG, Grapeville, Ligonier, (pop. 294,) and Laughlinstown, all on the 
Pittsburg and Bedford turnpike : Robstown and Port Royal, on the 
Yough'ogheny. Salem Cross-roads, now a borough, (pop. 204,) and Mur- 
raysville, on the Northern turnpike ; and Pleasant Unity, on the Big Se- 
wickly, southeast of Greensburg. 



WYOMING COUNTY. 

Wyoming is a new county, taken from the northwestern part of Lu- 
zerne, by an act passed at the legislative session of 1841-42. Its boun- 
daries were somewhat modified by the act of 28th June, 1842. It forms 
an oblique parallelogram, 23 miles long by 15 wide ; containing an area 
of about 345 sq. miles. The southern boundary is a line running west 
from the Flat Rock Rifts, in the Susquehanna, about three miles below 
Buttermilk Falls. The eastern boundary is an irregular zig-zag line, 
commencing at Flat Rock Rifts, and pursuing a general course nearly N, 
N. E. with certain deviations, and terminating at the intersection of the 
Susquehanna co. line with the north fork of Tunkhannock cr. Population 
in 1840, as nearly as can be estimated, about 8,100. 

The county is exceedingly mountainous, being occupied principally by 
the main chain of the Allegheny mountain, here broken into a great 
number of isolated knobs and spurs, and spread out into broad and ele- 
vated table-lands. The scenery along the Susquehanna, where the river 
breaks through the mountains, or winds among the headlands, is magnifi- 
cent and sublime. The most prominent elevations are Bowman's moun- 
tain, Knob mountain, and Tunkhannock mountain, near Tunkhannock ; 
the latter forms a distinct range, running in a northeasterly direction. 
Big Mahoopeny, Mahoopeny, and Little Mahoopeny mountains, occupy 
the western portion of the county. The principal streams, besides the 
Susquehanna — which meanders diagonally through the co., from the north- 
western to the southeastern corner — are, Tuscarora, Meshoppen, Tunk- 
hannock, and Falls creeks, tributaries on the east side of the Susquehanna, 
and Big and Little Mahoopeny, and Bowman's creeks on the western side. 

All these streams abound in excellent mill sites. One of these sites is 
at Buttermilk Falls, on Falls cr., a view of which has been given under 
the head of Luzerne co., (page 428,) by mistake. The woollen factory 



WYOMING COUNTY. 689 

of Messrs. Sterling and Parker, on the Big Meshoppen cr., has been in 
operation several years, furnishing a market for wool, and manufacturing 
excellent cloths. 

Notwithstanding the mountainous character of this county, yet it con- 
tains much good land ; the soil of the alluvial bottoms along the Sus- 
quehanna and its tributary creeks, is very productive- and well adapted 
for grain. Of the high lands, on the hill slopes, a considerable portion 
may be cultivated, and they are particularly adapted for grass for dairy 
farms, and for the rearing of sheep. The mountains are covered with 
heavy forests of valuable timber — white pine, oak, chestnut, cherry, &c. ; 
and large quantities of lumber are annually taken to market. This has 
been an important branch of the industry of the citizens. 

The citizens of the county are descended from the New England stock, 
many of the early settlers having taken up land under the Connecticut 
title. 

Little has been recorded concerning the early history of this county. 
The early settlers were emigrants either directly from New England, or 
from the Wyoming valley, and took their lands under the Connecticut 
title. If any had settled here previous to the revolutionary war, they 
must have withdrawn into the lower valleys before Butler's terrific in- 
cursion in 1778. It is probable that some attempts had been made to 
settle along the Susquehanna in this vicinity before the revolution, from 
the fact that the Moravians of Wyalusing, who removed to the west in 
1772, complained of being annoyed by an increasing number of emi- 
grants from New England, who were taking land around them under 
Connecticut title. After the peace of Great Britain in 1783, and between 
that time and the year 1800, a great number of emigrants were en- 
couraged by the Susquehanna Company (of Connecticut) to occupy lands 
both in the Wyoming valley, and north of it, in what are now Bradford, 
Wyoming, and Susquehanna counties. Their object was, by an increase 
of able-bodied men in the colony, to intimidate the Pennsylvania claim- 
ants, and either force them to an abandonment of their claims, or to a 
compromise upon more favorable terms. 

Among the names of the earlier settlers in the co. we find those of 
Zebulon Marcy, who was settled at Tunkhannock in 1788, of Benjamin 
Slocum, also settled at or near Tunkhannock, and a Mr. Kilborn, who 
had a cabin near the Black-walnut bottom. John Nicholson, the great 
landholder, had caused a settlement to be made at an early day in the 
township which bears his name. 

In the spring of 1780, Major Van Campen and others were taken pris- 
oners at Fishing creek by a party of Indians. A desperate encounter 
took place between the parties near Little Tunkhannock cr., in this co., 
of which a full narrative is given on page 246. 

But the Indians were not the only persons who took white men prison- 
ers and brought them into these regions, as will appear by the following 
narrative, condensed from the letter of Col. Pickering to his son, which 
may be found in detail in Hazard's Register, Vol. 7. It should be re- 
marked, however, that few, if any of the ancestors of the present citi- 
zens of Wyoming and Luzerne were concerned in the affair, and the 
account is given merely as a specimen of the numerous contests connected 
with the land titles of this vicinity. 

87 



WYOMING COUNTY. 

When the county of Luzerne was established, in 1787, Col. Timothy Pickering-, formerly of 
Massachusetts, and aid-de-camp to Gen. Washington during the revolution, was sent as a com, 
missioner to organize the county, and reconcile the minds of the Wyoming people to the new 
jurisdiction of Pennsylvania. He assured the Connecticut settlers that he had strong reasons to 
express the opinion, that the legislature would pass a law to quiet them in their possessions 
" But," says Col. Pickering, "just as I was closing, a pretty shrewd man, John Jenkins, a major 
of their militia, the second leader in the interests of the Susquehanna Company, rose and said, 
' they had too often experienced the bad faith of Pennsylvania to place confidence in any new 
measure of its legislature, and that if they should enact a quieting law, they would repeal it as 
soon as the Connecticut settlers submitted, and were completely saddled with the laws of the 
state.' This was prophetic, but I had then no faith in the prophecy." " Their first leader, a 
man able, bold, and energetic, was [Col.] John Franklin, a native of Connecticut, and who was 
at this time consulting with the Susquehanna Company on the means of defeating the pacifisj 
measures of Pennsylvania." 

Col. Pickering was soon brought into collision with Franklin and his followers. Franklin 
made himself so active in opposing the jurisdiction of Pennsylvania, that Chief-justice McKean 
ordered his arrest by four resolute men. A scuffle ensued, in which Col. Pickering interfered, 
and advised them to place Franklin on a horse, with his legs tied together ; and in this condition 
he was carried to Philadelphia. This act of course exposed Col. Pickering to the vengeful re- 
sentment of Franklin's adherents. Col. Pickering had taken up his abode in the Wyoming val- 
ley, near Wilkesbarre, to show the confidence he had in the possibility and probability of quiet 
being restored. On the 26th June, 1788, at the dead of night, a party of armed men, with their 
faces blacked, broke into his bedroom, where his family was, pinioned his arms with a cord, and 
led him off up the Susquehanna. It was evident, from many circumstances, that their object 
was merely to make reprisals for Col. Franklin's imprisonment, and to endeavor to procure his 
release. They made no attempt upon Col. Pickering's life, and even in many instances appeared 
to show him that outward respect and care for his person which his rank in society might claim.; 
that is, so far as it was consistent with their ultimate design of forcing him to a compromise!' 
Thus, they advised him to bring his overcoat or blanket along, to guard against the cold, although 
it was in summer. When they crossed Lackawannock creek, one of the party carried him over on 
his back, instead of forcing him to wade, as they themselves did ; and when a deer was killed, 
a choice piece was selected by the leader, cooked, seasoned, and presented to Col. Pickering. 
Still he endured many indignities at their hands, and much personal suffering, incident to a march 
through the wilderness. At night they concealed themselves in wild glens, and during their 
march frequently crossed the river, to avoid pursuit. The second night they arrived at a log- 
house, near the western bank of the Susquehanna. Here the colonel was permitted to sleep on a 
bed, and found himself unpinioned. The next day, to avoid discovery, he was taken back from 
the river, about a mile, amid thunder and rain. The next day they crossed the river to the east- 
ern side, and followed up the bank. Col. Pickering had now discovered that two of the party 
were Gideon and Joseph Dudley, sons of a near neighbor of his ; there were also two brothers 
by the name of Earl, and two more by the name of Kilborn, who had a house near Black- walnut 
bottom. There was also one Cady, whom the colonel represents as a very bad character. 

Having halted in a sequestered place, back from the river, they fastened an iron band, with a 
chain attached to it, round the colonel's ankle, and attached the other end of the chain, by a 
staple, to a tree. Col. Franklin, they said, had been put in irons at Philadelphia ; and they must 
put irons on Col. Pickering, although it was not agreeable to them to do it — " but their great men 
required it." At night one of the party had the chain attached to his own ankle, so that the col- 
onel could not attempt an escape without awaking him. " But," says Col. Pickering, " I had 
determined not to make the attempt ; for I soon considered my life was not in danger, and I ex- 
pected them to grow weary of their enterprise. So I patiently endured present atfliction. Be- 
sides, if I escaped they could take me again, unless I quitted the country ; which was the precise 
object of the outrage — to get rid of me." " After breakfast one of them went down to a house, 
by the river, and returned in haste, to tell his comrades that ' the Boys' and the militia had met, 
and that in the battle Capt. Ross of the militia, (since Gen. William Ross, of Wilkesbarre,) had 
been wounded" — as they thought mortally, but it proved not to be fatal. This affair occurred 
near Black- walnut bottom, about 16 miles above Tunkhannock. The next day," says the colo- 
nel, " we crossed to the western side of the river, and passed through a thick wood, to the house 
of one Kilborn, father to two of the party. There we lodged, and the next morning pushed back 
into the woods, about four miles from the river. This was the third and last station." The 
party were now becoming tired of their enterprise, and aware of its danger. They had made 
frequent overtures to the colonel, on the march, wishing him to intercede with the executive 
council for the discharge of Col. Franklin. His reply on the first day had been — " The execu- 
tive council better understand their duty than to discharge a traitor to procure the release of an 
innocent man." This enraged them, and one of them had well-nigh tomahawked the colonel, 
but was prevented. This demand was frequently made, but as often resolutely refused. " Will 
you intercede for our pardon ?" said they. He replied, " While I have been in your hands, you 



YORK COUNTY. 0^1 

have told me of your ' great men,' and that you have been acting in obedience tc their orders. 
By them you have been misled and deceived. Give me their names, and I have no doubt of ob- 
taining your pardon." But this they would never do. After an imprisonment of nineteen days, dur- 
ing ten of which he had worn the chain ; after sleeping night after night in the woods, with no 
appliances for repose but a stone pillow, and a shelter of boughs ; after living upon a scanty al- 
lowance of salt pork, venison, and corn-bread, and wintcr-green tea, without a razor for his beard 
or a change of linen, the colonel was released, on his own terms — which were merely that he 
would write a petition for them to the executive council, and take it himself to Wilkesbarre, and 
send it to Philadelphia. The party had thoroughly relented, and were aware of the extremely 
treasonable and hazardous nature of the enterprise. The colonel found shelter, for a night, at 
the hospitable dwelling of Zebulon Marcy, at Tunkhannock ; and soon returned to his anxious 
family. 

The offenders fled to the state of New York ; but a part of them were met by a company of 
militia under Capt. Roswell Franklin : shots were exchanged, and Joseph Dudley, one of the 
offenders, was badly wounded. He was taken home in a canoe to Wilkesbarre, where, as it hap- 
pened. Col. Pickering furnished medicine for his relief, and when he died, a few days afterward, 
his friends sent to Mrs. Pickering to beg a winding-sheet, which she gave them. 

Tunkhannock, the county seat, is situated on the left bank of the Sus- 
quehanna, just above the mouth of Tunkannock creek, and 28 miles 
north of Wilkesbarre. The scenery around the town is very picturesque. 
Triangle hill, a lofty spur of Tunkhannock mountain, here rises to the 
height of 650 feet above the river, and immediately opposite to it is an- 
other towering knob 1,150 feet high. The place contains two or three 
churches, and the public buildings of the county. The population of the 
village is not given in the census: that of the township in 1830 was 
1,039; and in 1840, 1,933. Appropriate ceremonies were observed when 
the town was first invested with the honors of the seat of justice. The 
stakes for the new courthouse were set on the 25th May, 1842, upon two 
acres of land presented to the county by Thomas T. Slocum, Esq. " The citi- 
zens collected were addressed in an eloquent speech by Mr. Headly, one 
of the commissioners, followed by Col. H. B. Wright, in a short address 
in his usual happy style." A considerable business is done here with the 
Tunkhannock valley, which is thickly settled. A great quantity of lum- 
ber is sent annually from this valley, and that of Meshoppen cr. The 
North Branch canal, when completed, will pass through the place. 

At Buttermilk Falls, a small village has grown up since the com- 
mencement of the North Branch canal. The immense water-power 
here, which now belongs to the heirs of the late Jacob Sigler, will, when 
properly improved, give impetus to a large manufacturing business. (See 
page 428.) 



YORK COUNTY. 

York county was separated from Lancaster by the act of 9th August, 
1749. Its limits were curtailed by the separation of Adams co. in Jan. 
1800. Length 31 miles, breadth 29 ; area 900 square miles. Population 
m 1790, 37,747; in 1800, (Adams co. off,) 25,643; in 1810,31,938; in 
1820, 38,759 ; in 1830, 42,859 ; in 1840, 47,010. 

The surface of the county, though not mountainous, is generally hilly : 
the South mountain, here broken into many irregular spurs, lies near the 



692 YORK COUNTY. 

northwestern boundary ; the Conewago hills, a branch of the South 
mountain, cross the co. near York Haven ; the Pigeon hills rise in the 
western part of the co. ; and the southeastern corner is occupied by a 
chain of slaty and sandstone hills. Among these latter hills are the 
" York Ban-ens," a name given to the slaty lands here, not on account of 
their want of fertility, but from the circumstance that the original settlers 
found immense tracts entirely denuded of timber by the annual fires, 
kindled by the Indians for the purpose of improving their hunting-ground. 
A strip of limestone, six or seven miles wide, crosses the co. about the 
centre from northeast to southwest. This tract is covered with rich 
farms, which have been brought into an admirable state of cultivation 
by the German farmers. Deposits of iron ore are found in several toAvn- 
ships, particularly in Windsor, and Upper and Lower Chanceford. There 
are two furnaces and four forges in the county. Indications of copper 
exist in a number of places, and particles of gold have been found, bat 
all efforts to find any valuable deposits of these two metals have proved 
hitherto delusive. Roofing-slate has been obtained from the quarries in 
Peach-bottom township. 

This county is finely watered : the Susquehanna flows for more than 
fifty miles along the northeastern boundary, and its natural facilities for 
navigation are improved by the Pennsylvania and Tidewater canals, and 
a canal around Conewago falls. Conewago cr., a large stream with its 
branches, drains the northern portion of the co. ; Codorus cr., improved 
by slackwater navigation, flows through the centre, past York, and Mud- 
dy cr. drains the southeastern section. These streams, flowing through 
a hilly country, furnish an abundance of mill-sites. The German race 
and German language predominate throughout the centre of the co. ; the 
descendants of the Scotch-Irish occupy the region of the Barrens ; and 
the descendants of the original Quaker settlers from Chester co. are found 
about Wrightstown, and in the northern corner of the co. All these three 
classes have inherited the industrious and thrifty habits of their fathers. 
Farming is their principal employment, and they find for their products 
a convenient market at Baltimore, which they may reach by means of 
the canals mentioned above, or by the York and Baltimore railroad. By 
means of the York and Columbia railroad, a communication is also open- 
ed with Philadelphia. Several excellent turnpikes cross the co., among 
which are, one from Columbia through York to Chambersburg, the Balti- 
more and Carlisle turnpike, and the York and Harrisburg turnpike. 

The territory west of the Susquehanna, now comprising York and 
several neighboring counties, was first purchased from the Indians on ac- 
count of Wm. Penn, by Gov. Dongan. of New York, who transferred it 
to Penn in 1796. This deed was confirmed to Penn in 1700 by " Widagh 
and Addagyjunkquagh, kings or sachems of the Susquehanna Indians." 
As these deeds, however, only conveyed " the Susquehanna river, and 
lands next adjoining the same," and as the Conestoga Indians were 
offended at the sale, and would not acknowledge its validity, Penn and 
his successors did not consider the Indian title, particularly to lands west 
of the river, as fully extinguished. In 1736, with the approbation of the 
grand council of Onondaga, the Six Nations conveyed to the proprietaries 
all the lands as far up as the Kittatinny mountains, and west of the Sus- 
quehanna " as far as the setting sun," 



YORK COUNTY. 593 

Several years previous, however, to this purchase of 1736, even before 
the death of Wm. Penn, in 1718, the violent disputes between the proprie- 
tors of Pennsylvania and those of Maryland had commenced in regard 
to the boundary line. It was not the practice of the proprietors of Penn- 
sylvania to permit settlements or surveys to be made on any lands until 
the Indian title was fully and indisputably extinguished. The proprieta- 
ries of Maryland, on the other hand, were mainly intent upon securing a 
boundary further north than has since been allowed, and cared as little 
for the rights of the Indians as for the jurisdiction of Pennsylvania. 
They therefore encouraged a desperate set of traders and settlers to enter 
upon the lands west of the Susquehanna, and far north of the disputed 
boundary. Gov. Keith, of Pennsylvania, wished to check the encroach- 
ments of Maryland, and yet, by the usage and laws of the province, was 
unable to grant rights to Pennsylvanians. To extricate himself from 
this difficulty, he consulted with the Conestogo Indians and other tribes in 
1722, and obtained their consent that he should make a large survey west 
of the Susquehanna. The Indians, equally with himself, were jealous 
of the encroachments of Maryland, and felt sure of obtaining from Penn- 
sylvania a return of any part of the land they might want for their own 
use. On the 19th and 20th June, 1722, the first survey of Springettsbury 
Manor (now known as " Keith's survey") was made. 

Not long after the survey, settlements were made within the manor 
under Pennsylvania title ; but as the lands were not fully purchased of 
the Indians, licenses to settle were granted by Samuel Blunston, of Wright's 
ferry, who was commissioned by the proprietaries. The first license 
issued by Blunston is dated 24th Jan., 1733-4, and the last on the 31st 
Oct. 1737. It became necessary to make a re-survey of Springettsbury 
Manor in 1768, about the time that Mason and Dixon's line was run. 
The boundaries of this survey diflfered from those of the first. This 
manor, with others, was excepted from the general confiscation of the 
proprietary property at the time of the revolution, and descended as the 
private property of the Penn family, by whom it is held — most of it — until 
the present day. Tedious and bitter litigation has grown out of this pos- 
session during the last thirty or forty years. " The early settlement of 
York CO.," says Mr. Carter, " commenced in quarrels, and the effects of 
those quarrels have descended to our days." 

Several squatters, under Maryland titles, particularly Michael Tanner, 
Edward Parnell, Paul Williams, and Jefferey Sumerford, had for some 
years dwelt on the west side of the Susquehanna, as high up as four 
miles north of the latitude of Philadelphia. They were driven off" by the 
provincial authorities in 1728. John and James Hendricks, in the spring 
of 1729, made the first authorized settlement in the co. on Kreutz creek, 
in Hellam township, on the same tracts from which the squatters had 
been removed. They were soon followed by other families, principally 
Germans, who settled around them within ten or twelve miles, along Co- 
dorus creek. The rest of the lands were in the undisturbed possession 
of the Indians : even in the white settlements they had their huts. 

Thomas Cresap was a blustering and desperate bully, who had volun- 
teered his services to the governor of Maryland to raise a party of ma- 
rauders, and drive off the Pennsylvania settlers. He commenced his out- 
rages about the year 1731, and continued them until he was arrested, in 



694 YORK COUNTY. 

1736, by a party of armed men under the sheriff of Lancaster co. He 
had contrived to enlist a number of the German settlers, and inveigle 
them into his plans. One Daunt was murdered by him, and several mur- 
derous affrays occurred between him and the Pennsylvanians. John 
Hendricks and Joshua Minshall were seized by the Marylanders, and im 
prisoned in Annapolis jail. 

The following extracts are from the History of York co., by Messrs. W. 
C. Carter and A. J. Glossbrenner, to which we are also indebted for many 
other facts mentioned above and in the subsequent pages. 

The earliest settlers were English — these were, however, soon succeeded by vast numbers of 
German emigrants. It is a remarkable fact, that when the first settlements were made in thia 
CO., the greater portion of the lands in the eastern and southeastern part of it were destitute of 
large timber. In sections where now the finest forests stand, miles might then have been traversed 
without the discovery of any plant of greater magnitude than scrub-oak ; and in many places 
not even that. This was attributed to a custom among the aborigines of destroying by fire all 
vegetation in particular sections of country for the purpose of increasing the facilities of hunting. 

Most of the German emigrants settled in the neighborhood of Kreutz cr., while the English 
located themselves in the neighborhood of the Pigeon Hills. In the whole of what was called 
the " Kreutz cr. settlement," (if we except Wrightsville,) there was but one English family, that 
of William Morgan. 

The early inhabitants of the Kreutz cr. region were clothed, for some years, altogether in tow 
cloth, as wool was an article not to be obtained. Their dress was simple, consisting of a shirt, 
trousers, and a frock. During summer, a shirt and trousers formed the only raiment. In the 
fall, the tow frock was superadded. In winter, the dress was adapted to the season by increas- 
ing the number of frocks, so that in the coldest part of the winter some of the sturdy settlers 
were wrapped in four, five, and even more frocks, bound closely about their loins. 

But man ever progresses, and when sheep were introduced, a mixture of tow and wool was 
considered an article of luxury. But tow was shortly afterward succeeded by cotton, and then 
linsey-woolsey was a piece of the wildest extravagance. If these simple, plain, and honest wor- 
thies could look down upon their descendants of the present day, they would wonder and weep 
at the changes of men and things. If a party of them could be spectators at a ball of these 
times, in the borough of York, and see silks, and crapes, and jewels, and gold, in lieu of tow- 
frocks and linsey-woolsey finery, they would scarcely recognise their descendants in the costly 
and splendid dresses before them ; but would no doubt be ready to imagine that the nobles and 
princes of the earth were assembled at a royal bridal. But these honest progenitors of our3 
liave passed away, and have left many of us, we fear, nothing but the names they bore, to mark 
us as their descendants. 

But all of good did not die with them. If they would find cause of regret at our departure 
from their simplicity and frugality, they would find much to admire in the improved aspect of 
the country — the rapid march of improvement in the soil of their adoption. Where they left un- 
occupied land, they would find valuable plantations, and thriving villages, and temples dedicated 
to the worship of the God of Christians. Where they left a field covered with brush-wood, they 
would find a flourishing and populous town. The Codorus, whose power was scantily used to 
propel a few inconsiderable mills, they would see with its banks lined with large and valuable 
grist-mills, saw-mills, and fulling-mills — they would find the power of its water used in the 
manufactory of paper and wire — and they would find immense arks of lumber and coal floating 
on its bosom from the Susquehanna to the very doors of the citizens of a town whose existence 
commenced after their departure from the earth. 

But to return to the situation of the early settlers. For some time there was neither a shoe- 
maker nor tanner in any part of what is now York co. A supply of shoes for family use was 
armually obtained from Philadelphia ; itinerant cobblers, travelling from one farm-house to another, 
earned a livelihood by mending shoes. The first established shoemaker in the co. was Samuel 
Landys, who had his shop somewhere on Kreutz cr. The first, and for a long time the only 
tailor, was Valentine Heyer, who made clothes for men and women. The first blacksmith was 
Peter Gardner. The first school-master was known by no other name than that of " Der Dicke 
Schulmeister." 

The first dwelling-houses of the earliest settlers were of wood ; and for some years no other 
material was used in the construction. But about the year 1733, John and Martin Shultz each 
built a stone dwelling-house on Kreutz creek, and in a few years the example was numerously 
followed. 

About the year 1734, '35, and '36, famifies from Ireland and Scotland settled in the south 
eastern part of the co., in what is now known as the " York Barrens." They consisted princi 
pally of the better order of peasantry — were a sober, industrious, moral, and intelligent people— 



YORK COUNTY. 695 

and were for the most part rigid Presbyterians. Their manners partook of that simplicity, kind- 
ness, and hospitality characteristic of the cUiss to which they belonged in their native countries. 

The descendants of these people still retain the lands which their respectable progenitors se- 
lected. And we are happy to add, that the present inhabitants inherited, with the lands, the 
sobriety, industry, intelligence, morality, and hospitable kindness of their predecessors. 

The townships comprised in the " Barrens," are Chanceford, Fawn, Peach-bottom, Hopewell, 
and part of Windsor, and from the improvements which have of late years been made in the agri- 
culture of tliese townships, the soil is beginning to present an appearance which is entirely at 
variance with the idea a stranger would be induced to form of a section of country bearing the 
unpromising name of " Barrens." 

The early home of Presbyterianism in York co. was at the Slate Ridge 
church, in Peach-bottom township. A log-church was erected here, near 
Muddy creek, soon after the original settlement. Rev. Mr. Whittlesey 
was the first preacher, who ministered to all the Scotch-Iri.sh in the neigh- 
boring townships. The original church was burnt. Several others suc- 
ceeded it, the site being occasionally changed. Rev. Mr. Morrison, from 
Scotland, who came about the year 1750, and Rev. Messrs. John Strain 
and Smith, Dr. Samuel Martin, and Mr. Parke, w^ere the successive 
preachers in one or the other of these churches in the Barrens. Notwith- 
standing the straitened circumstances of the early Scotch settlers, many 
of their boys contrived, as the Scotch always will, to pick up a good 
classical education, and several have become very eminent in public life. 
Of these w^ere Hon. James Smith, of York co., one of the signers of the 
Declaration of Independence, Judge Hugh H. Breckenridge, and Hon. 
James Ross, of Pittsburg, and Senator Rowan, of Kentucky. 

" As early as 1758," says Dr. Fahnestock, " there was a branch of the 
Dunkards, or Seventh-day Baptist Society, established near Bermudian 
cr., about 15 miles northwest of York borough ; some of the members 
of w4iich still remain, though they have been without preaching many 
years." 

About the same time that the " Barrens" were settled, Newberry township and the circumja- 
cent region, (in the northern part of the co.,) was settled by a number of families from Chester 
CO., who, under the auspicious influence of that spirit of peace and amity which had been incul- 
cated by Mr. Penn, sate themselves down here and there in a few rude cabins, surrounded on all 
sides by the still more rude wigwams of their aboriginal neighbors. Thomas Hall, John Mc- 
Fesson, Joseph Bennet, John Rankin, and Ellis Lewis, were the first persons to visit this section 
of the CO. ; and having selected the valley in which the borough of Lewisbury is situated, they 
gave it the name of the " Red Lands," from the color of the soil and " red rock" on which it is 
based. By this name it was principally known to them and their eastern friends for many years. 
It was by a descendant of Ellis Lewis that Lewisbury was laid out — and it is from Joseph Ben- 
net that the main stream through the valley derives its name of " Bennet's Run." 

An anecdote is related of Bennet, Rankin, and Lewis, connected with their first visit to the 
" Red Lands." Having arrived at the eastern bank of the Susquehanna river, and there being no 
other kind of craft than canoes to cross in, they fastened two together, and placing their horses 
with their hinder feet in one, and their fore feet in the other, thus paddled to the shore, at the 
imminent peril of their lives ! 

This section of the country, naturally productive, had suffered a material deterioration of 
quality, and was indeed almost " worn out," by a hard system of tillage, when the introduction 
of clover and plaster, in the year 1800, established a new era in the husbandry of the neighbor- 
hood, and gradually produced a considerable melioration of the soil. At present the spirit of 
" liming" is gaining ground rapidly in Newberry and the adjoining townships, and promises very 
fairly to effect a material increase of productiveness. 

We have now fairly settled those parts of the co. which were the first to be inhabited by whites. 
Those parts of which we have made no mention, in noticing the early settlements, were not in 
fact taken up by emigrants to York co., but became populated from the stock which we have in- 
troduced to our readers. In the course of time the Kreutz cr. settlement increased in population, 
and gave inhabitants to a large tract of country surrounding it, includuig parts of Hellam, 
Spring-garden, York, and Shrewsbury townships. The few early settlers of the region in which 
Hanover stands, gave population to several townships in that quarter of tiie county. The num- 



696 YORK COUNTY. 

ber of families in the " Red Lands" and thereabout, was for some time annually augmented by 
fresh emigrants from Chester co. ; the small portion of territory at first chosen became too smal. 
for tlie increased population, and the whole northern division of the co., comprising Newberry, 
Fairview, Monahan, Warrington, Franklin, and Washington townships, were partially settled aa 
early as 1740-50. 

A considerable portion of the inhabitants of the townships we have just named, are members 
of the Society of Friends. There are also Methodists, Lutherans, and Reformed Presbyterians. 

" The following account of that noted impostor, Dr. Dady, is taken nearly 
word for word from that written by the Hon. John Joseph Henry, and 
sent by him to Philadelphia, with the convicted impostors. Judge Henry 
wrote the account from notes taken at the trial." 

Dr. Dady, who was a German by birth, came to this country with the Hessians during the 
American revolution. Possessing a fascinating eloquence in the German language, and being 
very fluent in the English, he was afterwards employed as a minister of the gospel by unin. 
formed, but honest Germans. 

When the sacerdotal robe could no longer be subservient to his avaricious views, he laid it 
aside and assumed the character of a physician. As such he came to York co., and dwelt 
among the poor inhabitants of a mountainous part thereof, (now within the limits of Adams co.,) 
where, in various artful ways, he preyed on the purses of the unwary. 

Of all the numerous impositions with which his name is connected, and to which he lent his 
aid, we will mention but two. The scene of one of them is in what is now Adams co., where he 
dwelt ; and of the other in the " Barrens" of York co. 

The following is an account of the Adams co. imposition : 

Rice WilHams, or rather Rainsford Rogers, a New Englander, and John Hall, a New Yorker, 
(both of whom had been plundering the inhabitants of the southern states by their wiles,) came 
to the house of Clayton Chamberlain, a neighbor of Dady, in July, 1797. 

On the following morning, Dady went to Chamberlain's, and had a private conversation with 
Williams and Hall before breakfast. After Dady had left them, Williams asked Chamberlain 
whether the place was not haunted. Being answered in the negative, he said that it was haunted 
— that he had been born with a veil over his face — could see spirits, and had been conducted 
thither, sixty miles, by a spirit. Hall assented to the truth of this. In the evening of the same 
day, they had another interview with Dady. Williams then told Chamberlain, that if he would 
permit him to tarry over night, he would show him a spirit. This being agreed to, they went into 
a field in the evening, and Williams drew a circle on the ground, around which he directed Hall 
and Chamberlain to walk in silence. A terrible screech was soon heard proceeding from a black 
ghost (!) in the woods, at a little distance from the parties, in a direction opposite to the place 
where Williams stood. In a few minutes a white ghost appeared, which Williams addressed in 
a language which those who heard him could not understand — the ghost replied in the same lan- 
guage ! After his ghostship had gone away, Williams said that the spirit knew of a treasure 
which it was permitted to discover to eleven men — they must be honest, reUgious, and sensible, 
and neither horse-jockeys nor Irishmen. 

The intercourse between Williams and Dady now ceased to be apparent ; but it was continued 
in private. Chamberlain, convinced of the existence of a ghost and a treasure, was easily in. 
duced to form a company, which was soon effected. 

Each candidate was initiated by the receipt of a small sealed paper, containing a little yellow 
sand, which was called " the power." This "power" the candidate was to bury in the earth to the 
depth of one inch, for three days and three nights — performing several other absurd ceremonies, 
too obscene to be described here. 

A circle, two perches in diameter, was formed in the field, in the centre of which there was a 
hole six inches wide and as many deep. A captain, a lieutenant, and three committee-men were 
elected. Hall had the honor of the captaincy. The exercise was to pace around the circle, &c. 
This, it was said, propitiated and strengthened the white ghost, who was opposed by an un- 
friendly black ghost, who rejoiced in the appellation of Pompey. In the course of their nocturnal 
exercises they often saw the white ghost — they saw Mr. Pompey too, but he appeared to have " his 
back up," bellowed loudly, and threw stones at them. 

On the night of the 18th of August, 1797, Williams undertook to get instructions from the 
white ghost. It was done in the following manner. He took a sheet of clean white paper, and 
folded it in the form of a letter, when each member breathed into it three times ; this being re- 
peated several times, and the paper laid over the hole in the centre of the circle, the instructions 
of the ghost were obtained. The following is a short extract from the epistle written by the ghost : 

" Go on, and do right, and prosper, and the treasure shall be yours. I am permitted to write 

this in the same hand I wrote in the flesh for your direction — O XB Take care of your 

powers, in the name and fear of God our protector — if not, leave the work. There is a great 



YORK COUNTY. ^Ot 

treasure, 4,000 pounds apiece for you. Don't trust the black one. Obey orders. Break the en- 
chantment, which you will not do until you get an ounce of mineral dulcimer eliximer ; some 
German doctors has it. It is near, and dear, and scarce. Let the committee get it — but don't 
let the doctor know what you are about — he is wicked." 

The above is but a small part of this precious communication. In consequence of these 
ghostly directions, a young man named Abraham Kophart waited, by order of the committee, 
on Dr. Dady. The Dr. preserved his eliximer in a bottle sealed with a large red seal, and buried 
in a heap of oats, and demanded fifteen dollars for an ounce of it. Young Kephart could not 
afford to give so much, but gave him thirty-six dollars and three bushels of oats for three ounces 
of it. Yost Liner, another of these wise committee-men, gave the doctor 121 dollars for eleven 
ounces of the stuff 

The company was soon increased to 39 persons, many of whom were wealthy. Among those 
who were most miserably duped may be mentioned Clayton Chamberlain, Yost Liner, Thomas 
Bigham, William Bigham, Samuel Togert, John M'Kinney, James Agnew, (the elder,) James 
M'Cleary, Robert Thompson, David Kissinger, George Sheckley, Peter Wikeart, and John Phil- 
lips. All these and many other men were, in the words of the indictment, " cheated and de- 
frauded by means of certain false tokens and pretences — to wit, by means of pretended spirits, 
certain circles, certain brown powder, and certain compositions called mineral dulcimer elixir, and 
Dederick's mineral elixir." 

But the wiles of these impostors were soon exerted in other parts. The following is an account 
of their proceedings in and about Shrewsbury township, in this county. Williams intimated that 
he had received a call from a ghost, resident in those parts, at the distance of 40 miles from Da- 
dy's. Jacob Wister, one of the conspirators, was the agent of Williams on this occasion. He 
instituted a company of 21 persons, all of whom were, of course, most ignorant people. The 
same, and even more absurd ceremonies were performed by these people ; and the communica- 
tions of the ghost were obtained in a still more ridiculous manner than before. The communi- 
cations mentioned Dr. Dady as the person from whom they should obtain the dulcimer elixir, as 
likewise a kind of sand which the ghost called the " Asiatic sand," and which was necessary in 
order to give efficacy to the " powers." Ulrich Neaff, a committee-man, of this cpmpany, paid 
to Dr. Dady ^90 for 7^ oimces of the elixir. The elixir was put into vials, and each person, 
who had one of them, held it in his hand and shook it, as he pranced around the circle. On cer- 
tain occasions he anointed his head with it ; and afterwards, by order of the spirit, the vial was 
buried in the ground. 

Paul Baliter, another of the committee-men, took with him to Dr. Dady's $100, to purchase 
" Asiatic sand," at $3 per ounce. Dady being absent, Williams procured from the doctor's shop 
as much sand as the money would purchase. In this instance Williams cheated the doctor, for 
he kept the spoil to himself; and thence arose an overthrow of the good fraternity. 

Each of them now set up for himself. Williams procured directions from his ghost, that each 
of the companies should dispatch a committee-man to Lancaster, to buy " Dederick's mineral 
elixir" of a physician in that place. In the mean time Williams and his wife went to Lancas- 
ter, where they prepared the elixir, which was nothing but a composition of copperas and cayenne 
pepper. Mrs. Williams, as the wife of John Huber, a German doctor, went to Dr. Rose, with a 
letter dated " 13 miles from Newcastle, Delaware," which directed him how to sell the article, 
&-C. The enormity of the price aroused the suspicion of Dr. Rose. In a few days the delegates 
from the committee arrived, and purchased elixir to the amount of $740.33. When the lady 
came for the money she was arrested, and the secret became known. Her husband, Williams, 
escaped. 

The Lancaster expedition having led to the discovery of the tricks of the impostors, a few 
days after the disclosures made by Mrs. Williams an indictment was presented, in the criminal 
court of York county, against Dr. John Dady, Rice Williams, Jesse Miller, Jacob Wister the el- 
der, and Jacob Wister the younger, for a conspiracy to cheat and defraud. The trial took place 
in June following, and resulted in the conviction of Wister the elder, and of Dr. Dady — the for- 
mer of whom was fined $10, and imprisoned one month in the county jail ; the latter fined $90, 
and sentenced to two years' confinement in the penitentiary of Philadelphia. 

Dady had just been convicted of participating in the conspiracy at Shrewsbury, when he and 
Hall were found guilty of a like crime in Adams county — whereupon Hall was fined $100, and 
sent to the penitentiary for two years ; and Dady was fined $160, and sentenced to undergo an 
additional servitude of two years in the penitentiary, to commence in June, 1800, when his first 
term would expire. 

Thus ended the history of a man in this county, who certainly was not devoid of talent ; who 
possessed a most winning address, and was a thorough master in quick and correct discernment 
of character. He reigned, for a season, with undisputed sway, in what was then the western 
part of York county. His cunning, for a long time, lulled suspicion to sleep. The history of 
his exorcisms should teach the credulous that the ghosts which appear now-a-days are as mate, 
rial as our own flesh. 

88 



698 YORK COUNTY. 

York, the seat of justice, is situated on the banks of Codorus creek, 1 1 
miles from the Susquehanna. It is a rich and thriving borough, surrounded 
by a fertile and well-cultivated limestone region. The private dwellings 
are very substantially built, and several of the public buildings are splen- 
did. Among the latter is the new courthouse, a magnificent edifice of 
granite, in the form of a Grecian temple, which was erected in 1841-42, 
at a cost of about $150,000. The other public edifices are a county 
prison, of stone ; an academy, and ten churches, namely — 2 Lutheran, 
German Reformed, Moravian, Episcopal, Roman Catholic, Presbyterian, 
Methodist, Quaker, and African Methodist. Several of these churches 
display great architectural elegance, and are adorned with tall spires. 
In the cemetery of the German Reformed church is the grave of Hon. 
Philip Livingston, a member of congress from New York. He died June 
11, 1778, while congress was in session here. A splendid pyramid of 
white marble, surmounted with an urn, is erected over the grave. Con- 
gress retired to this place, from Philadelphia, at the time of the battle of 
Brandywine, in Sept. 1777; and held their sessions for nine months in 
the old courthouse, which stood on the centre of the public square, but 
was demolished in 1841. York was incorporated, as a borough, 24th 
Sept. 1787. Population in 1790, 2,076; in 1800, 2,503; in 1820, 3,545; 
in 1830, 4,21 G ; in 1840, 4,779. The town is supplied with wholesome 
spring- water, by a company incorporated in 1806. The Codorus creek 
is made navigable by a series of slackwater pools and locks, completed 
by a company, in 1833, from this place to the Susquehanna. A railroad, 
completed about the year 1838, affords easy and daily access to Balti- 
more ; and another at Columbia, completed about the year 1839, connects 
there with the state railroad to Philadelphia. York is distant from Har- 
risburg 25 miles, from Columbia 11, from Philadelphia 83, and from Bal- 
timore 56. The principal trade of the town, as well as the county, is 
done with Baltimore. Turnpikes radiate from York to Baltimore, to Get- 
tysburg, to Columbia, and to Harrisburg. The society of the place is 
excellent ; and the intelligent citizens of the borough exercise a com- 
manding influence throughout the county. 

The following notes, relating to the history of the borough, are selected 
and abridged from Messrs. Carter and Glossbrenner's History of the 
county : — 

The borough of York was by no means the earliest settlement of the county. Although there 
were many habitations in its neighborhood, yet so late as the year 1740 there was not one build- 
ing within the present limits of the borough. The " tract of land on both sides of Codorus 
creek," within the manor of Springettsbury, upon which the town was to be laid out, was, by the 
special order of the proprietaries, surveyed by Thomas Cookson, then deputy-surveyor of Lan- 
caster county, in Oct. 1741. The part east of Codorus was immediately laid out into squares, 
after the manner of Philadelphia. The proprietors gave " tickets" to each person who wished to 
take up a lot. These tickets were transferable ; the owner of them might sell them, assign them, 
or do what he pleased with them. The possession of a ticket was by no means the same as 
owning a lot. It only gave a right to build, to obtain a patent ; for the lots were granted upon 
particular conditions, strenuously enforced. One of the usual conditions was this, viz. : " that 
the applicant build upon the lot, at his own proper cost, one substantial dwelling-house, of the 
dimensions of 16 feet square, at least, with a good chimney of brick or stone, to be laid in, or 
built with lime and sand, within the space of one year from the time of his entry for the same." 
A perpetual rent of seven shillings sterling per lot was to be paid to the proprietors, Thomas and 
Richard Penn. 

When the applicant had built, or in some cases had begun to build, he received, if he so 
wished, a patent. But this patent most explicitly stated the conditions ; and if these conditions 
>yere not fulfilled, he was deprived of his lot, and it was granted to soiqe one else. The building 



YORK COUNTY 690 

proceeded slowly ; for, tliough many took up lots, few were enabled fully to comply with the con. 
dltions. The consequence was, the lots were forfeited, and thereby honest industry discouraged. 
At that time, the conveniences for house-building were feW. It appears, from a statement made 
by George Stevenson, on 10th April, 1751, that at that time there were 50 lots built on, agreeably 
to the tickets. Three of these lots were then occupied by churches, viz. : two by the German 
Lutheran, and one by the German Reformed. Hence there could not have been, at that time, 
more than 47 dwelling-houses in the town ; and many of them must have been truly miserable. 

The early settling of York town was one continual scene of disturbance and contention : there 
were warring rights, and clashing interests. It often happened that different men wanted the 
same lot ; and when the lot was granted to one, the others were watchful to bring about a for- 
feiture. The loss of lots, by not fulfilling conditions, was for a long time a serious evil, con- 
cerning which clamors were loud. 

On the 24th Sept. 1787, was erected the " Borough of York." Tlie first burgesses were Hen- 
ry Miller, Esq., and David Cantler, whereof the former was chief burgess. The first assistant- 
burgesses were Baltzer Spengler, Michael Doudel, Christian Lauman, Peter Mundorf, David 
Grier, Esq., and James Smith, Esq. The first high-constable was Christian Stoer, and the first 
town-clcrk was George Lewis Leofflcr. 

About the year 18l4 a considerable addition was made, by the heirs of John Hay, deceased, 
in the northern part of the borough, known by the name of " Hay's Addition." 

There is no part of Pennsylvania where the love of liberty displayed itself earlier, or more 
strongly, than in the county of York. Military companies were formed in York, while the people 
of the neighboring counties slept. In those days there were men here, of broad breast and firm 
step, who feared no power, and bowed to no dominion. The first company that marched from 
Pennsylvania to the fields of war, was a company of riflemen, from the town of York : they left 
this place on the first of July, 1775. York county sent out more soldiers during the revolu- 
tion than any one of her neighboring sisters. 

Fairs were held in York in olden time, [such as are described on page 397.] There were many 
negroes owned here, by the early inhabitants, before the abolition Of slavery in this state. In 
1803, the negroes in and near York conspired to set fire to the town, and had well-nigh effected 
their purpose : fires broke out every day for three Weeks. At length one of them carried an open 
pan of coals, at noonday, and threw it on the hay in her master's barn. She was seen, and con- 
fessed that she had done it, in concert with others, to fire the whole town, " at 12 o'clock ;" but 
she had mistaken 12 o'clock at noon for the same hoiir at midnight. 

A Lutheran congregation was formed in the Codorus valley as early as 1733, by emigrants 
from Wurtemburg, although they had no settled minister. Twenty-four families enrolled their 
names on the baptismal record-book, which is still preserved. 

" Among these venerable 24 founders of the congregation, all of whom have long since mould, 
cred in the grave, we find many whose descendants at the present day may be traced by their 
names. Such are Christian GroU, Philip Ziegler, Heinrich Shultz, George Schwaab, John Adam 
Diehl, Jacob Sherer, Mathias Schmeiser, George Schmeiser, Martin Bauer, George Adam Zim- 
merman, George Ziegler, Joseph Beyer, Jacob Ziegler, Valentine Schultz, &c. &.c. Other names, 
less familiar at the present day, are Michael Walch, Carl Eisen, Paul Burkhardt, Henrich Zauck, 
Gotfried Manch, Christian Kraut, &c. &c." 

The first church in York was built by this congregation, in 1744, of wood. Rev. Mr. Schaum 
Was their pastor ; and his successors were, for some years, Messrs. Hochheimer, Bager, Raus, 
Hornell, Kurtz, and Goering. Rev. Dr. John George Schmucker has ministered to the congrega- 
tion for 34 years. 

The Episcopal congregation was formed about the year 1765, under Rev. Thomas Minshall, 
and a church was built by lottery during the revolution. One of the clergymen who occasionally 
officiated at tiiis church. Rev. Mr. Batwell, of Adams co., was ducked by the people of York in 
Codorus creek for being a tory, and was further abused and imprisoned by the people of his own 
neighborhood. He was an accomplished scliolar and a good man. He returned to England, 
where he died. Queen Caroline of England presented a bell to this church in 1774; but by 
some means it got into the cupola of the old courthouse, and, no doubt, served to call together a 
rebel congress in 1778. The Presbyterian congregation had no separate house of worship at York 
until 1789, when their present brick church was erected, under the ministry of Rev. Robert Cath- 
cart, who also officiated at Hopewell, formerly called the Round Hill church. 

The German Reformed congregation was formed in the co. at a very early day, and erected 
their first church in York, of wood, about the year 1746. Rev. Mr. Lischy was the first minis- 
ter, — an excellent man ; but he seems to have been difficult to be had, and still more so to be 
kept. 

The Theological Seminary of the German Reformed church, first started in Carlisle in 1825, 
was removed to York in 1828, and was here under the charge of Rev. Drs. Mayer and Rauch. 
It has since been removed to Mcrcersburg, Dr. Mayer remaining in York. 

The Roman Catholic congregation, St. Patrick's, first worshipped in a stone dweiling-houset 



lOO 



YORK COUNTY. 



presented to them by Joseph Smith about the year 1776, and altered into a charch ; but theyhafi 
no regular priest until Rev. Lawrence Huber came in 1810. 

The Moravian congregation was formed in 1750, under the ministry of Rev. Philip Mauret, 
and erected their first church in 1756. 

The first Methodist preacher who visited YotIc was the celebrated Freeborn Garretson, on the 
24th Jan. 1781. 

Hon. James Smith was one of the signers of the declaration of independence. He was also a 
member of several important state conventions, held a high rank at the bar, and was a man of 
great wit and good humor. He came from Ireland very young, and died at York, 11th July, 
1806, at the age of about 93. 

Col. Thomas Hartley was a native of Berks co., bom on 7th Sept. 1748 ; but studied law in 
York, and commenced practice here. He entered the army at the opening of the revolution, and 
soon became distinguished. He commanded a corps in the Wyoming and Susquehanna valleys, 
after the descent of Butler and the Indians. He was a member of congress in 1788, and con- 
tinued to hold the office during 12 years, and held several distinguished offices in the common- 
wealth. He died 21st Dec. 1800, aged 52 years. 

Gen. Henry Miller was born near Lancaster, 13th Feb. 1751. " The high school of Miller, 
as of Washington and Franklin, was the world of active life." He studied law, and commenced 
practice ; but the war of the revolution breaking out, he joined a company as lieutenant. They 
marched first to Boston ; and the second day after this march of 500 miles, he proposed to his 
captain to ^ive him a handful of men to surprise the British guard. The captain refused ; but 
Miller persisted, and said he would go to tlie general for permission. He made the attack, but 
was not successful. He was engaged in most of the battles in the Middle states, and was se- 
lected as one of the best partisan officers. At the battle of Monmouth two horses were shot un- 
der him — he mounted a third, and was soon in the thickest of the fight. Gen. Washington had 
a high opinion of him, and appointed him Inspector of one of the districts of Pennsylvania while 
the Excise law was in force. He was afterwards a merchant at Baltimore, where, during the 
last war, he again buckled on the sword in defence of Fort McHcnry. He afterwards removed 
to Perry co., and eventually to Carlisle, where he died, 5th April, 1824. 

Gen. James Ewing, a native of Lancaster co., and long a resident of York co., was a hero of 
two wars, commencing his military career in Braddock's unfortunate expedition. He was a 
brigadier-general during the revolution, and was present at the battle of Trenton. Re was also 
vice-president of the commonwealth under President Dickinson, and was several times a member 
of the legislature. He died at liis country-seat in Hellam township, in March, 1806, aged about 
70 years. 

Among the other citizens of York co. who were distinguished during 
the revolution, were Gen. John Clark, Gen. Jacob Drfpt, and Col. Michael 

SCHMEISEB. 

Hanover borough is situated in the southwest part of the co., on the 
headlands between the sources of Conewago and Codorus creeks, and 
near the Adams co. line. This is the second borough in size and impor- 
tance in the CO. The Baltimore and Carlisle turnpike, and the road from 
Frederickstown to York, intersect each other in the centre of the town. 
Along these roads the greater part of the houses are built, and each 
street derives its name from the direction of its road. The place contains 
German Reformed and German Lutheran churches. A few Roman Cath- 
olics worship at a chapel in Adams co., about four miles distant. The 
population is almost exclusively of German descent, and that language is 
spoken by all, yet the English is beginning to be used by the young. A 
very large proportion of the citizens are wealthy, or in comfortable cir- 
cumstances. The borough was incorporated 4th March, 1815. Popula- 
tion in 1840, 1,070. 

This place was laid out by Richard McAlester, Esq., about the year 
1763 or '64, in the midst of a hickory forest ; and so little expectation had 
his neighbors that it would ever become a town, that an old lady called 
it Hickurytown. It was known for some years as McAlester's town. The 
two-story log house, originally built by Mr. McAlestef, was standing in 
1818, on Baltimore-street, and perhaps is there still. It was then occu- 
pied by Mr. Henry Albright, jun. The land around Hanover, to the ex 



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YORK COUNTY. 701 

tent of nearly 7,000 acres, including its site, was originally taken up by 
John Digges, a petty nobleman, under a title from the proprietor of Mary- 
land. Being so near the boundary, it was quite doubtful — until Mason and 
Dixon's line was run in 17G8, and the proprietary proclamations confirm- 
ed it in 1774 — whether "Digges' choice" or "Digges' manor," was in Ma- 
ryland or Pennsylvania. It became consequently for some years a sort 
of rogues' resort, where they could defy the jurisdiction of sheriffs. McAl- 
ester once seized a number of robbers, who had broken into his store, and 
took them to York jail, but the sheriff there refused to admit them, saying 
to him, " You of Hanover wish to be independent ; therefore punish your 
villains yourselves." 

Wrightsville is situated on the right bank of the Susquehanna, at the 
western end of the Columbia bridge. It occupies an elevated site gently 
sloping towards the river, and commanding a view of the most magnifi- 
cent scenery. The borough was incorporated with its present name on 
the 14th April, 1834. It had previously been known as Wright's ferry, 
but the construction of the bridge, like the marriage of a lady, changed 
the latter part of the name. Population in 1840, 672. "It was at one 
time in contemplation to make this place the site of the capitol of the 
United States. Gen. Washington earnestly advocated its selection, urg- 
ing its beauty, its security, &c., but a small majority prevailed against 
him. Several incidents connected with the early history of this vicinity 
will be found on page 407. 

Lewisbury is agreeably situated among the pleasant " Red Lands," on 
a small tributary of the Conewago, 14 miles northwest from York, and 
10 miles south of Harrisburg. It was incorporated as a borough 2d 
April, 1832. It contains a Methodist church, and there is one in the vi- 
cinity for Lutherans and Reformed Presbyterians. There are several 
mills in the place, one of which is for boring and grinding gun-barrels. 
The place took its name from Ellis Lewis, by whom it was founded. 

DiLLSBURG is near the base of South mountain, 20 miles northwest from 
York, and 12 from Harrisburg. It was incorporated as a borough on the 
9th April, 1833. Population in 1833, 244. 

Shrewsbury, formerly called Strasburg, was incorporated as a borough 
on the 9th April, 1834. It is situated on the Baltimore turnpike, 13 miles 
south of York. Population in 1840, 340. 

York Haven is situated on the right bank of the Susquehanna, at the 
foot of the Conewago falls, 10 miles north of York, and 14 from Har- 
risburg. A canal of about a mile in length, around the falls, terminates 
here, and permits the descending trade to avoid the dangers of the rapids. 
Great expectations were formed of the prosperity of this place ; large 
mills were built, and the capitalists of Baltimore made extensive prepara- 
tions for sustaining a wheat-market here ; but when the Pennsylvania 
canal on the other side, and the Tidewater canal below, were construct- 
ed, the glory of York Haven departed. 

The other villages of York co. are, Dover, Freystown, Franklin, Jef- 
ferson, Liverpool, Logansville, Newberry, New Holland, New Market, 
RossTowN, SiDDONsBuRG, Stewartstown, or Mechanicsburg, Strinestown, 
and Weigelstown. These are, many of them, pleasant villages, some of 
an ancient date, and are adapted to the trade and wants of the agricul- 
tural regions around them. 



702 ELK COUNTY. 



ELK COUNTY. 



The new county of Elk was separated from Clearfield, Jefferson, and 
McKean, by the act of April, 1843. It comprises the region watered by 
the sources of Bennet's Branch of the Sinnemahoning, formerly in Clear- 
field CO., and that on the head branches of Clarion river, formerly the 
northeastern part of Jefferson co. and the southern part of McKean co. 
The county derives its name from Elk mountain, an eminence formerly in 
the northwest corner of Clearfield co. The greater part of the county is 
still covered with the primitive forest. Large tracts of wild land are to 
be had here at a moderate rate ; and the county, with its new organiza- 
tion, offers a fine field for industrious pioneers. A description of the sur- 
face, soil, and timber, would not vary materially from those already given 
of McKean, Clearfield, and Jefferson counties. Judge Geddes, who sur- 
veyed the Clarion and Sinnemahoning summit some 12 years or more 
since, with a view to a canal route, says — " At the head of Bennet's 
Branch of the Sinnemahoning is an extensive marsh called Flag Swamp, 
from which, in wet seasons, the water fiows both ways, and where, at 
such seasons, the summit might easily be passed by a canoe. This point 
is remarkable as probably the only one in Pennsylvania where the beaver 
may be found. Everywhere else, they have been driven out by the ap- 
proach of human footsteps. In the same region a few Elks still remain.'*^ 

A road leads from Karthauss, on the West branch of the Susquehanna, 
to Ridgvvay. At the intersection of this road with Bennet's Branch is 
Caledonia, a thriving village, started a few years since by the pioneers 
from New York and New England. A road leads from this place to 
Clearfield. 

Kersey is another village on the same road, about 12 miles northwest 
from Caledonia. Kersey's Mill, on one of the sources of the Clarion 
river, was established here some 20 years since, and is probably the old- 
est settlement in the co. 

A few miles north of Kersey, the German Union Bond Society (Roman 
Catholics) have recently purchased 35,000 acres from the U. S. Land Co., 
— sometimes known as the Boston Co. The settlers are principally from 
Philadelphia. Thirty-one families went out and commenced the colony 
in the autumn of 1842, 33 more followed in the spring of 1843, and 33 
w^ere to go in the fall ; and so on until they number 200 families, or pos- 
sibly 350, which will give 1,000 acres to each family. When they have 
paid for their land, they can, by a vote of the members, divide the shares ; 
and this is believed to be their intention. 

Ridgvvay is a thriving settlement of New York and New England 
people, chiefly lumbermen, made some years since on the Little Mill cr 
branch of Clarion river, about 12 miles northwest of Kersey. It took its 
name from the late Jacob Ridgway, who owned large tracts of land in 
the vicinity. There is a road from this place to Brookville. Ridgway 
was selected as the seat of justice by the Commissioners who ran out the 
boundary lines of the new county, in September, 1843. 



INDEX TO COUNTIES, TOWNS, AND VILLAGES. 



703 



Aaronsburg, 206 

Ahbotstown, 61 

Abinsdon, 502 , 

Adaiii^biirg, Union CO., 636 
xj-Adams County, 55 

Adamstown, 413 
•Adamsville, 259 

Adainsbiirg, Westm'd CO., 688 

Alexandria, 373 

Alleohkny County, 63 

Allegheny city, 65 

Alleiitown, 4-25 

Amity, 070 
'Andalusia, 151 

Armagh, 379 

Armstrong County, 93 

Astonville, 456 

Asylum, 148 

Athens, 143 

AttleborouKh, 171 

Auburn, 624 

Bainbridge, 410 
Bakerstowii, 92 
Bath, 520 

Beaver borough, 106 
Beaver County, 102 
Beaver, Union co., 636 
Beaver Meadow, 198 
Bedford County, 114 
Bedford borough, 115 
BelleConte, 203 
Bellevernon, 345 
Belleville. 472 
Belmont, 679 
Benlleyville, 670 
Berks County, 126 
Berlin, 61 
Berlinville, 520 
Berwick, 248 
Bethany, 079 
Bethlehem, 514 
Beulah, 181 
Big Island, 235 
Birdsborough, 136 
Birmingham, Allegh'y co., 89 
Birmingham, Hunt'n CO., 373 
Blairsville, 378 
Block ley, 543 
Bloody Run, 125 
Bloonifield, 540 
Bloomsburg, 244 
Blossburg, 628 
Boalsburg, 206 
Bradford, 460 
Bradford County, 136 
Bridgepoint, 171 
Bridgetown, 171 
Bridgewater, 109 
Brighton, 108 
Bristol borough, 164 
Bristol township, 543 
Brockway, 382 
Brooklyn, 624 
Brookville, 381 
Brownsburg, 171 
Brownsville, 341 
Bucks County, 150 
Buckingham township, 155 
Burgetslown, 670 
Burlington, 148 
Bushville, .597 
Butler County, 172 
Butler borough, 174 
Buttermilk Falls, 428, 691 
Byberry, 543 

Caledonia, 233. 702 
Callensburg, 229 
Calhounsville, 387 
Cambria County, 178 
Cambridge, 259 
Camiibellstown, 421 
Canaan Corners, 679 
Canonsburgh, 668 
Canton, 148 
Carbon County, 184 



Carbondale, 446 
Carlesville, 229 
Carlisle, 264 
Carlisle Springs, 271 
Catawissa, 243 
Centre County, 200 
Centre Bridge, 171 
Centrevillu, Bucks CO., 171 
Centreville, Butler Co., 177 
Centreville, Crawford co., 259 
Centreville, Nonh'n co., 522 
Centreville, Union Co., 636 
Centreville, Wayne co., 679 
Ceres, 460 
Chanibersburg, 349 
Charleston, Chester co., 224 
Charleston, Lancaster co., 413 
Charlestown, 635 
Cherryville, 520 
Chester, 298 
Chester County, 206 
Christian Spring, 520 
Clarion County, 227 
Clarion borough, 228 
Clarksville, 362 
Clarksville, or Can'n Cor., 679 
Claysville, 670 
Clearfield County, 230 
Clearfield town, 232 
Clifton, 199 
Clinton, 362 
Clinton County, 234 
Clintonville, 647 
Coal Castle, 613 
Coatesville, 223 
Cochranville, 226 
Columbia County, 240 
Columbia borough, 406 
Connelsville, 344 
Conniotville, 259 
Consholiocken, 503 
Conynghain, 447 
Cookslown, 345 
Cooperstown, 647 
Orrnplanter, (village,) 653 
Coudersport, 600 
Coventry, 224 
Covington, 627 
Crawford County, 249 
Cumberland County, 262 
CurwensvUle, 233 

Damascus, 679 
Danville, 241 
Darby, 304 
Darlington, 114 
Dauphin County, 278 
Deerfield, 653 " 
Delaware County, 290 
Denipseytown, 647 
Dillsburg, 701 
Donnegal, 410 
Dover, 701 
Downingiown, 222 
Doylestown, 161 
Duncannon, 541 
Duncan's Island, 289, 541 
Dundaff, 623 
Duimstown, 239 
Dutotsburg, 478 



Earleysville, 206 

East Liberty, 90 

Easton, 511 

Ebensbiirg, 180 

Economy, 110 

Eldersville, 670 

Elizabcthlown, Allegh'y, 91 

Eli/.abetlitown, Lane, co.,412 

Emniaus, 427 

Eimisville, 374 

Ephrata, 413 

I^RiE County, 308 

Erie borough, 318 

Espyville, 259 

Evansburg, Montgom. co., 502 1 Horsham Square, 503 

Evansburg, Crawford co., 259jHoughville, 171 



Evansville, 177 
E.xeterlown, 136 

Fairfield, 413 

Fairview, Cumber'd co., 272 
Fairview, Erie co., 327 
Fallsington, 171 
Fallston, 109 
Falmouth, 413 
Fannetsburg, 357 
Farrandsville, 239 
Fayette, 653 
Fayette County, 328 
Florence, 670 
Flourtown, 503 
Foglesville, 427 
Forks of VVyalusing, 624 
Forty Fort, 446 
Francisville, 554 
Frankford, 543 
Frankfort, 114 
Franklin County, 347 
Franklin, Venango co., 646 
Franklin, York co., 701 
Franksiown, 372 
Freeburg, 636 
Freedom, 110 
Freeport, 98 
Frenchlown, 148 
Freyburg, 427 
Freystown, 701 
Friendsville, 622 
Fruitstown, 249 
Furmantown, 630 

Gap, the, 200 

Georgetown, Beaver co., 114 
Georgetown, Mercer CO., 464 
Georgetown, Nortliumb., 532 
Germantown, Fayette Co., 345 
Germantown, Phila. CO., 593 
Gettysburg, 57 
Gibson, 624 
Ginalsburg, 460 
Giiard, 327 
Gnadenthal, 520 
Goshenhoppcn, 488, 503 
Grapevilte, 688 
Great Bend, 623 
Greene County, 358 
Greencastle, 357 
Greenfield, 670 
Greensburg, Greene CO., 361 
Greensburg, Westm'd co., 685 
Greenvillage, 357 
Greenville, Bucks co., 171 
Greenville, Clarion co. 229 
Gwinned township, 502 

Halifax, 288 
Hamburg, 135 
Haniiltonville, 472 
Hanover, 700 
Hanstown, 413 
Harford, 624 

Harmony, Butler co., 176 
Harmony, Susqueh'a co., 624 
Harlington, 171 
Harmonsburg, 259 
Harrisburg, 282 
Harrisville, 177 
Hanleystown, 636 
Hartztovvii, 259 
Hartzville, 164 
Hatborough, 502 
Haydentown, 345 
Hazelton, 199 
Herrick, 624 
Hickory town, 647 
Hillsborough, 670 
Hiiddttown, 413 
H(>llidaysburg,370 
Honi'sdale, 678 
Hookstown, 114 
Howelstown, 472 



Howardsville, 92 
Howart-town, 520 
Hulmeville, 171 
Humnielstown, 288 
HuMterstown, 61 
Huntingdon Co., 362 
Huntingdon borough, 368 

Ickesburg, 542 
Indiana Co., 374 
Indiana borough, 378 
Intercourse, 413 
Irvine, 653 

Jackson, 624 
Jacksonville, 688 
Jefli'rson, Greene co., 362 
Jellerson, York CO., 701 
Jefferson Co., 380 
Jeli'riestown, 92 
Jenkintown, 502 
Jennersville, 619 
Jennesedaga, 056 
Jersey Shore, 454 
Jerseytovvn, 249 
Johnstown, 182 
Jonestown, 421 
Juniata Co., 382 

Karthauss, 233 
Kennet Square, 226 
Kensington, 543, 548 
Kernsville, 520 
Kersey, 702 
Kimberton, 225 
Kingsessing, 304, 543 
Kingston, 446 
Kingstown, 259 
Kinjua, 654 
ICittanning, 94 
Klingletown, 503 
Kreidersville, 520 
Kutztown, 135 

Lancaster County, 387 
Lancaster City, 395 
Landisburg, 542 
Laughlinstown, 688 
Lausanne, 199 
Lawrenceburg, 99 
Lawrenceville, Allegh'y, 90 
La wrenceville, Tioga Co., 639 
Lebanon County, 416 
Lebanon borough, 419 
Leeciiburg, 99 
Lehigh County, 422 
Lehighton, 199 
Leonardsville, 679 
Lewisberg, 633 
Lewisbury, 695, 701 
Lewistown, 468 
Ligonier, 688 
Line Lexington, 171, J>03 
Linnville, 427 
Litiz, 411 
Little Britain, 413 
Littlestown, 61 
Liverpool, Perry co., 542 
Liverpool, York Co., 701 
Llewellyn, 612 
Lock Haven, 237 
Logansville, 701 
London Grove, 227 
Loretto, 184 
Loltsville, 652 
Louden, 357 
Lower Dublin, 543 
Lower Mcrion, 485 
Lowrytovvii, 199 
Lumbrrville, 171 
Lutiiersburg, 233 
LuzEiiNE County, 427 
Lycoming County, 448 

M'Connelsburg, 374 
M'Connelstown, 12S 



704 



INDEX TO COUNTIES, TOWNS, AND VILLAGES. 



M'Cunesville, 536 
M'Kean County, 457 
M'Kfcspori, 92 
Ari-cllaiidstovvii, 345 
ArVrvtoun, 472 
Mainsville, 029 
Manayuiik, 592 
MaiiciiK!,ter, 89 
Maiilieim, 412 
Mansfield, 629 
IVIa|>letown,362 
Marietta, 4U9 
Maitiiisbiirg, 125 
Maiich Chunk, 192 
Meadville, 255 
Mechaiiicsburji, Cumb., 272 
Meclianicsburg, York CO., 701 
Mkrcer County, 461 
Mercer lioroufrh, 462 
Mercersburg, 354 
Worritstowii, 345 
Mertztowii, 136 
Mexico, 386 
Meyersbjrg, 148 
Middleborough, 670 
Middleburg, 636 
Middleport, 611 
Middletoii, 92 

Middletown, Dauphin co., 286 
Widdletown, Fayette co., 345 
MiFFi.iN County, 464 
Mifflin, 386 

Mifflinburg, Union co., 636 
Mifflinburg, Columbia co., 249 
Milesburg, 205 
Miltord, Pike co., 596 
Milford, Somerset co., 619 
Milheim, 206 

Willersburg, Berks CO., 136 
Millersburg, Dauphin Co., 288 
Millerstown, Adams co., 61 
Millerstown, Lane, co., 413 
Mill(!rstown, Lehigh co., 427 
Millerstown, Lebanon CO., 420 
Millerstown, Perry CO., 541 
Mill Hall, 239 
Milton, 535 

Minersville, Allegheny co., 91 
Minersville, Schuyl. co., Oil 
Mixtown, 630 
Monongahela City, 669 
MoNROB County, 473 
Monroe, Bradford co., 148 
Monroe, Bucks co., 171 
Monroe, Fayette CO., 343 
Montrose, 622 
Montgomery Square, 502 
Montgomery County, 480 
Moreland, 543 
Morrison's Cove, 125 
Morrisville, Bucks co., 169 
Morrisville, Greene co., 362 
Moimt Bethel, 510, 522 
Mount Carbon, 609 
Mount Jackson, 114 
Mount Joy, 411 
Mount Morris, 362 
Mt. Pleasant, Clear'd Co., 233 
Mt. Pleasant, Wash, co., 670. 
Mt. Pleasant, VVestmor'd, 687 
Moyamensing, 543 
Mummasburg, 61 
Muncy, 456 
Munster, 184 
Murraysville, 688 
Murrinsville, 177 
Myerstown, 421 

Naglesville, 679 
Nazareth, 519 
Nescopeck, 447 
Nesqiiiiioning, 199 
NefTsville, 413 

Newbury, Lycoming co., 454 
Newberry, York co., 695, 701 
Newcastle, Schuylkill co., 613 
Newcastle, Mercer co., 463 



Newlin, 226 

Newport, Bucks co., 171 

Newport, Perry co., 542 

Newry, 373 

Newton Hamilton, 472 

Newtown, Greene Co., 362 

Newtown, Bucks co., 170 

Newville, 272 

New Alexandria, 688 

New Bedford, 464 

New Berlin, 632 

New Brighton, 109 

New Butialo, 542 

New Columbus, 636 

New Cumberland, 272 

New Garden, 226 

New Geneva, 345 

New Holland, York co., 701 

New Holland, Lancaster, 412 

New Hope, 168 

New London, 226 

New Liberty, 240 

New Market, York co., 701 

New Market, Lancaster, 413 

New Miltord, 624 

New Philadelphia, 611 

New Salem, 345 

New Tripoli, 427 

Noblesborough, 92 

Norristown, 498 

Northampton County, 503 

Northeast, 327 

Northern Liberties, 543 

Northumberland Co., 524 

Northumberland, 532 

North Wales, 502 

Nottingham, 227 

Oakville, 456 
Orangeville, 249 
Orbisonia, 373 
Orwell, 148 
Orwigsbnrg, 607 
Oxford, 61 
Oxford township, 543 

Palmyra, 421 
Paradise, 412 
Parksville, 226 
Parryville, 200 
Patterson, 611 
Pattonsville, 206 
Passyunk, 543 
Penn Haven, 199 
Penn township, 543, 554 
Perritsport, 92 
Pkkry County, 537 
Perryopolis, 345 
Perrysville, Allegheny co., 92 
Perrysville, Juniata Co., 386 
Petersburg, Adams co., 61 
Petersburg, Beaver co., 114 
Petersburg, Lancaster co., 413 
Petersburg, Perry co., 541 
Petersburg, Somerset CO., 619 
Phenixville, 225 
Philadelphia co. & city, 542 
Phillipsburg, Beaver co., 110 
Phillipsburg, Centre Co., 205 
Pike County, 595 
Pikeland, 224 

Pine Grove, Schuyl. co., 615 
Pine Grove, Warren co., 652 
Pittsburg, 64 
Pleasant Unity, 688 
Plymouth, or Shawnee'n, 446 
Potter County, 599 
Potter's Bank, 205 
Potter's Fort, 202 
Pompton, 679 
Port Allegheny, 460 
Port Carbon, 611 
Port Clinton, 615 
Port Royal, 688 
Portersville, 177 
Pottsgrove, 536 
Pottstown, 500 



Pottsville, 607 
Pricetown, 1.36 
Prospect, 177 
Pugbtown, 226 
Pulaski, 464 
Punxatawny, 382 

Quakertown, 171 

Radnor, 306 
Rainsburg, 125 
Ralston, 456 
Reading, 128 
Reanistovvn,413 
Red Lion, 226 
Reedville, 472 
Reesville, 503 
Richland, 411 
Richmond, 522 
Ridgeville, 387 
Ridgeway, 382, 702 
Robstown, 688 
Rochester, 110 
Rockville, 259 
Rome, 148 
Rosstown, 701 
Roxborough, 543 
Rushville,'624 

Safe Harbor, 413 

Sadsbury, 226 

Sagerstown, 259 

St. Clair, 125 

Salem Cross Roads, 688 

Salem Corners, 679 

Salisbury, 619 

alona, 240 
Saltzburg, 379 
Schoenick, 520 
Schuylkill County, 602 
Schuylkill Haven, 613 
Segarsville, 427 
Seling's Grove, 635 
Shaefferstown, 420 ■ 
Shamokin, 532 
Sharon, 109 
Sharon, 464 
Sharpsburgh, 91 
Shesheijuiii, 147 
Shippensville, 229 
Shirleysburg, 373 
Shoemakettown, 501 
Sliousetown, 92 
Shrewsbury, 701 
Shugarttown, 226 
Siddonsburg, 701 
Silver Lake, 622 
Sligo, 89 
Smethport, 459 
Smithfield, Fayette co., 345 
Smithfield, Somerset co., 619 
Snow Hill, 357 
Snyderstown, 536 
Somerset County, 615 
Somerset, 617 
Somerville, or Troy, 382 
Soudersburg, 413 
South Easton, 511 
Southwark, 543 
Springfield, Crawford Co., 259 

"pringfield, Delaware CO., 306 
Spring Garden, 543 
Spring Valley, 653 

^pringville, 624 
Stewarlstown, Allegheny, 91 
Stewartstown, York Co., 701 
Stewartsville, 688 
Stockport, 679 
Stoddartsville, 447 
Stoughstown, 259 
Stoyslown, 619 
Strasburg, Franklin co., 357 
Strasburg, Lancaster co., 412 
Strattanville, 229 
Strawhntown, 171 
Strinestown, 701 
Stroudsburg, 475 



Sugar Grove, 652 
Sumanytown, 503 
Sununit, 184 
Sunbnry, 530 
Sunville, 647 

Susquehanna County, 630 
Swopestown, 413 
Sylvaiiia, 597 

Tamaqua, 614 
Tammanytown, 386 
Tarentum, 92 
Taylor's Retreat, 199 
Taylorsville, 171 
Teutonia, 460 
Thompsontown, 386 
Tiooa County, 624 
Tioga, or Willardsburg, 629 
Titusville, 259 
Towanda, 142 
Tredyfirin, 224 
Trexlerstown, 427 
Troy, Bradford co., 148 
Troy, Luzerne co., 446 
Troy, or Somerville, Jeff., 382 
Tunkhannock, 691 
Tiiscarora, 611 

Ulster, 148 

Union County, 630 

Uniontown, 339 

Unionville, Berks co., 136 

Unionville, Chester CO., ^SIS 

Utica, 647 

Uwchlan, 224 

Venango County, 636 
Vincent, 224 

Walkersville, 206 
Warfordsburg, 125 
Warren County, 647 
Warren borough, 649 
Warren, Armstrong co., 99 
Warrensburg, 136 
Warwick, 413 
Washington County, 658 
Washington borough, 664 
Washington, Colum. co., 249 
Wasliington, Lanc'r co., 413 
Waterford, Erie co., 327 
Waterford, Juniata CO., 387 
Waterloo, 387 
Watsonburg, 536 
Wattsburg, 327 
Wayne County, 676 
Waynesburg, Chester CO., 226 
Waynesburg, Franklin, 357 
Waynesburg, Greene CO., 361 
Weaversiown, 136 
VVeigelstown, 701 
Weissport, 199 
Wellsborough, 626 
West Alexandria, 670 
Westchester, 218 
West Greenville, 463 
West Middleborough, 670 
Westmoreland Co., 680 
West Philadelphia, 543 
Weymart, 679 
Whitehall, 249 
Whitemarsh, 494 
White's Haven, 447 
Wicacoa, 557 
Wilkesbarre, 445 
Wilkinsburg, 91 
Williamsburg, Columbia, 249 
William.sbuig, Hunt'n co., 373 
Williamsburg, North'on, 522 
Williamsport, Lycoming, 452 
Williamsport, Wash, co., 669 
Willow Grove, 503 
Wilsonville, 597 
Wohlbertstown, 136 
Womclsdorf, 134 
Woodbridge, 345 
iWoodville, 177 



GENERAL INDEX. 



703 



Wormlesybiirg, 972 
Wriiihtstown, 171 
Wri>;liUvillc, 70i 
Wyoming County, 68i 
Wyoming ValWy, 43U 



Wysox, 148 

Yardleyville, 171 
y<:llow Springs, 2*^4 
York County, 691 



York borough, 698 
Ynrlt Haven, 701 
York Springs, 111 
Youngslown, 688 



Youngsvillft, 652 

Young Wonianstown, 240 

Zelienople, 177 



GENERAL INDEX. 



Abnrlaines, history of 5 

Aililisiiii, .hi(lg<-', notice of P6 

AtljiHiiin:i;:h, Indian chief 390 

Allen luniily, of Allentowii 426 

Allen township, early settlement 510 

Allison, Dr. Francis -'0 

Anderson, Rev. James, of Doniiegal 410 

Andre, Major,at Philadelphia 573 

Andre, Major, at Carlisle 2()H 

Amiesly, Lord James, a redemptioner 40rt 

Antlionys()n,on Blockhouse road. 6;.;5 

Arbon Coal Company 6-29 

Armstrong, Gen., destroys Kiltanning 96 

Arnold, Wv traitor, at Philadelphia 574 

Assiinlilv IliHise, ancient, at Chester 301 

Auglivviik, history of 363 

Aymich -^^^ 

Bald Eagle, Indian chief 201 

Bailey, Joseph, carried off by ice at Jersey Shore 456 

Bald Eagle Valley, history of 364 

Baldwin, Judge Henry 87 

Halloniiin!; F.xlraoi-dinary 60 

Baplisis in Philadelphia 564 

Baiiier family, of Columbia 408 

Bard, Richard, taKen prisoner by Indians 62 

Bamett, Joseph, pioneer of Jefferson Co 380 

Battle of Braddock's field 73 

158 

210 

214 



Battle of Trenton 

Battle of Braiidywine. 
Battle of Paoli 



Battle of Lake Erie 321 

Battle of Germantown 490 

Battle of Bushy Run 681 

Battle of Wyoming Valley 438 

Battle of the Kegs 575 

Beatty, Rev. Chas., anecdote 164. 188 

Beeson, Henry, pioneer of Fayette co 340 

Beissel, Conrad, leader of the Duiikards 413 

Benezet, Anthony, anecdote 560 

Benner, Gen. P., biography 205 

Biddle, Nicholuii, country seat 151 

Bigham's Fort, in Tuscarora Valley 383 

Big Runaway, the, on W. Branch 451 

Blair, settled near Hollidaysburg 372 

Blockhouse road cut 625 

Blockley Almshouse 587 

Bolmar's Seminary, at Westchester 220 

Boundary, Northern, run out 678 

Boundary dispute with Maryland 296. 693 

Bouquet, Col., in Bedford and Allegheny co 79. 119 

Bouquet's E,\pedition and Battle, 1763 681 

Boyd, Sergeant, shot at Forty Fort 44) 

Boyd, J. G., conimittfd suicide 627 

Bozarth, Mrs., hiihls willi Indians 360 

Brackenridge, H. H., Ijiugraphy 87 

Brackenridge, H. H., in Whiskey Insunection 674 

Brackenridjie's, II. M., recollections 83. 174 

Braddock's defeat 73 

Braddock's grave 334 

Bradford, DaVid, in Whiskey Insurrection 673 

Brady, Samuel, adventure at Brady's bend 229 

Briuly, Sht 1, Exploit in Armstrong co 99 

Bindy, S:iniiul, at Slippery Rock (.'reek 177 

Braily, Saniiiel, adventure near Beaver 105 

Bia<ly, James, killed 457 

Brady, John, and old Derr 634 

Brainerd, Rev. David, lives at Forks of Delaware... . 522 

Brainerd, Rev. David, at Shamokin 525 

Brainerd, Rev. D., at Duncan's Island 275 

Brant, Joseph, not at Wyoming battle 438 

Brant proposes to attack Presqu'isle 31 

British in Pliiladt^lphia 572 

Broadhead, Gen., at Pittsburg 79 

Broadliead Settlement, Monroe co 475 

8y 



Brown family murdered at Shirleysburg 374 

Brown, Judge Wm., pioneer of Kishikokelaa Valley.. 466 

Buchanan, James 355 

Buckaloon, ancient Indian village 653 

ButTington, Richard 303 

Burd, Col. J., journal at Redstone 336 

Burnt (Jabins, origin of name 363 

Burt, Benjamin, pioneer of Potter co 600 

Butler, Col. Zebulon, at Wyoming battle 438 

Butler, Col. John, at Wyoiiiing battle 438 

Calhoun, John C, parents from Lancaster co 404 

Campaigns in the Northwest, dates 660 

Canal, old Schuylkill and Delaware .... 499 

Canassatego, Dr. Franklin's anecdote of 134 

Canassntcgo, speech to the Dela wares 509 

Carey, John, journey to Stroudsburg 477 

Carey, Samuel, captured at Wyoming 446 

Catfish, an old Indian 666 

Cave near Carlisle 

Cave, Delany's, near Laurel Hill 329 

Cave at Durham, Bucks co 151 

Caves in Mitflinco 465 

Caves of the early settlers at Philadelphia 546 

Cayugas govern the Sut}uehanna 137 

Chambers, Moses, anecdote of 377 

Chambi'is family, of Chanibersburg 350 

Chew House, in Germantown 492 

Chinklakainoose's Oldtown 2;U 

Christ Church, inSecond-st 562 

Church, Jeremiah, lays out Lock Haven 237 

College, Allegheny, at Meadville, 257 

College, Bristol 166 

College, Dickinson, at Carlisle 268 

College, Franklin, at Lancaster 396 

College, Girard, at Philadelphia 583 

College, Jetferson, at Carionsburg 668 

College, Lafayette, at Easton 511 

College, Marshall, at Mercersburg 356 

College, Madison, at Uniontown 339 

College, Pennsylvania, at Gettysburg 59 

College, Washington, at Washington 665 

Colson, Rev. Chas. William 253 

Coal basins of Luzerne co 428 

Coal basin, Mahanoy and Shamokin 524 

Coal basin of Pottsville 602 

Coal first used in Luzerne co 429 

Coal discovery in Carbon co 192 

Coal discovered in Schuylkill co 604 

Coal, methods of mining 611, 612 

Coal, speculation in lands 6(18 

Coal, Anthracite, table of shipments 606 

Coal mine on fire 613 

Committee of Safety, Northumberland co 528 

Conaughy, Robert, murderer, hung 374 

Coiiesloga massacre 398 

Conestogas, oriuin, etc 390 

Coiioys, or Ganawese Indians, Lancaster co 389 

Constitution of State, 1776 3? 

" " 1790 43 

" U. States, 1787 43 

Conway, Gen., character 133 

Copper mine, ancient, in Lancaster co.. , 388 

Corbly, Rev. John, family killed by Indians 359 

Corn Mortar, worked with a sweep 601 

Cornplanter's biography 655 

Cornwallis, personal appearance 214 

Coryell's ferry, pa.>ised by army 158 

Coveiiliiiven, Robert, biography, etc 451. 455. 536 

Craig's seillcnierit, history 530 

Cresap, i'honias, intrudes upon York co 693 

Cresap, Cajit. Michael, at Redstone 342 

Cre.sap, Capt., nmrders Logan's family 659 

Crawford, Col. Wm., biography 344 

Croghan, Col. George 311. 333 



706 



GENERAL INDEX. 



Dady, Dr., noted impostor in York co 

llaiivillfaiKl Pottsville railroad 010 

Banacli, Lydia, levoliitionary adventure 41)4 

Dtchir. iiT liulrpc'iid., liist. of, and wliere written. .568. 571 

Delaware Lillians, hi.story 7 

Delaware's in VVyoniing valley 431 

Dinnison, Col., at Wyoming battle 438 

Depreciation lands '259 

- Dei)uis, Kreiich |iimieer of Monroe co 425. 

Derr,. Lnil" i;;, adveiitnre with Indians 634 

De V^-ios's colony destroyed 9 

Dixon, Scotch Jemmy, anecdote 253 

Doane family in Bucks co 160 

Dock creek, its former appearance 560 

Doctor John, an Indian, murdered 267 

Doddridye, Philip, native of Somerset 618 

Doddridge, Rev. J., at Bedford 125 

Doddridge, Rev. J., describes early scenes. ., 337. 663. 66 

Donation lands 259 

Donnegal Presbyterian church 410 

Dorrance, Col., at Wyoming battle 438 

Donville, Le Sieur, at Duquesne 

Duncan, Judge James, biography 265 

Duncan family of Duncan's island 290 

Dunkards, history of 413 

Dunmore's war in 1774 659 

Dunkards of Snow Hill, Franklin co 3.58 

Du Ponceau, oflice of foreign afl'airs 571 

Dutch, early colony 9 

Dutch in Delaware co 293. 295 

Dutch, early settlements at ftlinisink 474 

Eckerlins, or Eckerleys, at Ephrata 414 

Eckerleys killed l)y Indians 360 

Education, outline history 48 

Elder, Rev. Mr., of Harrisburg 278.285 

Enmiaus Institute 2i-^ 

Episcopal churches, ancient Welsh 484 

Eries, or Irrironnons, tiibeof Indians 309 

Evans, Cadwalluder and brothers, anecdote 483 

Ewiiig, Gen. James, notice of 700 

Exchange, Philadelphia 582 



Fairman's mansion, description 

Fairmomit Water-works 

Fair-play men 

Fairs, description of, at Lancaster 

Falling-spring Presbyterian church 

Faussett, Tom, shot Gen. Braddock 

Fell, Geo. B., carried away by flood 

Fellenberg school at Bristol 

Finances of the slate 

Finley, Gov. William, born at Mercersburg 

Fisher, George, foimder of Middletown 

Fitz, marauder in Chester co 

Flanegans, mmderers near Ebensburg 

Flat-head Indians, relics of 

Flood of 1843, in Delaware co 

Flood at New Hope 

Floods at Wyoming ^Sa. 

Flovver'g mill in Delaware co 298. 

Forbes's, Gen., expedition to Pittsburg 

Forks of the Delaware 

Forts Christina and Kasimir 

Fort Augusta 

Forts Mifflin and Mercer ..!..' 

Fort Stanwix, treaties for land 

Port of the pioneers described 

Fort Venai.go, history of 

Fort Shirley evacuated 

Fort Franklin, in Venango co 

Fort Hamilton, at Stroudsburg 

Forts on the West branch of Susquehanna 

Fort M'Intosli erected ; 

Fort Stanwix. lands purchasetl at 

Fort Freeland captured 



Fort Pitt. 

Fort IJgonier attacked 

Fort Granville taken ] 

Forty fort, site of '. ', ' 

" capitulation 

Fortifications, ancient, inSoujcrset co..!.'". "... ..!.'..". 

Fortification, ancient, near Jer.sey Shore ." . 

Fortification, Spanish, Bradford co 137. 

Franklin, Benjamin, his grave 

" " bis arrival in Philadelphia '. 

Franklin, Dr., builds Fort Allen 



Frey, Geo., biography ..... 28ff 

French, Col. John, journey to Conestogo 391 

French colony in Clearfield CO 2;J3 

French inscription on leaden plate 311 

French movements in 1750-55 34. 311. 641 

Friends' meetings, early, in Bucks GO 152 . 

" " " in Delaware CO 304 ; 

" " " in Cliester CO 224 226 ' 

" " " in Lancaster CO 394 

" " " i[i Montgomery CO 484 

" " " in Philadelphia CO 547 

Fries, John, his insurrection in 1799 422 

Fulton, Robert, biography 404 

Gal braith, Mrs., electioneers for her husband 394 

Gallatin, Albert, bioffraphy, house, &c .34() 

Gallatin, Albert, in Whiskey Insurrection 674 

Gallitzin, Rev. Dr., Russian princ.e.. 180 

Germans settle York co 6U4 

Germans first settle in Berks co 127 

Germans first settle in Lancaster co .393 

Germans first settle in Montgomery co 487 

German Common Property colony, M'Kean co .. 460 

German Community colonies in Warren co 653 

German Society settle on Loyalsock cr 457 

Gi-en-gwah toll, Seneca chief, at Wyoming battle 43M 

Gilbert family, Indian captivity. 190 

(iirard, Stephen, b-iography and college 583- 

(iisi, CInistciplier, pioneer of Fayette co 70. 90. 329 

(ilades cif S( rset co .-..^615- 

(ilikkikaii, Indian chief 173 

(Jiiadeiihiilteii destroyed 186 

Godfrey, Thomas, inventor of auadrant 595 

Gotteiiberg, New, built by Swedes 292 

Governors of state, list of 45- 

Giant, Mrs., of Sunbury 533 

Grant, Maj., defeat at Fort Duquesne 76 

Graytlon, Alex., reminiscences of Readuig 132 

Great Meadows, capitulation of ". 333 

-tiieal Western Iron-works 94 

Greene, iMaj. Gen., personal appearance 214 

Gregg, Hull. Andrew, biography 204 

Gray, John, adventures and lawsuit 384 

Gummerie's Seminary, at Haverford 29i 

Hackney, Hon. Joseph, biography 652 

Half-king, Indian chief 643 

Hamilton, Gen., adventure at Valley Forge 49S 

Hannastown, burning ot" 683 

Hannah, Old, Indian 208 

Hardgraves family saved from a flood 298 

Harri.ses of Harrisburg, father and son 283 

Hartley, Col. Thomas, notice of 700 

llazlelon Travellers 442 

lleibesoii M.issy, narrative 175 

llewett, ('apt. Dieterick, at Wyoming 439 

Hicks, Edward, painter 171 

Hiester, Gov.J., biography of 134 

Hiiies, Mr., raolil)ed in Susquehanna co 621 

Holland Land Co., notice of 261 

Holland Land Co., Warren co 64.9 

Hopkinson, father and son, notice of. 58/ 

Hook, Jacob, pioneer in VVarren co (>48 

Howe, Sir VVm., personal appearance 214 

Hudson and Delaware Canal Co., Iijstofy 679 

lluidekoper, II. J., agent of Holland Land Co 255 

Hillings, Marcus, of Duncan's island 290 

Huntingdon, Countess of, biography 36!) 

Ice flood of 1784-85 285v 444 

Ice gorged at Kittanning 97 

Independent Treasury, the widow S 101 

Iiidi'pendeiice Hall 567 

Indian Walk, or walking purcheise 152. 505 

Indian God, a sculptured rock 638 

Insaiiiiy, remarkable case 254 

Insaniiy at NorUieast, from Millerism 327 

Insurrection in Lehigh and Northampton, in 1799.... 422 

Insurrection, Whiskey 670 

Internal improvement, general history 46 

Iron-works of Centre co 201 

Ironworks of Huntingdon co 362.368 

Iroquois, or Six Nations 6 

Irvin, Guy C, great lumberman 651 

Irvine, Gen. Win., at Pittsburg 79 

Irvine, Gen., describes an ancient French road 648 

Irvine family of Warren CO 65J 



GENERAL INDEX. 



707 



Jack. Capt., the ' black hunter' 204 

Jackson, Saniiiel, anecdote of " Scrub Quaker" 344 

Jacobs, Old, an Indian '.Hi 

Jenkuis, Mrs., powder made at Wyoming 441 

Jolly family in Washington co (i'il 

Joncaire, French trader .ill) 

Joncaire and ContrectBur descend the Allegheny 044 

Juinonville, death of ^'W 

Juniata canal 'i'i'i 

Juniata Island, Indians visited by Braineid 275 

Krummacher, Rev. Dr., invited to Mercersbnrg 4. .'t.')7 

knypliausen, his personal appearance.- 214 

Kiltatinny valley, change in its population 411). ."jll 

Ki.shikokelas valley, history of 4(i<i 

King, Rev. Dr., notice of 'i't'i 

Kickenepauling's OUltown IH-.! 

Key, John, the first born in Philadelphia .'itf) 

Kelly, Col. John, biography Ci:!4 

Keating, John, large landholder 149. 000 

Lackawannock coal-basin 428. 440 

Lafayette wounded 212.214 

Lake F.vie first traversed by French 310 

Lake Erie, battle of 321 

Lake Erie, first steamboat on 

Land law of 1792.... 

Laurel Hill Cemetery 

Lead found by Indians 

Lead-mine, ancient, in Huntingdon co 

Le Boeiif fort, history of 

Lee, (3apt. or Maj., personal appearance 

Lee, Capt. or Maj., adventure at Valley Forge 

Lee, Capt. or Maj., adventure at Lancaster barracks. . 

Lehigh Navigation Co., history 

Lenni Lenapes, history of 

Letitia House 

Letort's Spring 

Library, Philadelphia, its origin 

Locusts in 1715, among the Swedes 

Log- college in IJucks co 

Logan, James, notice of 

Logan, ' Mingo chief,' his residence, anecdotes, speech 

Logan, the chief, his family murdered 

Logstown, ancient village 70. 103. 

London Coflee-house 

Long dollars, new species of currency 

Louis Philippe at Pittsburg 

I<utheran church, ancient, in Montgomery co 

I^umberman's Bank failed 

Lumber trade, increase of 

Luiriber trade of Warren co 

Lykens' valley history and coal-mines 



M'Aleater, early settler in Dauphin co 281 

McCabe's recollections of Huntingdon co 306 

M'Clure's Fort 245 

McDowell, Esther, adventures in Lycoming co 453 

M'Dowell, Scotch family of Stroudsburg 478 

M'Kean, Chief-justice 286 

McLane, Col. Allen, adventure at Shoemakertown... . 501 

McLellan, adventure at his house 667 

McMillan, Rev. Dr., notice of. 66B 

Manor of Mask 56 

Marauders in Franklin co S.'iO 

Marsh Creek, Presb. Congregation ,58 

Marshall, Edward, performs Indian walk .507 

Marshall family attacked by Indians .5'2;t 

Markham, Wm., arrives at Philadelphia 544 

Marshall, Ch. J., at Brandy wine 214 

Mead, David, biography 251 

Merion, Lower, Friends Meeting-house 485 

Mennonists, history, doctrines, etc 393 

Mescliianza at Philadelphia 573 

Mifllin, Gov. Thomas, biography 403 

Miles, Wm., of Erie co., anecdote 317 

Miller, (Jen. Henry, notice of 7(X) 

Miner, Hon. Chas., notice of. 442 

Mint of the U. S 585 

Minisink settlements on the Delaware 474 

Montg;<)mery family, of Danville 242 

Monument Onietery 5<J2 

Moores, brothers, pioneers of Hollidaysburg 371 

Moravians, history of Bethlehem 510 

Moravians in Beaver co 103 

Moravians at Cnadenhutten 185 

Moravians at Gosligoshunk, Venango CO 644 



Moravians at Kaskasktink < 

Moravians at Litiz 

Moravians settle at Shamokin 

.Moravians at Wyalusing and Sheshequin 138, 

.Moreiiu, Gin., biography 

.Morris, Robi^t, biography 

.Morris, ThonuL^, receives an Indian name 

iMiirris, Sanil., anecdote of, at Trenton 

.Moiri-iin's Cove, early history 

Monlonr, ('atliarine 

Monis Muliicaulis speculation 

Mound, ancient, in Westmoreland co 

Mount Bethel, early Presbyterian church 

Moyamensing Prison 

Miiiilenlierg, Rev. II. M., biography 

.Muhlenberg, Gen. Peter, epitaph 



A'aiiliroke Indians, Lancaster co 

Nanlieiikcs ninovo to N. Y. State 

Neshannock potatoes, from Mercer CO 

Neville, Gen. John, in Whiskey Insurrection. 

New York Company, coal tunnel 

Nicholson, John, notice of 

Nippenose Valley described 

North American Land Company 

Norris, John, pioneer of Tioga co 

Nott's stove sent to Mt. San Bernard 

Now Ian family drowned in a flood 

Nutiinus, an Indian chief 



671 



173 
411 
527 
139 
170 
582 
145 
1.5i> 
125 
144 

^m 

680 
510 
501 
487 
487 



389 
433 
462 
673 
612 
621 
448 
261 
625 
12a 
29U 
509 



Orr, Judge Robert, biography 97 

Opessah, Indian chief 389 

Ornish 393 

Oil Spring.s, on Oil Creek 250. 637 

Ohio River, meaning of name 64 

Ohiopile Falls, in Fayette co 328 

Ohio Company, in Allegh. and Fayette counties. . 70. 329 

O'Hara, James, salt merchant .... 86 

Ogden, brothers, adventures at Wyoming 435 

Packhorse trade of the West 667 

Paoli massacre 215 

Patenii, Indian chief, visited by Zinzendorf 517 

Pa.\ton boys, massacre at Conestoga 399 

Pa.xton boys, exculpation of 279 

Pa.\ton boys, alarm in Philadelphia 506 

Peat, John, pioneer of Potter co 601 

Penitentiary, western 09 

Penitentiary, eastern 500 

Penn, Wm., arrives in 1682 13 

Pennj Wm., lands at New Castle 299 

Penn, Wm., arrives at Chester 300 

Penn, Wm., arrives at Philadelphia .546 

Penn, Wm., his character, maimers, and life 553. 555 

Penn, John, proprietor 22 

Penn, Thomas, proprietor 22, 23 

Penn, John, governor 29 

Pennsbury Manor 154 

Penn's Creek, Indian massacre near mouth of . . . . 636 

Pennsylvania Hospital 579 

Permanent Bridge, Market-st 589 

Perry, Commodore, notice of 326 

Philosophical Society, American 579 

Pickering, Col. T., describes battle of Germuntown. . . 493 

Pickering, Col. T., lynched in Wyoming co 690 

Plumbago mine in Bucks co 151 

Plunkett, Col., defeated at Nanticoke pass 437 

Pout Volant, or Flying bridge 95 

Pontiac's War, in 1763 28. 314. 681 

Population Company 261 

Portage Railroad, description 183 

Portage Railroad first crosstul by a boat 184 

Porter, Gen. Andrew, and family 500 

Potter, Gen., settles Penn's Valley 203 

Pownal,Gov., visits Lancaster 393 

Presbyterian church in the Barrens 695 

Presbyterian church in Cumberland co 269 

Presbyterians in Philadelphia 563 

Presbyterian churches, old, in Montgomery co 499 

Presbyterian ch., ancient, of Conococheague 355 

Presqu'isle Fort, history of. 310. 314 

Priestley, Dr. Joseph, biography 534 

Printing Pres.s, ancient, in Warren 652 

Prisonrrs restored, at Carlisle 267 

Pumpkin tiood of 1787 285. 445 



Quakers settle on West Branch. 



.. 45« 



708 



GENERAL INDEX. 



aueen Esther, alias Cath. Montour 144 

Railroad, Reading, opened 132 

Railroad, Columbia, notice of 407 

Railroad, Danville and Pottsville 530 

Randolph, Robert F., biograpliy 252 

Rapp's settlement at Economy Ill 

Redemptioners, anecdote 209 

Red Stone Old Fort, history 336 

Keed House, and Reed family 319 

Relief Notes, origin of. 53 

Riivolution, outline history 31 

Reynolds, Miss Mary, curious insanity 254 

Rice's Fort, attacked by Indians 6(!1 

Ridge way, Jacob, notice of. 589 

Riots in Mifflin co 470 

Ritteiihouse, David, birthplace and biography 593 

Rohb, Col. Robert, and Committee of safety 5-9 

Robinson, Robert, pioneers' narrative 530 

Rochefoucault, Liancoiirt, travels •. 146 

Rocky Spring, Presbyterian church. 354 

Rogers, Mr. Jonah, of Huntingdon 246 

Rodgers, Rev. Mr., converted under Whitfield 565 

Ronaldson's Cemetery 592 

Rose, Dr. Robert H., notice of. 621 

Ross, Hon. James, notice of 87 

Ross, a Monsey chief ■ 640 



Swedes Church at Wicaco 597 

Swedes Ford, British cross at 489 

Sylvania colony, on Fourier's plan 599 

Tamanend, or Tammany 162. 300 

Tanacharisson, an Indian chief 331 

Tarascon, L. A., sends vessel to Leghorn 82 

Teedyuscung, biography 477 

Teedyuscung at Easion treaties 513 

Tennent, Gilbert, sermons used for cartridges 574 

Theological Institute, Allegheny 69 

Theological Seminary, of Allegheny... . 68 

Theological Seminary, Lutheran, at Gettysburg 58 

'I'heological Seminary, German Reformed, at Mercers- 
burg 356 

Theological Seminary, Seceders, Canonsburg 619 

Thom|)son, James, taken prisoner by Indians 631 

Thompson, Charles, secretary, at Easton 313 

Tioga pomt, history 144 

Tiiiicuin island settled by Swedes 292 

Tomahawk rights for land 337 

Tovvnseiid, Richard, ancient cottage 4.303.482 

Trappe, Old Lutheran church at 487 

Treaty-tree and treaty at Kensington J 4. 548 

Treaties at Easton 513 

Treaty of Gen. Wayne at Greenville, in 1795 43 

Trenton bridge 169 

'I'nangle, purchase of 315 

Todd, Joiin, of Bedford, biography 124 

'I'uscarora Indians first arrive from south 391 

Tuscarora valley first settled 383 

Tull family killed by Indians 122 

Tunnels on public works 375.419. 610. 612 

Turkey, an Indian, anecdote 242 



Sadsbury township first settled 394 

St. Clair, Gen. Arthur, biography 686 

Salt Works, on the Conemaugh and Kiskinlinetas 376 

Sawkill Falls, at Milford 597, 598 

Schuylkill Navigation Co 132 605 

Schwenckfelders, history 488 

Scotch-Irish ; see Adams, Allegheny, Dauphin, Frank- 
lin, Northampton, Northumberland, Cumberland, 
Lancaster, Lycoming, and York counties. 

Scott, Mrs., poetess 147 

Seneca Nation 654 

Shackania.\on, village and treaty 550 

Shades of Death 473.441 

Shainokin, early history 525 

Shawanees in Cumberland co ^ 262 

Shawaiiees on West Branch 449 

Shawanees in Lancaster co 389 

Shawanees in Wyoming Valley 431 

Sheep reared in Washington co 658 

Sherman's Valley, history of. 539 

Shewell family, Bucks co 4 163 

Shikellimus, Cayuga chief, notice of .... 525, 526 

Shippen, Edward, notice of 41)4 Waulhnpaupack Falls, Wayne co 

Shippen's Great House S.j'.i VVauipuni, used by Indians in treaties 549 

Silver Lake fi-2 VV'asliington, Gen.; see Battle, Fort, Valley Forge, and 

Silver-mines, Indian traditions 639 Allegheny, Erie, Venango, Beaver, Fayette, Bedford, 

Sinking Springs, hi Huntingdon co 365 Westmoreland, and Montgomery counties. 

Sinnemahonhig summit 458 Water-gap of the Delaware 479 

Six Nations, history of 6 Water-gap of the Lehigh described 504 

Slate-quarry in Northampton co 523 Watson, Rev. Thomas, notice of 668 

Slocuni, Frances, story of her capture 443| W.iyne, Gen. Anthony, biography 216 

Smiley, Dr., anecdote of his wife 534 Weeks family, seven fell inl)attle of Wyoming 44i 

Smith, Hon. James, notice of 700I Weddings among early pioneers described 663 

Smith, Col. James, at Bedford 117. 119 j Weiser, Conrad, biography 134 

Smith, Dr., Provost of University 581 1 Wells, adventure with Indians 123 



Union Canal, history of 418 

United Stales Arsenal, near Pittsburg 70 

" " Bank 586 

" " Naval Asylum 587 

University of Pennsylvania, at Philadelphia 580 

" " Western 67 

Upland, or Oplandt, history of 296.291 

Valley Forge encampment, in 1777-78 495.497 

VanCampen's adventure in Clinton co 236 

" Maj., biography 2i5 

Van Horn, Cornelius, adventure with Indians 252 

Vickroy, Thomas, old surveyor 81. 122 

Vincent family at Freeland's fort 537 

677 



Snake story, at Allentown 426 

" " at Sunbury 531 

Snow-shoe camp, Centre co 202 

Snyder, Gov. Simon 635 

Social Reform Unity 599 

Society of Free Traders 13 

Solebury towoship, history 155 

Spalding, Gen., settles at Sheshequin 147 

Springetsbury Manor, York co., surveyed .' 693 

Steamboat business at Pittsburg 85 

Steigel, Baron, his iron-works and 'Folly' 388.421 

Stewart, Lazarus, his declaration 280 

Stinton family murdered 521 

Stobo, Capt., letter from 72 

Stocks, depreciation of 52 

Strauss's blockhouse, near the Juniata 385 

Straw paper first invented 256 

Stump, the 'Indian killer' 531.636 

Sullivan, Gen., expedition of, 1779 141. 444 

Susquehanna Co. of Connecticut 434 

Swamp, The, in Montgomery co 48' 

Swedes, early history 10 

Swedes settle in Delaware co 292.305 

Swedes settle in Montgomery CO » 485 



Welsh settle in Chester co 209 

Welsh settle Montgomery co '.•••^■. 483 

" settlers in Cambria co • 181 

Wequetank built and burnt 189. 518 

Weriiwag's bridge atFaiimount 588 

West, Benj., birthplace and biography 307 

Westtown Friends' school 221 

Whiskey Insurrection 670 

White, Bishop, notice of 563 

Whitfield, Rev. G., builds house at Nazareth 519 

" preaches in Del. co. and Philadelphia 303. 565 

Widows , singular marriage 1^1 

Wilkins, Judge, his character 86 

Williams, gallant defence of his house 442 

Wire Suspension Bridge 588 

Wilson, Rev. J. P., notice of 563 

Wright family of Columbia 407 

Wyalusing, Moravians settle there 138 

Wyoming valley described 430 

Young, Marg't, prisoner with Indians 631 

Zinzendorf visits Bethlehem 517 

I " Count, anefcdoie of, at Wyoming 43^ 



;Reo?9 



